Indianapolis Bids for DCI

[kevingamin]

To orpheus: given DCIs short attention span I personally do not see this lasting more than 3 years if it DID come to pass. Remember DCIs experiment with 3 or 4 semi-permanent sites with a wild card site thrown into the cycle. I do not think DCI even made it through one cycle before they lost interest.

The cycle broke for two reasons:

1. 1995 was supposed to be in Jacksonville, FL, but the stadium became unavailable when the city won the Jaguars NFL expansion franchise and decided to renovate the stadium. Finals ended up in Buffalo, NY, that year.

2. Dan Acheson took over DCI in 1996, which was facing severe money issues, even with the cutbacks from the previous year. The Disney/Orlando, FL, offer came around that time. Considering the sweet deal DCI got from Disney (free stadium, for example) and the strong possibility that DCI could have gone bankrupt and shut down if they continued with the original rotation plan, DCI had to go the Disney route and bury the rotation plan.

Hardly sounds like "losing interest" to me.

[Wildabeast]

I haven't read everyone's responses yet, but I'll chime in that I welcome Indianapolis as a finals destination, but not for 10 years straight. You can't expect more people to get involved unless you take something of this magnitude to them.

You may now continue with your scheduled program.

[BOBSMYTH]

I know that it has been reported that the city of Indy is asking for 10 years of championships. Often in negotiations you ask for an extreme position but settle for something a little less. I wonder if they would be OK with locking in 10 years of events in the new stadium without all of them having to be World Championships week. Perhaps 5 championships and 5 events similar to our current Midwestern event.

[Steve709]

I know that it has been reported that the city of Indy is asking for 10 years of championships. Often in negotiations you ask for an extreme position but settle for something a little less. I wonder if they would be OK with locking in 10 years of events in the new stadium without all of them having to be World Championships week. Perhaps 5 championships and 5 events similar to our current Midwestern event.

At first, i was opposed, because I didn't know the roof was retractable, if it sounds good in there, I think it might be a good thing for DCI. I have to agree though, 10 championships may be a bit much, I think some regionals and shows there might be great there. Maybe a couple of championships. 10 straight years with finals in the same place can definatly get old in a hurry. It's good to see that Indy is showing so much interest though.

[E-Daddy]

Fact is, there are several agenda's out on the table. Each faction has it's own pros and cons.

The "Corporation" (DCI), the "Employees" (the corps) and the "Customers" (the fans) each have a framework that is best for them. Only when the plusses and minuses are collectively gathered, analyzed and worked together can a thoughtful decision be made.

From DCI's perspective, the same location with HQ at that location probably lowers operating expenses. The Corps have to adjust their travel and budget accordingly (the bad news is that corps from each coast always get to do long trips, especially those on the West Coast), so maybe it's financially better, maybe not. The fans get to go to the same place year on year (if you're a heavy-duty fan and are there for Thursday-Saturday), there's not a lot of time to do anything other than championships anyway!).

So until some sort of analysis is done, all we're doing is expressing our opinions (mostly as fans). DCI and the Corps have been pretty silent during this data gathering exercise!

[usmpiano]

QUOTE(usmpiano @ Feb 1 2006, 03:15 PM) *

I'm assuming the end of that quote should be BANDS of America and not BANK of America? San Franscisco would probably be upset if BANK of America moved.

We were mad years ago. Bank of America's corporate office has been located in Charlotte NC for about 8 years.

Sorry Calvin...didn't know that!

[SkyRyder_FMM]

I cannot believe I did not think of this sooner.

To those concerned about the lack of draw or fan boredom going to the same show site year after year I give you DCM CHAMPIONSHIPS IN DEKALB. Or at least what used to be. Somehow DCM was able to run a successful finals weekend in the middle of nowhere year after year at least until Div 1 :sshh: well let us not go there again.

Besides how many people who go to finals make a whole week out of it? If more did then Div 2/3 finals would not be held in a high school stadium would they?

This could be a bigger windfall for DCI than you realize. Come on embrace change. :P

I hardly think DCM in Dekalb is the same as Finals. DCM was more like the regional circuit that used to be held in the same places year after year (i.e., DCI Midwest in Whitewater, DCI East in Allentown, DCI South in Birmingham, DCI North in Ypsilanti, DCI Canda in Hamilton, DATR in Denver, etc.), and similar to the current regional setting in Denver, San Antonio, Murfreesboro, Indianapolis, and Allentown. The regionals draw good sized crowds, but more from the region than from all over the country like the big dance in August.

[glory]

Can anyone offer some reasonable estimate of how the crowds have been at the regional events in Indy each of the past several summers?

Good attendance consistently through these past several summers would suggest to me a reasonable chance for solid attendance at finals on Saturday if such a deal were to come to fruition. The risk, I'd guess, is Thursday and Friday. Attendance seems less certain (except for certain hard-corps nuts such as me) at quarters and semis if the location doesn't change.

The question for DCI is whether the lost revenue Thursday and Friday could be offset by the lower costs. I figure the championship week takes 60% or more of its revenue on Saturday. If I'm right, losing even 50% of the Thursday and Friday attendance would amount to no more than 15% or 20% of DCI week revenue. Is the costs of office space, stadium rental, etc., more than that?

HH

[SkyRyder_FMM]

Fact is, there are several agenda's out on the table. Each faction has it's own pros and cons.

The "Corporation" (DCI), the "Employees" (the corps) and the "Customers" (the fans) each have a framework that is best for them. Only when the plusses and minuses are collectively gathered, analyzed and worked together can a thoughtful decision be made.

From DCI's perspective, the same location with HQ at that location probably lowers operating expenses. The Corps have to adjust their travel and budget accordingly (the bad news is that corps from each coast always get to do long trips, especially those on the West Coast), so maybe it's financially better, maybe not. The fans get to go to the same place year on year (if you're a heavy-duty fan and are there for Thursday-Saturday), there's not a lot of time to do anything other than championships anyway!).

So until some sort of analysis is done, all we're doing is expressing our opinions (mostly as fans). DCI and the Corps have been pretty silent during this data gathering exercise!

I'd like to comment on the bolded point made above. I know I am not alone here, but my family and I make the annual trip our summer vacation. We spend Thursday to Saturday at Championships, then spend at least 4 days (more often times more) doing other things. By making Championships part of the family vacation, we make the trip every year. If Championships were in the same city every year, we would not be going for any other reason than Championships, because I don't care what city it is, 10 years of summer vacation in the same place is just too much. And the likelihood that we would make the trip to Indianapolis 10 years straight just for Championships is slim at best.

We have enjoyed being able to see many differnt cities and parts of the country while attending Championships - some more than others. On the whole, the experience has been good for the whole family. Despite Indy being a nice city, it is still a second tier city with little to do. A decision to host Championships there for 10 consecutive years would likely cause a loss of my family and my attendance there every year - we would be spending our summer vacation elsewhere. That for me would be a sad day, since I have been at finals every year since 1978.

[drumcat]

What does it matter if you buy a premium ticket at a regional or at finals? The money dci gets is still green...

Instead of all the eggs in one basket, if you have profitable regionals that get people to go in their region that otherwise wouldn't go, it's a net gain... if you get 15k at 8 regionals and 15k at finals, where it used to be "we need to get 25k at finals to do ok financially"... I think I'd prefer the former.