ajlemm Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 I've come to accept LOS as the permanent home of DCI Finals. I am ok with that. What I have struggled with is convincing my brother and best friend to come with me every year since Finals never move anymore. The trip isn't just about drum corps for them. With all of us having kids, it's an opportunity for us to get away on a rare guy's vacation. More than likely I will be attending alone in the future, which is fine. It's just better to enjoy it with friends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slingerland Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 (edited) Indy is not a place that has a huge range of tourist options. On the other hand, if you focus more on the show in the stadium rather than the town, it's not bad. And parking for $6 to $10 is all but unheard of for NFL stadia. The roof will never be open. Never. It wouldn't make much of a positive difference if it was. Schools are starting earlier and earlier (including in Indiana), so school schedules, as much as anything will dictate where and when DCI Finals can be. If Indy likes DCI and wants to extend the deal and the schools are wiling to play ball, that will probably happen. ALL OF THAT SAID....DCI does a lousy job of producing the Finals week. How much dead time in the night? 50 minutes, easy, and that doesn't include intermission. Does DCI offer $10 end zone tix , emphasizing that you can still "see" the shows on the jumbotrons? Nope. Is there entertainment on the field during intermission? Nope. Are there a range of sponsored parties in the area around the stadium where people can get together before or after the show and have fun? Very few, and none of them are official except for the events hosted by various corps. This should be a social event for the die-hard DCI fans, a party-scene comparable to how Louisville treats the Derby, but it has all the party atmosphere of an 8th grade band concert. Edited August 12, 2014 by Slingerland 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCImonkey Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 Ok IMComguy.....I'll give you prelims only because lack of butts in seats makes it sound awful. Opening the roof MUST fix that. Semis and Finals......keep em closed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 Indy is not a place that has a huge range of tourist options. On the other hand, if you focus more on the show in the stadium rather than the town, it's not bad. And parking for $6 to $10 is all but unheard of for NFL stadia. The roof will never be open. Never. It wouldn't make much of a positive difference if it was. Schools are starting earlier and earlier (including in Indiana), so school schedules, as much as anything will dictate where and when DCI Finals can be. If Indy likes DCI and wants to extend the deal and the schools are wiling to play ball, that will probably happen. ALL OF THAT SAID....DCI does a lousy job of producing the Finals week. How much dead time in the night? 50 minutes, easy, and that doesn't include intermission. Does DCI offer $10 end zone tix , emphasizing that you can still "see" the shows on the jumbotrons? Nope. Is there entertainment on the field during intermission? Nope. Are there a range of sponsored parties in the area around the stadium where people can get together before or after the show and have fun? Very few, and none of them are official except for the events hosted by various corps. This should be a social event for the die-hard DCI fans, a party-scene comparable to how Louisville treats the Derby, but it has all the party atmosphere of an 8th grade band concert. And I was just beginning to wonder what you really think. (Said no one reading your post.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slingerland Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 (edited) No sense in burying the lede. It was good to see a relatively full house out to the 0s this weekend, but there were still 5,000 unsold seats in the endzones that could have been filled, if the right angle was found to sell them. If DCI brought in someone on the marketing team whose sole job was to sell those seats to 16 to 20 year old fans at $10-15 each, they could spend $40-50k on that one staff initiative, and it would pay for itself and the corps would still benefit, since those kids are the ones who buy t-shirts. If 2500 more kids spent $20 each in the concourse, it's an additional $50,000 in t-shirt revenues to the corps that night. Edited August 12, 2014 by Slingerland 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FanLib Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 Indiana residents could get cheap tickets. I believe they were $15 with a state ID. Wonder he well that went over or how it was publicized? I know it was on the programs for the Muncie show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slingerland Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 (edited) Get out past Indiana. The initiative should be targeted at any 16 to 20 year old kid within 500 miles driving distance of Indy (that covers about 12 states). Keep the price low enough that they can rationalize all the other expenses involved, but then give them something, when they get there, that makes it worth the trip. Rule number 1 is don't leave money on the table, and right now, each of those empty seats is an unused opportunity to bring money in for the corps. Edited August 12, 2014 by Slingerland Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IMcomguy Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 Ok IMComguy.....I'll give you prelims only because lack of butts in seats makes it sound awful. Opening the roof MUST fix that. Semis and Finals......keep em closed Again, let's just give the fans one night. Test it out. See how terrible it really is... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbandguy Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 Don't think the open roof is ever going to happen. Video/Audio folks don't want it. Majority of the fans don't want it (because of the heat) and most of all...the corps do not want it. These shows are designed with LOS (and closed roof) in mind from day 1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lead Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 To the "drum corps is an outdoor activity" argument: Yes, it is. However, it sure seems like DCI is interested in pushing towards the indoor route for whatever reason - Finals in Lucas Oil Stadium, Atlanta in the GeorgiaDome, San Antonio in the AlamoDome. And my guess is you can bet on Minnesota being in the new thingamajig when it's completed instead of the UofM stadium. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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