Does anyone in drum corps think this way?

[perc2100]

Well, any people, or group, or fan base or performer, I suppose. You know, drum corps people and maybe those who control it or pay for it or obsess over it. Maybe decision-makers or marketing or development people.

I post this text from THIS Variety article, after hearing on the business news this morning about the circuit's purchase. Fascinated, I discovered some guys at some marketing firms who actually are visionaries who "buy-in" to the passion of a live sport, nurture it, feed it, market it, grow it, and make participants rock stars.

Imagine replacing the PBR with DCI as you read and then imagine if anyone in DCI envisions this obvious success path...

Fascinating (but long)...

WME/IMG’s expansion into the world of sports continued Wednesday with the announcement that the agency had bought Professional Bull Riders, the rodeo-style event that bills itself as “the fastest-growing sport in America.”

A source close to the deal said the Beverly Hills-based percentery paid about $100 million for ownership of the bull-riding circuit, extending its reach into the live-events space.

PBR stages more than 300 events globally a year, with attendance of more than 3 million people. The sport’s reach via television and the Web — aided by a long-term contract with CBS — extends to more than 550 million households in more than 40 countries.

WME had already made a major move into the sports field last year with its merger with athletics giant IMG. A joint statement from WME/IMG co-CEOs Ari Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell said: “We’ve worked closely with the PBR for the last several years and share their passion for expanding the sport of bull riding globally. The resources across WME/IMG make the partnership a perfect match, combining top quality event production and broadcast rights.”

The Pueblo, Colorado-based organization is run by chief executive Jim Haworth, who said Wednesday he was “thrilled” to join WME/IMG.

“The acquisition will allow our organization to continue its expansion worldwide, and bring our top-quality events to the masses,” Haworth said.

Haworth noted that the organization’s fans follow the bulls sometimes more closely than the riders. He noted that in ESPN the Magazine’s “body” feature last year that a bull named Bushwacker was touted as possessing “the Baddest Body in Sports.”

Last October, about 5,000 people turned out at Huntington Beach, Calif., for an event in which PBR brought its “bull athletes” to the beach. The event drew considerable television viewership, as well, thanks in part to an NFL game lead-in, Haworth said.

The tour was founded in 1992 by 20 riders, breaking away from the traditional rodeo circuit. The organization now holds several tours, including the elite PBR Built Ford Tough Series, the BlueDEF Velocity Tour, the Touring Pro Division, and circuits in Australia, Brazil, Canada and Mexico.

Haworth noted that the Professional Bull Riders are not entirely newcomers to Hollywood. Organization members served as advisers on the recently released Scott Eastwood starrer “The Longest Ride.”

WME/IMG is purchasing the PBR from controlling shareholder Spire Capital Partners, a New York-based private equity firm and from other shareholders.

The Raine Group and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison served as WME/IMG’s financial and legal advisers, respectively. PBR was advised by financial advisers Evercore and legal advisers Dentons.

I'm not sure I get what you're saying: are you saying a DCI merger of some sort with an entertainment agency and/or entertainment endorsement agency would be awesome? I would guess that DCI or its member corps haven't thought too much about that (though maybe BDE has), and to be kinda blunt I'm not sure DCI would have much to offer at this point. Assuming the figures in this article are true, DCI doesn't have near the national, let alone global reach of PBR (which FWIW I had to read/look up to see what the H it was). It would be cool to see a power agency like WME/IMG help broaden DCI's reach, though I would assume that partnership would come at concession for DCI (such as, maybe, change in programming to better attract new, mainstream audiences).

I think at this point, after DCI's attempts to partner with ESPN kind of fizzled out for one reason or another, it's OK to accept that DCI is a niche of a niche entertainment/educational activity. They currently don't have the infrastructure to be much bigger than that, and I wouldn't be surprised if they are OK with where they're at.

I get wanting to see our activity grow to a larger audience is enticing, but I also think it might be more prudent to focus on more attainable goals/improvements DCI can work on

[N.E. Brigand]

I'm just tickled to learn that one of the circuit's stars is named Bushwacker.

