ContraFart

Thats a straw man. Do you really think that any corps has staff they dont think they need? Do you think they do not have the agency to cut back on unnecessary staffing if its going to hurt them financially? Almost always in any business the first cost cut is payroll. I even brought up the idea of looking for staff that can do longer stretches in the summer to save on air fare and maybe eliminate excess staffing costs.

How do you do that by limiting to 2 busses?

At what point do all those cuts bastardize the product and lessen the member experience? People are promoting half measures that really don't address the problem.

Can you cut something without lessening the member experience and enhance the product? I am not saying everything is off the table, but this is something you can't legislate. Crossmen and Madison went leaner with staging and that was not their competitive issue. I think the corps are smart enough to know when to not add the kitchen sink if it's going to break them.

So fewer opportunities to march and a worse member experience is the answer?

You can nickel and dime costs all you want, it's not going to change the reality that the corps needs to adapt to the national tour model and that model is the majority of your costs

That takes away from the ensemble. It takes away the number of pit spots in the activity and no percussion caption head would entertain that idea.

If an idea is dismissed out of hand it's because it's not feasible or not the actual reason behind a corps folding. In a 1.7 million dollar budget, is 50k the difference between touring and not touring? Regional models won't work 1. Because we don't have the corps and 2. We don't have the shows. There are too many corps on geographic islands so even a regional model will not cut the costs you think they will. If you think those are ideas are just being dismissed out of hand, you are wrong. They are being dismissed because they are half measures that will not change the root cause of the situation.

If you think that they don't care then you are off the deep end.

If 5-7% of your budget is the reason you are not on the field, then you shouldn't be on the field in the first place. What don't you understand about that?

Equipment and horns are cost neutral due to being sold off after tour. Uniforms are about $100 per member and usually part of tour fees. If the difference between going on tour and folding is one vehicle, you shouldn't be on tour in the first place. Member dues are only cover about 50% of the total cost of tour.

Joking about it doesn't make it right 😛

Yes there are other costs. But my entire point is that if the 30k or so to add the props and additional vehicle are the difference between going on tour and folding, then maybe you shouldn't be going on tour. It's not the props and electronics that are making corps fold.

Hogwash. It's not the programming that is causing the cost issue.

Dude did you even march? Even in the 90s corps needed 2 semis.

Salary caps are collectively bargained through labor negotiations. The leagues do not tell the franchises how to run their organizations i.e. parking, concessions, facilities, etc.

I already said that we cannot speculate on why Cadets are out this season, but I will bet everything I own and will ever own that is it not props and electronics that is keeping them off the field next summer and they are not reason they are in this position. Trimming 3% off the top is not the make or break of getting a corps down the road, if it is, then they should not be on the road in the first place. Have you ever considered that maybe they are doing the right thing by taking a year off? That maybe they could get down the road this summer, but it would make things worse long term? It sucks, yes, but making the call this early was smart and responsible.

Every major sport is for profit. The NFL does not control concessions or parking or travel or facilities. The salary cap is collectively bargained with labor.

You were wrong 11 years ago and you are wrong now. You are making the assumption that drum corps cannot afford the equipment when they most clearly can. Props are resold, equipment is resold. THEY ARE NOT THE ISSUE!!!!! Cutting costs around the margins really does nothing to improve the activity or member experience. You are treating a scratch on the head with a band aid when that persons leg has been chopped off.

Well its either that or the "regional tour model" which simply cannot work

the solution is not and will never be to control how a private entity runs their business.

You are right, you said props and electronics are non essential costs before I even entered the post, not costumes. My bad

I have made the suggestion to look at the corps who have diversified their revenue and start there. If there is no revenue side solution, then how do corps even exist? Why are some even thriving?

But cutting costumes and props is solving NOTHING which is my point all along.

This you? You posted this before I even got into the thread and all I did was predict posts about blaming props and costumes. I was also really commenting on what I have been seeing on Facebook and Reddit.