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10 More Years in Indy


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5 minutes ago, MikeN said:

Yeah, but with 40+ corps in town, only the big corps are getting that a/c controlled space. 

Mike

There's literally 11.5 million square feet of convention space between Las Vegas and Henderson (adjacent city), more than any other area in the U.S. The majority of hotel properties have at least one indoor facility that can accommodate a full corps rehearsal, and there's nearly 90  properties like that on the Strip alone.

 

Edit: I should probably mention that I'm one of the guys who crunches the numbers on Las Vegas tourism for a living. Being an avid drum corps person, I've done the math on this, from number of available rooms and the average cost per room/flight, and in all scenarios the cost goes down unless you live basically within driving distance from Indianapolis. I've also talked to some of the appropriate folks., from city-wide entertainment initiative people to convention facility and hotel sales people. Without a stadium, we're obviously a ways away from being able to do anything but hypothesize, but so far I've yet to find an actual hurdle.

Edited by ouooga
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3 minutes ago, ouooga said:

There's literally 11.5 million square feet of convention space between Las Vegas and Henderson (adjacent city), more than any other area in the U.S. The majority of hotel properties have at least one indoor facility that can accommodate a full corps rehearsal, and there's nearly 90  properties like that on the Strip alone.

at what cost??? to each corps, to DCI.

Most corps found renting these same types of facilities in greater Indy quite cost prohibitive.

Add to all this the travel time to Vegas for the tour, the sparsity of population in the between areas, and the need for housing and show sites for corps along the way.

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Just now, xandandl said:

at what cost??? to each corps, to DCI.

Most corps found renting these same types of facilities in greater Indy quite cost prohibitive.

Add to all this the travel time to Vegas for the tour, the sparsity of population in the between areas, and the need for housing and show sites for corps along the way.

I edited my original with a lot of that information. After looking at it for so long, my assessment is that drum corps folks are scared of change regardless how well the data says it'll work. It would be a big shift, I understand, so I realize why it's so hard for a lot of people to wrap their heads around this one. All good man.

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13 minutes ago, ouooga said:

: I should probably mention that I'm one of the guys who crunches the numbers on Las Vegas tourism for a living.

Make it happen spent 2 weeks in Vegas before and after the Rose Bowl that year. Also if you get a chance let them Golden Knights know where they stole that name from. Go Golden Knights do it again next year!

Edited by Bluzes
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34 minutes ago, ouooga said:

3 year old and 1 year old, I understand. That's been my other hurdle as well, though we're talking about Denver next year.

God Bless You Sir. My son in the third grade was bullied because he was so excited about Phantoms William Tell the first week of school. The other kids had no idea who the Phantom Regiment were that labeled him all year.

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16 minutes ago, xandandl said:

According to 2019 judging standards, would splitting the apple on the head by a flying arrow be the GE finale the judges would reward and for the crowd to applaud?

Which way the arrow is pointed depends on how much GE is generated. Is it concert side or towards the back stands, would a judge be the apple it they missed, huge GE then.

Edited by Bluzes
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On 8/13/2018 at 4:19 PM, ChiBoyinLA said:

Modern Covered stadiums with greater seating capacity than LOS: 
AT&T Stadium                                 Arlington     
NRG Stadium                                  Houston    
Mercedes-Benz Stadium               Atlanta    
U.S. Bank Stadium                          Minneapolis    
Ford Field                                         Detroit   
University of Phoenix Stadium     Glendale     

Coming soon: Los Angeles Stadium and Las Vegas Stadium

... just saying.  There are now many indoor venues that would provide a better visitor experience and easier air travel than Indy. I suspect DCI is staying put because Indy is super convenient for its office staff, they know there are enough high schools available to host corps, and the financial terms for the rental are favorable. 

Here's my mostly uneducated take on the viability of these venues (mainly for my own entertainment). Only venue I've been to is U.S. Bank Stadium (for the unofficial state marching band competition). As for cities, I've been to Arlington, Houston, Atlanta, LA, and Vegas. Currently live near Mpls.

Overall -- for as much as I didn't like the stadium experience at Indy, I think it's here to stay unless Mpls/Atl/etc can offer a sweeter deal.