[garfield]

I'm not sure I get what you're saying: are you saying a DCI merger of some sort with an entertainment agency and/or entertainment endorsement agency would be awesome? I would guess that DCI or its member corps haven't thought too much about that (though maybe BDE has), and to be kinda blunt I'm not sure DCI would have much to offer at this point. Assuming the figures in this article are true, DCI doesn't have near the national, let alone global reach of PBR (which FWIW I had to read/look up to see what the H it was). It would be cool to see a power agency like WME/IMG help broaden DCI's reach, though I would assume that partnership would come at concession for DCI (such as, maybe, change in programming to better attract new, mainstream audiences).

I think at this point, after DCI's attempts to partner with ESPN kind of fizzled out for one reason or another, it's OK to accept that DCI is a niche of a niche entertainment/educational activity. They currently don't have the infrastructure to be much bigger than that, and I wouldn't be surprised if they are OK with where they're at.

I get wanting to see our activity grow to a larger audience is enticing, but I also think it might be more prudent to focus on more attainable goals/improvements DCI can work on

Thank you for the intelligent post.

What I'm saying is that 23 years ago a group of bullriders with passion and a vision broke away from their circuit and started their own. And in 23 years they grew a relatively obscure, niche activity into one that was just valued at $100million dollars by an actual purchase for that amount.

Nearly twice as long ago a group of drum corps guys broke off from their circuit with passion and a vision and started their own circuit. And in that time they grew their relatively obscure, niche activity into one that reports its value at about $12million or so.

Naturally, there are distinct differences in product and market and audience and all that, and there will certainly be different paths taken to reach "the goal" of both activities. Some will say that they aren't even compatible enough to compare and the path that the PBR took should NOT be the one that DCI should take. OK, I can buy that in lieu of actual study.

But the one thing both activities share is a vision of themselves in the future. If you're correct in your assessment of what the DCI directors want or are satisfied with, then - Ho-Hum - we'll look forward to more of what we've always gotten. But if they dream of a vision that is drum corps being something more than it is, I wonder what steps DCI would be willing to take to make it happen.

The PBR focused on what could be, where as it seems DCI is focused (and stuck, IMO) on what DCI is.

[N.E. Brigand]

I'm all for DCI looking to every other successful enterprise for ideas on how to thrive at its mission.

So could you or someone suggest one specific thing that PBR did that DCI should have done or should do?

And is PBR really more successful? For instance, in the past 23 years, which organization has had more performers?

Edited April 17, 2015 by N.E. Brigand

[luv4corps]

Garfield I think several here missed your point. I think I get it. Could some kind of parallel universe vision of DCI (meaning it needs to stay non-profit) grow the activity with the kind of fervor afforded to this bull riding venture or other sports ventures? That is what you are asking, right? If it were to happen it would take a gifted visionary, someone like Roger Goodell, who could simultaneously see the future, brand the future AND get it all done.

[BRASSO]

Not upsetting the apple cart status quo, and repeating the way things have always been done is certain slow death.

Ringling is evolving after 133 years with this it looks like too: ( we need music and lyrics to accompany this new policy that would be befitting of this new change.. ..how 'bout .. "Send in the Clowns " ? )

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-ringling-bros-no-more-elephants-20150305-story.html

Edited April 17, 2015 by BRASSO

[perc2100]

I'm all for DCI looking to every other successful enterprise for ideas on how to thrive at its mission.

So could you or someone suggest one specific thing that PBR did that DCI should have done or should do?

And is PBR really more successful? For instance, in the past 23 years, which organization has had more performers?

I would say, assuming the figures in the posted article are correct, reaching 550 million TV + web viewers across 40 countries is huge. From a very cursory evaluation of the situation, PBR grew a niche brand into a fairly large, world-wide phenomenon. I don't know how they did that, unfortunately, as that's not documented that I could find (again, with a very minimal search). I would guess that when the organization was fledgling and got a TV deal somewhere it caught on ratings-wise, whereas for whatever reason DCI did not. Bull riding seems to me like it's a fairly short-term bit of entertainment, where you could show a 30 or 60 minute broadcast, see lots of different personalities, and not need to get super-invested as an audience member flipping channels. One DCI Finalist is a full 15 minutesish production, that is so dense that often multi-camera productions miss something. I think a DCI production is pretty hard for a mainstream TV viewer to latch onto and immediately "get," whereas Bull Riding is not (as someone who has never paid attention at all, I know the point is for the guy to not fall off the bull, and I imagine it might be at least partially funny to drink beer and watch a cowboy get thrown off a bull).

