actucker Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 Ok, so here's a hypothetical. What's the bigger draw and could demand the higher ticket price - Springsteen by himself, or Springsteen and Paul McCartney on stage together? History shows us that the bigger you can make the event, the larger the interest and the higher the demand for tickets. Why? Because you know that such a special event doesn't come along every day. Were Finals week the first and only opportunity to see everyone in the same room at the same time, there would be an extra incentive to get yourself to Indy or get yourself to the movie theater for Quarters. But more often than not, Finals week feels like the foregone conclusion of a badly-paced novel, where you know most of what's going to happen in the final chapters well before you ever get to them. I'd like to think that I'm pretty serious about the activity, but the truth is that Finals week has next to no extraordinary interest for me these days, since the judges have already seen everyone cheek to jowl and drawn their conclusions. And in a competition format where so much of the score is based on judges' reactions to design choices, rather than on the performer's ability to turn the tide on any given night, you need to do whatever you can to introduce an element of chance into the big game. IMHO, of course/ You're arguing this from a completely misguided angle. The goal isn't to sell out finals. The goal is to bring in revenue. Springsteen and McCartney would make much more money on the road together than they would in one concert. More shows with those corps together means more money. There isn't really any way around it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 Ok, so here's a hypothetical. What's the bigger draw and could demand the higher ticket price - Springsteen by himself, or Springsteen and Paul McCartney on stage together? History shows us that the bigger you can make the event, the larger the interest and the higher the demand for tickets. Why? Because you know that such a special event doesn't come along every day. What would draw more total fans... Springsteen/McCartney doing a one-time event in one location Springsteen/McCartney doing a number of events around the country in a variety of locations Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 What would draw more total fans... Springsteen/McCartney doing a one-time event in one location Springsteen/McCartney doing a number of events around the country in a variety of locations but DCI only gets a fixed fee for shows they do not run themselves. so it does stand to reason that finals week, at those prices, be as close to sold out as possible to maximize revenue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slingerland Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 (edited) You're arguing this from a completely misguided angle. The goal isn't to sell out finals. DCI makes more money on Finals week then they do any other week of the year. But they don't come come close to making as much as they COULD if they were able to get another 8 or 9 thousand people into LOS for Finals night (there's plenty of room, trust me). If they had another 9,000 there, at $40 a seat, their additional expense would be negligible, but they'd have another $350,000+ in revenues from ONE night's work. The regionals, as they stand, offer EVERYTHING from Finals week at a price actually quite a bit less than what DCI is charging for their supposed Super Bowl. it's a self-defeating pricing position. Atlanta this year? Top ticket is $65. Two weeks later in Indy, Finals, with even fewer corps in competition, is literally twice the price. For what? You've just seen this same lineup for half the money a couple weekends before. The strategy simply gives everyone in the southeast a good reason NOT to buy tickets for Indy. The pricing strategy is out of line with the product offering. No one who has a whit of sense about them sells the exact same product for 100% more than they were charging a couple weeks before unless something has happened to increase the demand. But since the numbers from Atlanta show the event selling about as many tickets as Finals night, clearly there isn't an increase. Either drop finals prices, raise regionals prices, or change the lineup so that those who go to Regionals see most of the corps, but not ALL of the corps, and help build some actual excitement for the possibilities of Finals week, when the corps, through DCI, stand to make more money then they can any other week of the season. Mike D, if Springsteen and McCartney wanted to maximize their dollar return per performance, they'd intentionally limit the number of opportunities to see them, which would allow them to charge a premium price for those who wanted to buy tickets. If you have a premium event, you do what you can to push demand UP for the product, not diminish it by adding dates that would only dilute the value of any individual seat. It's a balancing act of supply and demand, but given how limited the demand for DCI's product is in the first place, it makes no sense to devalue it as easily as they do by giving away the store so early and often. Edited June 7, 2013 by Slingerland Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 but DCI only gets a fixed fee for shows they do not run themselves. so it does stand to reason that finals week, at those prices, be as close to sold out as possible to maximize revenue I am thinking more of the DCI regionals spread around the country, plus champs. I'd rather see high attendance at a variety of venues than high attendance at just one. The total number of people at all DCI events is the most important element to look at, IMO. That includes champs of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 Mike D, if Springsteen and McCartney wanted to maximize their dollar return per performance, they'd intentionally limit the number of opportunities to see them, which would allow them to charge a premium price for those who wanted to buy tickets. If you have a premium event, you do what you can to push demand UP for the product, not diminish it by adding dates that would only dilute the value of any individual seat. It's a balancing act of supply and demand, but given how limited the demand for DCI's product is in the first place, it makes no sense to devalue it as easily as they do by giving away the store so early and often. DCI regionals are a limited number of opportunities, spread around the country. Limiting it to one and only one is not going to maximize revenue, IMO. My guess is that DCI has done analysis of this and has determined that what they have is the best way to maximize their income, balancing nationwide access plus champs to just having champs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockEuph Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 Vanguard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slingerland Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 My guess is that DCI has done analysis of this and has determined that what they have is the best way to maximize their income, balancing nationwide access plus champs to just having champs. So they're thinking 16k is the most they'll be able to sell to Finals these days? That'd be kinda sad, dontcha think? They're very nice folks, but I don't get that "market analysis" is a hugely strong element of the DCI business model these days. The executive staff has their hands full trying to quell an insurrection, and the members of the Board are too busy trying to keep from strangling each other. If they'd done much analysis, they'd see that my example of selling a fuller line-up in Atlanta for half the price of Finals 13 days later is pretty stupid. Atlanta's only an 8 hour drive from Indy. Why give people in that market a great excuse NOT to come to Finals week? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drilltech1 Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 (edited) So they're thinking 16k is the most they'll be able to sell to Finals these days? That'd be kinda sad, dontcha think? They're very nice folks, but I don't get that "market analysis" is a hugely strong element of the DCI business model these days. The executive staff has their hands full trying to quell an insurrection, and the members of the Board are too busy trying to keep from strangling each other. If they'd done much analysis, they'd see that my example of selling a fuller line-up in Atlanta for half the price of Finals 13 days later is pretty stupid. Atlanta's only an 8 hour drive from Indy. Why give people in that market a great excuse NOT to come to Finals week? [/quote Slingerland, Mike D, ACTucker, Back on topic please! There are no less than 6 other threads in the past two months to discuss finances of DCI. Seems the same voices keep re-cycling their same opinions ad nauseaum. The one expertise you are manifesting is the ability to hijack threads.The judges in the box aren't giving you credit anymore. T&P needs to be assessed. So what corps will bump Cadevaliers? Edited June 7, 2013 by drilltech1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
actucker Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 [ Slingerland, Mike D, ACTucker, Back on topic please! There are no less than 6 other threads in the past two months to discuss finances of DCI. Seems the same voices keep re-cycling their same opinions ad nauseaum. The one expertise you are manifesting is the ability to hijack threads.The judges in the box aren't giving you credit anymore. T&P needs to be assessed. So what corps will bump Cadevaliers? Says the guy who started the "butts in seats" conversation, and hasn't actually offered a comment regarding the original topic in the first place. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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