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It is time for the business of the activity to evolve


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I'll probably get banned for this, but in all honesty, I think WGI's model is going to win. We love the the "Is it live or is it Memorex?" effect of a large corps, but you can get close to that indoors with smaller ensembles. Rhythm X's fees, for example, are $1500 for the year. Stuff a single charter bus to capacity, maybe a rented equipment truck, keep it more regional and shorter tours. It has built-in a lot of the limitations and effective spending caps to make things more competitive - eve if you spend twice as much as another ensemble - what would you spend it on?

150 people dancing on an outdoor field or 50 people dancing on a basketball court. Is there a huge difference?

Edited by cybersnyder
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12 hours ago, Mello Dude said:

There needs to be a spending cap.  Even MLB and NFL understand these things to keep competition on a level playing field.  This should also include the sweetheart deals from manufacturers.  Either include ALL corps or none.

a spending cap is about players salaries, of which there are none in drum corps. there is no cap on what teams pay for coaches, front office personnel, trainers and more.Nor is there a cap on what they pay for equipment.

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10 hours ago, cybersnyder said:

I'll probably get banned for this, but in all honesty, I think WGI's model is going to win. We love the the "Is it live or is it Memorex?" effect of a large corps, but you can get close to that indoors with smaller ensembles. Rhythm X's fees, for example, are $1500 for the year. Stuff a single charter bus to capacity, maybe a rented equipment truck, keep it more regional and shorter tours. It has built-in a lot of the limitations and effective spending caps to make things more competitive - eve if you spend twice as much as another ensemble - what would you spend it on?

150 people dancing on an outdoor field or 50 people dancing on a basketball court. Is there a huge difference?

With varying degrees of tongue planted in cheek:

- Volume (the more non-amplified, the better) and Impact.

- Brass. Lots of it.

- Visual complexity and expanse that numbers and square footage give you.

- The opportunity to experience the performance without being in a booming echo chamber.

- Number of, and proximity to, the "shriek for every toss/spin/catch" crowd

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10 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

a spending cap is about players salaries, of which there are none in drum corps. there is no cap on what teams pay for coaches, front office personnel, trainers and more.Nor is there a cap on what they pay for equipment.

There are dollars exchanged between MMs and the org that can be negotiated.  True, there is no cap on sports teams' non-player expenses but that doesn't mean there can't be in drum corps.

 

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1 hour ago, gak27 said:

With varying degrees of tongue planted in cheek:

- Volume (the more non-amplified, the better) and Impact.

- Brass. Lots of it.

- Visual complexity and expanse that numbers and square footage give you.

- The opportunity to experience the performance without being in a booming echo chamber.

- Number of, and proximity to, the "shriek for every toss/spin/catch" crowd

Yes, that's the fun side of it. I'm looking at what makes more business sense. I don't think tour fees can go up much more. 

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1 minute ago, cybersnyder said:

Yes, that's the fun side of it. I'm looking at what makes more business sense. I don't think tour fees can go up much more. 

Tour fees can continue to go up until attendance at try-outs declines.

150 members at $7,500 per MM = $1.125mm revenue.

Or 200 members at $5,500 per MM = $1.1mm revenue.

Either way, the easiest thing for drum corps to do is fill the ranks while simultaneously increasing MM fees across the activity.

 

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34 minutes ago, garfield said:

Tour fees can continue to go up until attendance at try-outs declines.

150 members at $7,500 per MM = $1.125mm revenue.

Or 200 members at $5,500 per MM = $1.1mm revenue.

Either way, the easiest thing for drum corps to do is fill the ranks while simultaneously increasing MM fees across the activity.

 

But 200 versus 150 is another bus and additional mouths to feed, unis, etc. So, they’re not coming in as a free revenue stream. Some costs may spread out but I don’t think altering the size of the corps would modify fees in any major way. You could spread out overhead costs, but not individual costs. I don’t know what the average cost per individual is but since there are tour fees, fundraisers, appearance fees, etc, I doubt that individuals are covering all of their costs via tour fees. 

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18 hours ago, ShortAndFast said:

I don't really disagree with most of this, but I think you are overstating it to say that BD had money and the Cavies didn't circa 2011. Both were elite units that could fund their programs. The competitive fall of the Cavies was more about the loss of a critical staff member than running out of money.

But the rest of it: definitely true. Management at all corps at all competitive levels should pretty much be thinking all the time about how to grow the revenue streams that support their programs. Top-level DCI programs are already very expensive, and I'd guess that costs have grown faster than inflation over the past 5 years.

I agree with this. I think the point I was trying to make and didn't is that Cavaliers don't have the full-time positions available the way BD does. I believe Blue Devils currently have 19 full-time jobs within the org. ???

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1 hour ago, jwillis35 said:

I agree with this. I think the point I was trying to make and didn't is that Cavaliers don't have the full-time positions available the way BD does. I believe Blue Devils currently have 19 full-time jobs within the org. ???

I guess this is a good time to ask.  With the recent bill going through the California legislature aimed at the gig economy, it feels very much like the attached A/B/C test ( is going to classify a lot of drum corps staff as employees?  

https://www.vox.com/2019/8/27/20833233/ab-5-california-bill-candidates-vote

Quote

"To hire an independent contractor, businesses must prove that the worker a) is free from the company’s control, b) is doing work that isn’t central to the company’s business, and c) has an independent business in that industry. If they don’t meet all three of those conditions, then they have to be classified as employees."

Mike

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