IMO I would think that for DCI to take a giant leap into the mainstream they would have to sacrifice design ideals to appeal to the uninitiated audience: instead of Fellini they would need to Wizard of Oz ala The Ohio State University Marching Band. I suspect if that is the choice, DCI is fine being who they currently are, and trying to improve what they have going now (improve attendance at their Regional shows, get more FN subscribers, improve online presence, etc)

[perc2100]

Thank you for the intelligent post.

What I'm saying is that 23 years ago a group of bullriders with passion and a vision broke away from their circuit and started their own. And in 23 years they grew a relatively obscure, niche activity into one that was just valued at $100million dollars by an actual purchase for that amount.

Nearly twice as long ago a group of drum corps guys broke off from their circuit with passion and a vision and started their own circuit. And in that time they grew their relatively obscure, niche activity into one that reports its value at about $12million or so.

Naturally, there are distinct differences in product and market and audience and all that, and there will certainly be different paths taken to reach "the goal" of both activities. Some will say that they aren't even compatible enough to compare and the path that the PBR took should NOT be the one that DCI should take. OK, I can buy that in lieu of actual study.

But the one thing both activities share is a vision of themselves in the future. If you're correct in your assessment of what the DCI directors want or are satisfied with, then - Ho-Hum - we'll look forward to more of what we've always gotten. But if they dream of a vision that is drum corps being something more than it is, I wonder what steps DCI would be willing to take to make it happen.

The PBR focused on what could be, where as it seems DCI is focused (and stuck, IMO) on what DCI is.

I think what I bolded is the big question, and we've already seen that DCI doesn't want to take many, if any, 'bold' steps towards change. Heck, the upper echelon directors tried to take slightly bold (relatively) steps of change and were met with bitter resentment not only from their peers, but a large swath of the vocal online fan base.

In relation to that discussion (what DCI "Could Be" vs what DCI "IS"), did PBR change more than a business model to reach the mainstream? It could be they hit the right market at the right time, when the NASCAR-set was looking to fill other TV-watching time and PBR stepped up to fill that void. If PBR merely changed their business model (which, is obviously no small thing, but smaller than changing business model AND changing other aspects of the product), do you think DCI could make a similar with only a change to their business model? I really feel like they tried that, to a (very) small extent in 2005 when they went with ESPN: that didn't work out so well so DCI "retreated" back to their original(ish) model, focused on their online presence & running a smooth summer circuit, and that's it.

[garfield]

Garfield I think several here missed your point. I think I get it. Could some kind of parallel universe vision of DCI (meaning it needs to stay non-profit) grow the activity with the kind of fervor afforded to this bull riding venture or other sports ventures? That is what you are asking, right? If it were to happen it would take a gifted visionary, someone like Roger Goodell, who could simultaneously see the future, brand the future AND get it all done.

I'm in no way promoting that DCI should continue to remain a 501c3; again, I don't think the corporate structure is at all the issue.

"...a gifted visionary..."? You mean a strong leader?

What's interesting in your last sentence are the provisos. "seeing the future" is nothing more than a vision of what you want to be, "branding" is not necessary because DCI *IS* the brand (that job's been done), and the last four words represent what seems to be what's missing in DCI.

.

[garfield]

I'm all for DCI looking to every other successful enterprise for ideas on how to thrive at its mission.

So could you or someone suggest one specific thing that PBR did that DCI should have done or should do?

And is PBR really more successful? For instance, in the past 23 years, which organization has had more performers?

Well, sure. I would start with copying THIS.

Only one (and now retired) competitor is a board member of PBR. Unlike DCI, apparently championship bull-riders don't have the business egos that prevent them from making millions.

I once heard a top corps director say he would never be a member of an organization in which he didn't have control.

Maybe changing that viewpoint, and redefining who actually has the business acumen to guide the activity, would be a good place to start.