DCI Championships In Indy - What Happens After 10 Years Are Up?

[Fran Haring]

The other side of this is the tour becomes a rut. Why can't fans in California see a live contest with all Corps it to form every now and then? This is not helped by the regionals being in the same locations every year - if your location is not conveniently on the route between these you won't have a local show. Yes, the true die-hard fans will make the trek to Indy or a regional, but DCI is missing an opportunity to grow the fan base with local shows.

I agree, the California situation is tough for fans there who want to see something other than an early-season show.

[ouooga]

I agree, the California situation is tough for fans there who want to see something other than an early-season show.

I stand by the notion that it's a travesty that the majority of Blue Devils fans have never seen the Blue Devils score an 85 or higher.

[afd]

I could have sworn I read when this first was announced that Indy would host DCI for 10 years (in addition that Indy would be the new DCI Home Headquarters) that one year in those 10 years that DCI would have to find another host city/facility because Lucas Oil had already booked an event that year (don't know the year). There was some talk that DCI would come back to the west if so. Or was I dreaming that?

[afd]

I agree, the California situation is tough for fans there who want to see something other than an early-season show.

There was some relief when on-demand came out that we could follow the whole season online with live and on-demand shows. Now it's just live stream and if you didn't see it...you can't watch it the next day or week. Now we're basically back to almost nothing after June. Remember when Pacific Procession and Precision West along with the Stockton shows were actually in mid-July? Now they leave the state by early July.

[xandandl]

I could have sworn I read when this first was announced that Indy would host DCI for 10 years (in addition that Indy would be the new DCI Home Headquarters) that one year in those 10 years that DCI would have to find another host city/facility because Lucas Oil had already booked an event that year (don't know the year). There was some talk that DCI would come back to the west if so. Or was I dreaming that?

no, you were not dreaming.

But since then, the convention that had booked Lucas has cancelled their Indianapolis meeting that summer; DCI BoD took the offer to book it for that summer and later also voted to extend their contract with Indianapolis and Lucas. This all happened at least prior to the '16 season, so it is old news.

The talk of a return to the Pacific Coast was just that, talk. Nothing definite was ever announced or publicly proposed. Much debate behind the scenes particularly as tour travel costs to corps have skyrocketed (cost of gas and drivers, added faculty and more vehicles, trucks for props and added instruments, cost of housing...when it can be found, etc., etc.)

[ouooga]

I'm going to revisit the argument (to the dismay of many others on here) that the tour should be modified every year. Indy is centrally located enough that the corps could easily travel in in August from the West instead of the East. I'm not advocating that Finals move, but swapping Atlanta for Stanford and Allentown for Denver every other year is it not a ridiculous notion.

[corpsband]

I'm going to revisit the argument (to the dismay of many others on here) that the tour should be modified every year. Indy is centrally located enough that the corps could easily travel in in August from the West instead of the East. I'm not advocating that Finals move, but swapping Atlanta for Stanford and Allentown for Denver every other year is it not a ridiculous notion.

oh no -- not again :-)

so you make a right in TX instead of left? so one week after SAT you go to Stanford (1700 vs 980) . and then the next week you're in Denver (1290 v 790) , and then in Indy (1080 v 620)? already you've added about 95 mins of travel time per day to the corps schedules. and im sure a lot of those segments are gonna be much longer.

also -- consider all the non-regional shows on the "tour" . there's no way they survive if they go biennial. a lot of those shows count on the event as a major fundraiser. they will find alternatives if it becomes unreliable.

and you have a LOT of tour to fill in on that west coast swing. sure CA will have no problem filling stadiums, but there are long stretches of empty highway on your tour. where are those shows and practice sites going to come from? in fact swamp tour splits in two before coming back together in TN. so there are even MORE shows to schedule.

yeah -- geography -- it's a #####!

Edited September 29, 2016 by corpsband

[flammaster]

I move that anyone West o say, Denver should get a discount on DCI Live.

[ouooga]

oh no -- not again :-)

so you make a right in TX instead of left? so one week after SAT you go to Stanford (1700 vs 980) . and then the next week you're in Denver (1290 v 790) , and then in Indy (1080 v 620)?

also -- consider all the non-regional shows on the "tour" . there's no way they survive if they go biennial. a lot of those shows count on the event as a major fundraiser. they will find alternatives if it becomes unreliable.

and you have a LOT of tour to fill in on that west coast swing. sure CA will have no problem filling stadiums, but there are long stretches of empty highway on your tour. where are those shows and practice sites going to come from? in fact swamp tour splits in two before coming back together in TN. so there are even MORE shows to schedule.

yeah -- geography -- it's a #####!

Same shows, they all just flip flop. Late-July Pennsylvania shows become late June Pennsylvania shows. Late June California shows become late July California shows. No location loses a show, so advanced bookings can still take place (as is extremely common in the major events world).

As for Stanford and Denver, those were purely examples. A regional in Phoenix the week after San Antonio is the same driving distance (actually about 90 miles less) than a regional in Atlanta, with opportunities for shows in Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and other parts of Arizona (many of which already exist as the aformentioned late June shows).

Geography isn't nearly as much of a #### as some on this board think it is. I am 100% confident that a biennial West Coast tour with two regionals is completely pheasible without any corps spending more money, without additional distance, and without any existing annual shows being dissolved.

Change is hard and scary, I know, but it's ok.

[corpsband]

Same shows, they all just flip flop. Late-July Pennsylvania shows become late June Pennsylvania shows. Late June California shows become late July California shows. No location loses a show, so advanced bookings can still take place (as is extremely common in the major events world).

As for Stanford and Denver, those were purely examples. A regional in Phoenix the week after San Antonio is the same driving distance (actually about 90 miles less) than a regional in Atlanta, with opportunities for shows in Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and other parts of Arizona (many of which already exist as the aformentioned late June shows).

Geography isn't nearly as much of a #### as some on this board think it is. I am 100% confident that a biennial West Coast tour with two regionals is completely pheasible without any corps spending more money, without additional distance, and without any existing annual shows being dissolved.

Change is hard and scary, I know, but it's ok.

You make no sense. Draw a google map and show me how DCI can host every show on it's current schedule and by just re-arranging the dates add a west coast swing after SAT. I think you're hand-waving a lot of things away without even realizing it.

And it doesn't really matter where you host the show in CA. The additional distance / time is real. In fact if there is a way to do it without deleting shows, you're adding a minimum of 4000 miles to the tour.

Btw there are already early season shows in PA -- where do they go? DCI did a pretty good job in '05 trying to keep every show on tour. But I think ending in CA actually helped. Swinging back to Indy is not gonna work.

Edited September 30, 2016 by corpsband