Jeff Ream Posted August 28, 2020 Author Share Posted August 28, 2020 19 hours ago, keystone3ply said: All good points, but I still think Varsity wants control plus any & all monetary value that they can maximize as a result of the move or acquisition. It's in their company's history; just research & read it in black & white. (Unless of course, it's printed in color.) I've dealt with them for many, many years & their ridiculous "marked-up" products for auxiliaries. Oh, and their shipping prices are marked up 3-4x what they should be because they know the majorette, dance, & color guard Moms will pay it. But for the most part, their products were quality of high quality & I like their sales rep. But our cheer sponsors feel the same way. To their credit, they do send cheer judges free of charge for auditions. My point was maybe their presence, as with their cheer events, could help with marketing the DCI product to a wider national audience via ESPN, Disney+, something... I think this has been one of DCI's biggest disappointments for me. And I do under stand the cost of ESPN, Disney, PBS, etc, etc... Varsity is trying to become THE player for everything scholastic. tying in with DCI means gullible band directors everywhere see the DCI logo and boom! they're in. Same thing with USBands....the tie to the Cadets was the allure, despite many complaints people had with the circuit ( and i am not bashing USBands, every circuit has issues...but they are out there to find and read). that helps drives bands to pay to do Soundsport...or go to DSI or Stanbury or whoever else they get deals with. DCI becomes a pawn in their bid to own the market and drive competitors out. Look at Varsity's record against competitors in cheering 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted August 28, 2020 Author Share Posted August 28, 2020 46 minutes ago, N.E. Brigand said: A majority of the 20,000 probably do have marching bands, though, who generally have no interest in competing. So the DCI-Varsity plan seems to be to interest some portion of those groups into doing something additional on top of their regular marching band activity. I've been tough on this concept because, per the links others have provided, Varsity seems like a pretty bad company. But here's a possible upside: DCI hopes to use Varsity as a way of increasing awareness of the activity in those 20,000 schools, which could lead to more people trying out for drum corps in the summer. In a thread I posted seven or eight years years ago, I complained that in the program book for OMEA state finals, in which some 12,000 kids participate, there were lots of ads for college music programs but not one from any drum corps (not even the Bluecoats) or from DCI. I suggested that was a missed opportunity, so I suppose I should be glad that DCI may have found a way to reach a lot more band students. But I'm still suspicious of Varsity. those bands may not compete, but where do they get their uniforms, shoes, gloves etc from? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.E. Brigand Posted August 28, 2020 Share Posted August 28, 2020 1 hour ago, Jeff Ream said: those bands may not compete, but where do they get their uniforms, shoes, gloves etc from? Oh, to be sure, and they better be careful about dealing with Varsity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted August 28, 2020 Share Posted August 28, 2020 (edited) For all the angst about the class-action lawsuit... I think Stoller's claim of a "coming collapse" may be premature, or wrong entirely. https://www.dallasnews.com/business/local-companies/2020/06/22/cheerleading-giant-varsity-brands-gets-185-million-in-new-capital-to-power-through-pandemic/ Edited August 28, 2020 by garfield Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted August 28, 2020 Author Share Posted August 28, 2020 19 minutes ago, garfield said: For all the angst about the class-action lawsuit... I think Stoller's claim of a "coming collapse" may be premature, or wrong entirely. https://www.dallasnews.com/business/local-companies/2020/06/22/cheerleading-giant-varsity-brands-gets-185-million-in-new-capital-to-power-through-pandemic/ collapse...no. exposure...ohhh yes 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted August 28, 2020 Share Posted August 28, 2020 51 minutes ago, Jeff Ream said: collapse...no. exposure...ohhh yes What's the old journalistic screed? "Even bad news is good news" or something like that. It appears that Varsity is well-practiced at creating optics favorable to itself. Their adroit claim of "...not a sport..." is impressive. I think they'll find a way to appeal SS and, probably, DLB to high schools in a way that doesn't compete with scholastic programs (as DCI is perceived to do) but enhances the music program. But, I wonder, if there are few rules in SS, won't scholastic programs look more and more like indoor and ensembles the school already funds? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Windish Posted August 28, 2020 Share Posted August 28, 2020 Fellow posters, I know nothing about Varsity other than what is being discussed here. I am neutral on this news. Question - is the release of SoundSport to Varsity actually seen by DCI as a necessity if DCI is to successfully manage its way back? From what I’ve seen of SoundSport on FLO and other places, the number of participating groups is not very large. How much DCI time and effort is expended there? Maybe, too much. I’ve always believed, due to losing a season, DCI (the organization) needs to come back “leaner” than before. Or, cast off certain operations and responsibilities. Meaning, fewer events of all types. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted August 28, 2020 Author Share Posted August 28, 2020 (edited) 8 minutes ago, garfield said: What's the old journalistic screed? "Even bad news is good news" or something like that. It appears that Varsity is well-practiced at creating optics favorable to itself. Their adroit claim of "...not a sport..." is impressive. I think they'll find a way to appeal SS and, probably, DLB to high schools in a way that doesn't compete with scholastic programs (as DCI is perceived to do) but enhances the music program. But, I wonder, if there are few rules in SS, won't scholastic programs look more and more like indoor and ensembles the school already funds? it's to beat out the BOA's, USbands, TOB, you name the circuit. they own big time cheerleading across the country. Now, they want in on marching band...and DCI tie in is a tool to get it. Remember there were hot rumors they were looking at buying USBands. Well now this allows them to start doing the same thing....and in time, reading their ruebook for cheering, you'll see Soundsport start to have a more formalized rulebook. Edited August 28, 2020 by Jeff Ream Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted August 28, 2020 Share Posted August 28, 2020 2 minutes ago, Fred Windish said: Fellow posters, I know nothing about Varsity other than what is being discussed here. I am neutral on this news. Question - is the release of SoundSport to Varsity actually seen by DCI as a necessity if DCI is to successfully manage its way back? From what I’ve seen of SoundSport on FLO and other places, the number of participating groups is not very large. How much DCI time and effort is expended there? Maybe, too much. I’ve always believed, due to losing a season, DCI (the organization) needs to come back “leaner” than before. Or, cast off certain operations and responsibilities. Meaning, fewer events of all types. According to the DCI article at the top of this thread, they are starting a SoundSport Scholastic division with Varsity for the fall of 2021. The existing summer SoundSport program is not part of this according to the article. It looks like DCI and Varsity are using the SoundSport name to expand into the scholastic arena. a good fit for Varsity, given their businesses right now. Not sure about the fit with DCI. Fall bands that compete are already involved around the country in various band circuits and competitions. The large majority of US high schools that do not have competitive marching bands may or may not be impressed all that much with DCI/Varsity. If they were all that interested in the competitive band arena, they would probably be there already. Interesting mix though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Windish Posted August 28, 2020 Share Posted August 28, 2020 (edited) Thanks, Mike Seems to me, the past version of SoundSport didn’t really reach into the full DCI, age-eligible, base found all across America. Injecting this option directly into hundreds of high schools, through Varsity, should do that. Thus, resulting in potentially new, full-field participating, recruits. More importantly, closer connections to entire school district administrations now likelier to provide housing spots for bigger DCI touring corps who pass through many school districts, AND include their own SoundSport group as performers! Put another way, DCI gains leverage in more places. Edited August 28, 2020 by Fred Windish 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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