Age of audience at DCA Finals

[Jeff Ream]

1 hour ago, camel lips said:

I think Indy years ago had the potential to be a great thing for DCA and DCA finals  when you had corps like Empire Statesmen, Renegades Kilties and Cadets2 , just to name a few off the top of my head  . Next year you are going to have what????? Maybe 4 units that are really competitive at the top? DCI fans are going to go to this show for the first time because they have nothing else to do and buy a ticket and see this as a reflection of what DCI All Age is suppose to be and get completely turned off by it. Understanding of Course what the DCI audience is use to by this point in the season. A good many of them have been to several shows by this point in the season. Seen many of the units on the big screen. Followed them extensively. Full and complete shows and many participants on the field. When they see some of the starting line ups with maybe 50 members on the field early on they may not even stick around till Cabs or Buccs hit the field. 

 

I don't want that to be a knock on some of the lower tier units but its just a harsh reality and reasonable expectation of what fans will typically encounter. 

i've been to DCA prelims where the crowd was small for the smaller corps way too many times. it's just the activity as a whole...same thing you see in DCI.

 

look at college football....does D3 get massive tv exposure? Nope. But even bad FBS schools get big tv exposure because "they're big"

[wolfgang]

Out of curiosity, I wonder what % of spectators in the stands at DCA Championships are opposed to the move to Indy and have no intention of going there next year.

[camel lips]

2 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

i've been to DCA prelims where the crowd was small for the smaller corps way too many times. it's just the activity as a whole...same thing you see in DCI.

 

look at college football....does D3 get massive tv exposure? Nope. But even bad FBS schools get big tv exposure because "they're big"

Not sure your example is very good. Fans going to a D3 school Pretty much know what to Expect and are going to root for their school, kids and homers. They are going to get into the hype of the the  pomp and circumstance of the game no matter how bad the football is because they know what they are buying into when they walk through the gate. . Its not like you have Some of the TOP SEC or PAC12 Fans dropping in on a random game on a Saturday morning at a D3 school saying lets go wander in here and check out these guys and see what this is all about. 

 

[JimF-LowBari]

1 hour ago, wolfgang said:

Out of curiosity, I wonder what % of spectators in the stands at DCA Championships are opposed to the move to Indy and have no intention of going there next year.

My thoughts are if the average Finals audience age is going up then DCAs priority should not be doing same old same old to keep (what’s left of) that audience. Time to really go after a different target audience.

And last year was less than 1500 in the audience? 

Disclaimer: I’m in my mid 60s and part of that audience DCA should not be concentrating on. For various reasons I watch via Box5
 

Edited September 6, 2023 by JimF-LowBari

[JimF-LowBari]

3 hours ago, camel lips said:

I think Indy years ago had the potential to be a great thing for DCA and DCA finals  when you had corps like Empire Statesmen, Renegades Kilties and Cadets2 , just to name a few off the top of my head  . Next year you are going to have what????? Maybe 4 units that are really competitive at the top? DCI fans are going to go to this show for the first time because they have nothing else to do and buy a ticket and see this as a reflection of what DCI All Age is suppose to be and get completely turned off by it. Understanding of Course what the DCI audience is use to by this point in the season. A good many of them have been to several shows by this point in the season. Seen many of the units on the big screen. Followed them extensively. Full and complete shows and many participants on the field. When they see some of the starting line ups with maybe 50 members on the field early on they may not even stick around till Cabs or Buccs hit the field. 

 

I don't want that to be a knock on some of the lower tier units but its just a harsh reality and reasonable expectation of what fans will typically encounter. 

One of the things DCI/DCA have to work on in their publicity. Seeing corps like Governaires doing an entertaining show within their smaller numbers is another facet of drum corps. Time to get rid of the “if you’re not full sized then you’re nothing” crap.

[Jeff Ream]

6 hours ago, camel lips said:

Not sure your example is very good. Fans going to a D3 school Pretty much know what to Expect and are going to root for their school, kids and homers. They are going to get into the hype of the the  pomp and circumstance of the game no matter how bad the football is because they know what they are buying into when they walk through the gate. . Its not like you have Some of the TOP SEC or PAC12 Fans dropping in on a random game on a Saturday morning at a D3 school saying lets go wander in here and check out these guys and see what this is all about. 

 

i was at DCA prelims when the crowd size you personally performed in front of was 1/3 of what the top 5 performed in front of later. it's been that way forever, just like at DCI shows.

[Jeff Ream]

6 hours ago, JimF-LowBari said:

One of the things DCI/DCA have to work on in their publicity. Seeing corps like Governaires doing an entertaining show within their smaller numbers is another facet of drum corps. Time to get rid of the “if you’re not full sized then you’re nothing” crap.

DCI has had more all age corps content in their news and on their site in the last month than DCA had on their own for several seasons combined.

[C.Holland]

There are a few things to remember. Indy on Saturday is hopping.  The soundsport food truck fest outside is like a carnival barker. So people will be out. And nearby. The stadium is already paid for. DCI attendance for prelims, semis, and finals has already made the profit without walk up sales.  Staffing for the (half stadium) event may be able to be kept under 6-8k if they don’t have all doors open. They won’t.  Most of the staffing is low cost compared to what concerts or conventions require. 

doing some quick math from my days as a venue director of production…

If DCI sells $15 general admission tickets and $20 reserved down center tickets, and gets even 600 tickets sold, they’ve paid for the event staffing, and near broken even.  If they sell 1000 tickets at $15 they’ve made least 7k.  The local bands in Kentucky and Indiana are all through at least their first week of camps, and often bring students to either Fri or Saturday event in bunches.  So there’s likely a group discount for DCI and the All Age.   4 local bands from the Indianapolis suburbs will make those sales easy. Getting all the others will be nothing but $$$$$$. 
 

It’ll sell.  And it’s almost too easy money to be made. People are in town for this event. And Indy, ain’t much to look at once you get past Broadripple. (Good restaurants there.. ask me for recommendations) so they’ve nowhere else to go. 

[JimF-LowBari]

4 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

i was at DCA prelims when the crowd size you personally performed in front of was 1/3 of what the top 5 performed in front of later. it's been that way forever, just like at DCI shows.

If even 1/3…. Used to be there for first corps at Prelims then leave few corps before the end. Figured we’d catch the corps we skipped at Finals.

[Fran Haring]

On 9/5/2023 at 8:32 PM, JimF-LowBari said:

Lol every time I heard “that ain’t drum corps” I’d say “first time I heard that was…. 1975!!!”. 

 

Heh... at a YEA gig in MD I worked for several years in the 2000s, a guy would come up to me after the show every year and complain about the DCI corps. "Not what it used to be"... etc., etc.

I wondered why this guy bothered paying to see this show every year. It was not like his attendance would magically turn back the clock to 1970. 😂