DCI World Championships Finals - Paid Attendance Figures

[BRASSO]

56 minutes ago, Liahona said:

So here are the total number of corps for each of these years.  It would be interesting if there is any correlation between attendance numbers and the number of corps that actually attended Nationals/Championships.

This list includes ONLY corps that actually attended Nationals/Championships. The International division is excluded.

For example: 2008 there were actually 46 fielded corps, 20 WC, 26 OC, 1 new, 3 folded, only 43 attended Championships. I'm just using 43 (instead of 46).
 

Classes/Divisions definitions

1972-1974: Open Class

1975-1982: Open Class, Class A, and all-girl

1983-1984: Open Class and Class A

1985-1991: Open Class, Class A, Class A60

1992-2007: Division I, Division II, and Division III

2008 - Present: World Class and Open Class

Class and Division Membership Limits

• Open Class (1972–92) had a membership limit of 128.
• Class A generally had 90 members or fewer although the actual limit was 128.
• All-Girl Class was for corps with membership restricted to girls only: there was no such class for corps restricted to all-boy membership; the membership limit was 128.
• Class A60 and the later Division III had a maximum of 60 members; a controversial minimum of 30 members was added later.
• Division II had the same membership limit as Division I but a generally lower level of competitive expertise.
• Division I went from an original membership limit of 128 to 135.
• World Class, the current Open Class, and International Class all have a membership limit of 150.
   