Arlington - I would imagine the overall venue and its acoustics would be an upgrade (provided the roof could be opened). Housing would be pretty easy too ... with the Dallas area being flush with large public schools. Biggest issue might be fan experience (Arlington is a giant suburb and the Stadium is surrounded by a sea of parking lots). I can't imagine this venue being cheaper for DCI either, considering there's never been a regional here.

Houston - Similar to Arlington: I think fan experience would be a downgrade from Indy. The stadium has a similar design to LOS, and the area is on the outskirts of Houston ... which -- IMO -- really isn't much of a tourist city to begin with. I can't imagine cost being cheaper either.

Atlanta - I'd consider Atlanta a small step-up from Indy: stadium is close-ish to their downtown, which has way more to do than Indy, at least. Based on the reviews here, the stadium's acoustics weren't much better than Indy ... but some of the sight lines are bad (the overall design of this stadium ... from its sphincter-like roof, to its circular design ... has never appealed to me). They already do a regional here, so housing seems to be good. Overall, I think I would have more fun in ATL than I did in Indy for finals.

Minneapolis - Total bias here, but this would be a step-up from Indy too. Way better nightlife. Way more to do in the daytime (Twins games, tons of breweries/distilleries, tons of gorgeous parks). Better public transportation (light rail can take you from Mall of America area to Downtown ... easy for those with kids). DCI MN at the college stadium was pretty much a regional in 2010/11 ... so housing isn't an issue -- The marching scene in MN is on the rise. The natural light ambiance of the stadium is gorgeous, but ...

... the acoustics suck. A small remedy: at the marching band show I mentioned earlier, the crowd was on the visitors side because of the tilted ETFE roof coming toward the home section. Unfortunately, the visitors' side doesn't have good sight lines, especially in the lower section (its more flat than the home side).

Another potential remedy might come after the 2019 final four, with the coming of an NCAA-required "blackout" curtain that could be used for noise dampening. Apparently natural light at a basketball game is a non-starter. I really hope the NCAA pays for this. Interesting read below:

http://www.startribune.com/u-s-bank-stadium-authority-needs-blackout-drapery-for-entire-building-before-2019-final-four/475468313/

Despite the acoustics ... who cares: Minneapolis > Indy. MAKE IT HAPPEN, DAN.

Detroit - This would be interesting. Can anybody that was there for the DCI Tour Premiere this year chime in on the experience? Detroit would have been a non-starter 10 years ago or so, but I'd imagine DCI could get a super cheap deal.

Glendale - Seems similar to Arlington ... a massive stadium/parking lot complex in the middle of a suburb. Also, AZ in August sounds awful.

New LA Stadium - The design is really intriguing: it's basically an ETFE "canopy" over an open stadium. I almost think this might be the design of the future (sort of wasted on LA since it never rains there).

That said: it'll never happen here since it's being built with private money. Also, the Rams owner -- Stan Kroenke -- is a heartless person who probably hates drum corps anyway. 

http://www.lased.com/

New Vegas Stadium - Domed with retractable windows. The other interesting angle to this is that less than half of this is built with public financing ... which means we'd be more likely to see finals here than at the Kroenke Dome in LA.

Finals in Vegas? A man can dream ...

 

EDIT - let me be clear: stadium financing is usually nothing more than corporate welfare, benefiting some of the most awful of the awful rich. I still like to geek out about the design aspects though.

Edited by ShutUpAndPlayYerGuitar
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3 hours ago, Bluzes said:

Lets hope that you don't have to explain your motives to a judge someday. Your just adding fuel to the fire. You seem to stand up for everyone except the MMs, not a good place to be.

What crime or tort are you suggesting he is committing?  Or anyone is?  Really not following you here.

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1 minute ago, skevinp said:

What crime or tort are you suggesting he is committing?  Or anyone is?  Really not following you here.

Everything on this site is fine and dandy till it's not. Been there already on other sites. Just pointing out this site could get wrapped up in something a lot bigger and this site would be a target in developing a bigger picture suit. It's the world we live in today.

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