Attendance at Finals

[chris ncsu]

It does kill the drum corps fan bonding, it kills the energy of the entire crowd…it’s the most passive, dead crowd I’ve seen for finals….not sure how it reads back from the field but a lot of energy that can go back and forth from the crowd and the corps on the field seems lost to me, as one in the crowd….maybe it’s the big comfy chairs that suck people into compliancy?

Besides the vertical separation there is a fair bit of boxed off, horizontal separation, especially on the 200 level where it seems some sections are their own box, the glass walls just make the separation worse

This year for Crown only and in a sort of strange way, was about the only time I felt the audience around me…they were rather rabid about Crown and very much trying to make a point

I don’t think shows like Spartacus are possible in the dome, tank, Boo’s-Band-Box in the cornfields aka ‘enclosed stadium’

I find the vibe of the place oppressive…it’s this big, dark room, super-chilled with stale air that seems to be a world onto its own mocking any outside existence. It’s just not a fun place to be for three days and does nothing for my end of summer tan

As a stadium, it does have nice amenities – I don’t find the prices bad (as compared to Chicago Pro-stadium prices).

One thing that bugs me though is the fans really have yet to figure out how to maneuver, function in this stadium environment – so much inefficiency is due to confused fans. As a baseball season ticket holder and a patron of all sorts of stadiums all around the nation, I feel I should write a how-to post covering basic stadium etiquette so that we can all get around and get what we want in a more timely manner

I completely agree with this. You can feel some energy in the bottom levels, but the isolation increases as you get upstairs. I think corps energy feels deadened compared to an open stadium.

[skywhopper]

If I can see everyone the week before Finals, and the top 8 6 days before at MetLife Stadium, is going to Indy really necessary?

I think this may have a lot more to do with it than anyone wants to admit.

[Jeff Ream]

And with less participants marching, how many recent alums fell away from the activity after marching and have just disappeared from giving back to the activity in some way ? I would imagine DCI must have the numbers of the recent alums that come back to Finals to cheer on their Corps as previous decades alums used to do after marching to support their corps at Finals... or at regionals, local shows if nothing else.

I highly doubt DCI has those numbers. that type of statistical record keeping for marketing has really only recently begun

[GMichael1230]

I found a photo of a General Admission ticket for DCI Finals in 1982 that had a price of $24.99 by googling. I have no idea where General Admission seated you.

Here's a pretty cool picture of the crowd in the stadium, though. I can assure you that the end zones in Indy did not look like that:

This is 1981.

Geoffrey

[bluesman]

In the newer NFL stadiums the best seats in the house are the luxury skyboxes. From the field looking up you see fans on the lower tier then a massive ring around the stadium of these glass enclosed boxes which essentially cut our audience in half. . Lucas may technically have a lot of seats but so many of them are just plain bad for Corps watching.

For example..... In Houston we still have our little ole Astrodome.... but right next to it we have the massive Reliant Stadium which totally dwarfs the 8th Wonder of the World. You would think it held twice as many seats but actually only holds a few thousand more. The difference is the luxury boxes. These same boxes also cause problems with acoustics..

So I would propose that if in the future finals moves out of Indy that we stay out of the newer stadiums. I know it may be a pain in our behinds to sit on those old college stadium bleachers, but they are generally larger and have less of the luxury box obstructions. Might even been cheaper for DCI itself. I'm thinking Madison, Columbus, Austin or Nashville just off the top of my head.

Edited August 15, 2012 by bluesman

[AlexL]

Count me as one who will not be going out of my way to see finals (there's a chance work may have me in indy in 2014) in the oil can again. Its just a terrible environment for sound and for the audience experience. I would much rather go spend a day in Minneapolis or even one of the other regional sites if i'm going to travel far (at least it'd be a more fun city than Indy), but i'm sick of Indy. I miss bloomington and madison. I miss variety.

I predict paid finals attendance will continue to drop as long as it keeps repeating there. Signing such a long term deal was a poor decision.

[Grumpy]

In the newer NFL stadiums the best seats in the house are the luxury skyboxes. From the field looking up you see fans on the lower tier then a massive ring around the stadium of these glass enclosed boxes which essentially cut our audience in half. . Lucas may technically have a lot of seats but so many of them are just plain bad for Corps watching.

For example..... In Houston we still have our little ole Astrodome.... but right next to it we have the massive Reliant Stadium which totally dwarfs the 8th Wonder of the World. You would think it held twice as many seats but actually only holds a few thousand more. The difference is the luxury boxes. These same boxes also cause problems with acoustics..

So I would propose that if in the future finals moves our of Indy that we stay out of the newer stadiums. I know it may be a pain in our behinds to sit on those old college stadium bleachers, but they are generally larger and have less of the luxury box obstructions. Might even been cheaper for DCI itself. I'm thinking Madison, Columbus, Austin or Nashville just off the top of my head.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Camp Randall in Madison add luxury boxes when they did their renovation a few years back? IIRC, they were added to the backfield of what we generally see when DCI performed there. I haven't been to Columbus or Austin and I honestly don't recall whether Nashville had them, or not (I was last there in 2005).

[bluesman]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Camp Randall in Madison add luxury boxes when they did their renovation a few years back? IIRC, they were added to the backfield of what we generally see when DCI performed there. I haven't been to Columbus or Austin and I honestly don't recall whether Nashville had them, or not (I was last there in 2005).

You are correct when mentioning the renovations in Madison. A lot of universities across the country have done the same. Some of this is for wealthy alumni and some because of network tv needs. But you do have to admit that when a stadium like Lucas is built these boxes are put in more for the high rollers and without much consideration for acoustics or the regular fan who pays for the cheap seats. I don't feel like spending $125 for the best seats in the house because the best seats in the house are in glass boxes and that ain't how I wanna watch drum corps.

Edited August 15, 2012 by bluesman

[Jeff Ream]

You are correct when mentioning the renovations in Madison. A lot of universities across the country have done the same. Some of this is for wealthy alumni and some because of network tv needs. But you do have to admit that when a stadium like Lucas is built these boxes are put in more for the high rollers and without much consideration for acoustics or the regular fan who pays for the cheap seats. I don't feel like spending $125 for the best seats in the house because the best seats in the house are in glass boxes and that ain't how I wanna watch drum corps.

here's the catch...everyone is comparing LOS to stadiums that do not have a roof.

[FlamMan]

DCI Finals has lost some of its luster & I believe that having finals in Indy for 10 years hurts the drum corps activity in the long run by limiting its exposure in other areas. I also believe that attendance will continue to decline each year in Indy.