1972 - 39 corps OPEN                              = 39 total

1973 - 48 corps OPEN                             = 48 total

1974 - 57 corps OPEN                              = 57 total 

1975 - 46 corps OPEN //  19 corps Class A //  9 All-girl         = 74 total

1976 - 47 corps OPEN //  25 corps Class A //  9 All-girl         = 81 total

1977 - 45 corps OPEN //  26 corps Class A //  7 All-girl         = 78 total

1978 - 43 corps OPEN //  19 corps Class A //  5 All-girl         = 67 total

1979 - 43 corps OPEN //  18 corps Class A //  5 All-girl         = 66 total

1980 - 44 corps OPEN //  19 corps Class A //  9 All-girl         = 72 total

1981 - 49 corps OPEN //  21 corps Class A //  8 All-girl         = 78 total

1982 - 48 corps OPEN //  43 corps Class A //  7 All-girl         = 98 total

1983 - 30 corps OPEN //  22 corps Class A                = 52 total

1984 - 27 corps OPEN //  25 corps Class A                = 52 total

1985 - 26 corps OPEN //   19 corps Class A //  15 corps Class A60    = 60 total

1986 - 26 corps OPEN //   13 corps Class A //  20 corps Class A60    = 59 total

1987 - 25 corps OPEN //   13 corps Class A //  23 corps Class A60    = 61 total

1988 - 26 corps OPEN //   16 corps Class A //  24 corps Class A60    = 66 total

1989 - 25 corps OPEN //   12 corps Class A //  23 corps Class A60    = 60 total

1990 - 25 corps OPEN //   19 corps Class A //  23 corps Class A60    = 67 total    

1991 - 29 corps OPEN //   19 corps Class A //  14 corps Class A60    = 62 total

1992 - 27 corps DIV I //    18 corps DIV II //  29 corps DIV III    = 74 total

1993 - 29 corps DIV I //    15 corps DIV II //  21 corps DIV III    = 65 total

1994 - 24 corps DIV I //    18 corps DIV II //  36 corps DIV III    = 78 total

1995 - 23 corps DIV I //    13 corps DIV II //  41 corps DIV III    = 77 total

1996 - 25 corps DIV I //    13 corps DIV II //  31 corps DIV III    = 69 total

1997 - 26 corps DIV I //     9 corps DIV II //  35 corps DIV III    = 70 total

1998 - 24 corps DIV I //    12 corps DIV II //  25 corps DIV III    = 61 total

1999 - 26 corps DIV I //    12 corps DIV II //  31 corps DIV III    = 69 total

2000 - 24 corps DIV I //    14 corps DIV II //  32 corps DIV III    = 70 total

2001 - 23 corps DIV I //    12 corps DIV II //  26 corps DIV III    = 61 total

2002 - 22 corps DIV I //    12 corps DIV II //  28 corps DIV III    = 62 total

2003 - 23 corps DIV I //     9 corps DIV II //  24 corps DIV III    = 56 total

2004 - 24 corps DIV I //    10 corps DIV II //  18 corps DIV III    = 52 total

2005 - 24 corps DIV I //    10 corps DIV II //  18 corps DIV III    = 52 total

2006 - 23 corps DIV I //    11 corps DIV II //  17 corps DIV III    = 51 total

2007 - 22 corps DIV I //     6 corps DIV II //  15 corps DIV III    = 43 total

2008 - 20 corps WORLD //     23 corps OPEN //                = 43 total          

2009 - 22 corps WORLD //     19 corps OPEN //                = 43 total
    
2010 - 23 corps WORLD //     16 corps OPEN //                = 39 total
    
2011 - 24 corps WORLD //     17 corps OPEN //                = 41 total

2012 - 21 corps WORLD //     14 corps OPEN //                = 35 total

2013 - 23 corps WORLD //     13 corps OPEN //                = 36 total

2014 - 23 corps WORLD //     14 corps OPEN //                = 37 total

2015 - 24 corps WORLD //     14 corps OPEN //                = 38 total

2016 - 22 corps WORLD //     16 corps OPEN //                = 38 total
    
2017 - 23 corps WORLD //     16 corps OPEN //                = 39 total
 

 

 Phenomenal research work done here. Liahona. Kudos to you for this. I find it very informative when layed out like this in a readable format. This is DCP at its best, imo.

[waliman4444]

1 hour ago, BRASSO said:

 No. The local neighborhood/ Church Parish Drum Corps began to expand beyond these neighborhoods in the early to late 60's, and thus predates the formation of DCI in 1972. The DCI national touring model however perhaps might had a negative effect on the loss of so many Corps in the 70's/ 80's, as the costs of travel were beyond the ability of many Corps that folded to raise sufficient funds for them to incur such all summer long national travel costs. The sheer numbers of Corps that folded in the DCI years of the 70's/80's also perhaps negatively effected attendance as a goodly percentage of family, friends of marchers decided to no longer follow DCI once their family/ friends were no longer in their favorite Corps, once that favorite Corps ceased to exist. Finally, the enormous changes in the activity no doubt turned off thousands who once followed the activity, and they left. To some degree, newer fans that enjoyed the newer offerings replaced them. But not in sufficient in numbers to replace the lost fans numbers. DCI Drum Corps today now has less shows, less Corps, less attendance, no TV exposure now compared to ( for example ) the 70's/ 80's. However, on a brighter note, DCI Regionals and Championships week's attendance the last few years is up compared to the the earlier 2000's years attendance. again

once again your knowledge is appreciated..I'm a dino who still enjoys DCI even though there are fewer opportunities to see shows live 

[Tony L.]

I feel like I am over Indy.  Nice enough venue, but there, but I have run out of things to do.  I can't be the only person who feels that way.   That might keep that Finals attendance number static as long as it remains in Indy. 

[ibexpercussion]

I'll say this...prelims seemed much better attended this year compared to most.  At one point I looked around, and noticed the open parts of the upper sections were filling up.  There was a lot more obvious congestion in the concourse, concessions, and even getting to my seats.

[Tim K]

53 minutes ago, Tony L. said:

I feel like I am over Indy.  Nice enough venue, but there, but I have run out of things to do.  I can't be the only person who feels that way.   That might keep that Finals attendance number static as long as it remains in Indy. 

I usually use all my vacation time in the summer, so my sight seeing, family time, etc is usually around late June and early July. I take time in August too for Allentown and Indy. Allentown and Indy are just for drum corps so things outside of drum corps don't matter that much, but if I did not have the option of using my vacation time in a staggered way, going to Indy every year and hoping to do other things would get old fast. Indy is not a summer destination.

[wolfgang]

1 hour ago, Tony L. said:

I feel like I am over Indy.  Nice enough venue, but there, but I have run out of things to do.  I can't be the only person who feels that way.   That might keep that Finals attendance number static as long as it remains in Indy. 

How much more do you think it can grow? The building has already maxed out the front sideline seating area. There are only so many people who are going to choose to sit on the sides, which is where any growth would occur.

Fyi, the ticket cost is not going to decrease. Law of supply and demand. The Friends of DCI section is slowly expanding and that will continue next year.

[Stu]

17 minutes ago, wolfgang said:

How much more do you think it can grow? The building has already maxed out the front sideline seating area. There are only so many people who are going to choose to sit on the sides, which is where any growth would occur.

