The DCI 990s

[garfield]

I don't want to go too far on a tangent, but this post makes me curious about a few things. Understanding you may not be able to get too specific, I'll ask:

1) What is the cost of cancellation insurance? Is it remotely affordable?

2) Do you, as the show organizer, know a breakdown of how much each corps "costs" or do you just get the final fee?

3) Somewhat related to No. 2 - at what point in the process do you find out what the lineup will be?

4) Does DCI provide any guidelines as to ticket pricing, or is that left up to the organizer?

5) Does DCI handle ticket sales or does the organzier have to find someone to handle that?

Lots of things come to mind even when talking about an "ordinary" weeknight show, much less the logistics of any of the major regionals or nationals. Curious to hear more about how DCI handles things.

1. Rain insurance is somewhat affordable - we've looked at it a couple of times

2. Yes, we are informed of what each costs

3. We find out our lineup almost immediately; by the time we agree to host a show the schedule has been mostly worked out

4. Ticket pricing is left up to the host

5. The show host has several ticketing options. DCI offers a ticketing package for a fee, Crown tickets offers a package for a fee, or the host can handle ticketing on his/her own.

[garfield]

questions as I know it's broken out where you can see it but...could the TOC shows have contributed to the loss?

Sure, but I don't recall from the bigger study that TOC shows were broken out separately in the 990.

We'll see a further breakdown of expenses shortly.

[garfield]

Next comes "Other Income", which is made up of two categories: "Investment Income" and "Net Income (loss) from sales of Inventory" (presumably, souvie sales including audio/video products).

"Investment Income". This category is broken down into two sub-categores: "Income" (as in dividends, interest, and the like), and Realized Gains and Losses from sales of securities.

2009: Income - $2103, G/L - ($81,138) (Sell at the bottom, eh?), Net - ($79,035) net loss
2010: Income - $191 (No realized gain or loss)
2011: Income - $144 (No realized gain or loss)

2012: Income - $3,853 (No realized gain or loss)

"Net Income (loss) from Sales of Inventory" takes gross sales of inventory, subtracts returns and allowances, then subtracts "Cost of Goods Sold":

2009: $304,028
2010: $364,610 (plus $60,582 [19.9%] from 2009)
2011: $341,691 (minus $22,919 [6.3%] from 2010, plus $37,663 [12.4%] from 2009)

2012: $347,253

So, it appears that profits from souvie sales make up about 3% or 4% of DCI's income. But what's also interesting is the gross amount of souvies sales, i.e. what was sold, not how much profit was made ("Gross sales of inventory, less returns and allowances"):

2009: $1,391,787
2010: $1,385,384 (minus $6403 [.5%] from 2009)
2011: $1,445,535 (plus $60,151 [4.3%] from 2010, plus $53,748 [3.9%] from 2009)

2012: $1,490,216

Interesting pattern here. In 2010, less sales from 2009 but more profit made (cheaper products?). In 2011, 4.3% more sales but 6.3% less profit (more expensive products?)

[MikeN]

This is still fascinating. Keep it coming.

Mike

[garfield]

Re: the last post about souvie sales, I did notice that gross sales increased about 3.1% from 2011, but "profit" (Net income from sales of inventory) rose only half that amount (1.6%).

Sold more and made less?

I wonder (and ask for comment) which would you, as a fan, rather buy: a high-quality and premium priced shirt (T-, golf, or otherwise) or other souvie or would you rather buy a lower-quality, lower-priced shirt or souvie.

IOW, in your opinion, is DCI better off by selling less and making more profit per item or by selling more items and making less per item?

Just curious as this topic seems to be a point of contention between some directors with whom I've spoken, and could very well be the disagreement that prevents DCI from establishing a central souvie purchasing program for all corps to use.

Edited August 19, 2014 by garfield

[garfield]

This is still fascinating. Keep it coming.

Mike

I'm glad, Mike. I plan to make an addition or two each evening unless the discussion is sufficient to pause longer between posts.

[Precious Roy]

Does DCI (the actual mother ship, not the member corps) really sell THAT many souvenirs? When I am at events, I don't see that many DCI branded clothing being worn. It is almost exclusively corps specific stuff.

[2muchcoffeeman]

Does DCI (the actual mother ship, not the member corps) really sell THAT many souvenirs? When I am at events, I don't see that many DCI branded clothing being worn. It is almost exclusively corps specific stuff.

I would imagine that 99% of "sales of inventory" is DVDs and the like, not hats and T-shirts.

[Jeff Ream]

Re: the last post about souvie sales, I did notice that gross sales increased about 3.1% from 2011, but "profit" (Net income from sales of inventory) rose only half that amount (1.6%).

Sold more and made less?

I wonder (and ask for comment) which would you, as a fan, rather buy: a high-quality and premium priced shirt (T-, golf, or otherwise) or other souvie or would you rather buy a lower-quality, lower-priced shirt or souvie.

IOW, in your opinion, is DCI better off by selling less and making more profit per item or by selling more items and making less per item?

Just curious as this topic seems to be a point of contention between some directors with whom I've spoken, and could very well be the disagreement that prevents DCI from establishing a central souvie purchasing program for all corps to use.

don't forget...souvies also counts media corps create. Some like BD have their media box, others have in house dvd/cds etc.

[garfield]

don't forget...souvies also counts media corps create. Some like BD have their media box, others have in house dvd/cds etc.

DCI's sales of merchandise increased 3.1%, but profits increased only half than that. Is it pertinent that (if true) DCI's sells corps videos or that the numbers reflect media and not t-shirts?

I'm not seeing it.

EDIT: Changed "cost" of merchandise to "sales" of merchandise. Gross sales increased 3.1%, not cost of goods sold.

Edited August 19, 2014 by garfield