Fyi, the ticket cost is not going to decrease. Law of supply and demand. The Friends of DCI section is slowly expanding and that will continue next year.

360* show designs, and the seating capacity for great viewing is increased three times over. So the 'room' for growth is huge!! But since this is such a small niche activity that type of fan increase may not be viable.

[MikeN]

There are a couple of other factors at play in there that bear mentioning.

3 hours ago, BRASSO said:

the costs of travel were beyond the ability of many Corps that folded to raise sufficient funds for them to incur such all summer long national travel costs.

But corps until the mid 2000's didn't *all* have summer-long national tours.  As recently as, what, 2002?, we still had first (regional) and second (national) tours, split by regional championships, and not every corps did both. 

3 hours ago, BRASSO said:

Finally, the enormous changes in the activity no doubt turned off thousands who once followed the activity, and they left.

Or it could be that society changed faster than drum corps did.  Video arcades and roller derbies also dried up after the early 80's.  It's just as plausible that the changes drum corps did *not* make let fans outgrow DCI.  For many, many years, DCI's average fan age grew every year, meaning there was a small core of fans that kept after it while others peeled off and fewer new fans came in.

Also a possibility, tied in to your earlier point about how fewer corps = fewer fans, it could be the "mom and pop" model of drum corps that left kids with subpar housing, food and instruction fell prey to the jump in quality that local marching bands saw, ironically, after modeling themselves on drum corps.  Could be that parents and friends simply shifted their allegiances.

3 hours ago, BRASSO said:

DCI Drum Corps today now has less shows, less Corps, less attendance, no TV exposure now compared to ( for example ) the 70's/ 80's.

Not wrong in your numbers, though I submit there is not consensus about the causes, but for TV, you do discount the number of eyeballs reached today via online and theater, which far surpasses PBS's reach.

Mike

[Liahona]

1 hour ago, Tony L. said:

I feel like I am over Indy.  Nice enough venue, but there, but I have run out of things to do.  I can't be the only person who feels that way.   That might keep that Finals attendance number static as long as it remains in Indy. 

When I've invited non drumcorps fans to A-town...I always found I needed to find an extra activity to do to appease them...like dorney park wildwater kingdom or something else...I find I enjoy going myself now actually more...because I'll go to corps practice and watch...yep I enjoy doing that...or just watching a hornline warmup or work on a certain part...gosh I must be a boring person...LOL

Edited August 30, 2017 by Liahona

[BRASSO]

51 minutes ago, MikeN said:

 

Not wrong in your numbers, though I submit there is not consensus about the causes, but for TV, you do discount the number of eyeballs reached today via online and theater, which far surpasses PBS's reach.

Mike

 I worked the PBS phones one year in Boston's WGBH studios for pledges, and so had access to the stations numbers. PBS told me they had approx. 300,000 viewers watch their broadcast nationally. If accurate, " 300,000 " is far more " eyeballs " than DCI has had on off site programming via combinations of theatre and pay per view combined formats. There is no format that tops national exposure than TV. Thats why advertisers spend lots of advertising dollars still there... unparalleled national exposure. By the way, on the PBS Broadcasts of DCI Championships : . For approx 15 years, DCI and PBS had a great relationship. The pledges came in at a healthy clip for PBS and DCI to continue their Championships telecast. But its true, fans did keep the pledge levels up, but the promises by pledges really began to start to wane considerably, and people began to renege on those pledges promised, and the pledged money from viewers began to dramatically fall off... for whatever reason. PBS then decided not to renew its broadcast. DCI in 2007 tried a 2 year partnership with ESPN, to broadcast a modified ( shortened version of each Corps performance ) broadcast. But DCI and ESPN mutually agreeed to part ways, as ESPN wanted more financial payments from DCI to broadcast its Finals Championships, and DCI decided such payments was not something they wanted to do. DCI has since decided to go to its fans itself to foot the bill for the broadcast, thru a payed subcription service at the moment. My sense. the Pay for View format will be great for current fans, but its not a format to grow a fan base to any large degree. TV exposure expands DCI to the unitiated. That exposure can't be beat, if the product you are offering tends to have popular appeal to begin with. If not, TV will never deliver fan growth. As such then, DCI's decision to diminish TV exposure in hopes of expanding its broader appeal does seem to make pragmatic and financial sense to me at the moment

Edited August 30, 2017 by BRASSO