All-Star Get Our Sport Back: Flocheer And Varsity Video Policy

[CLynn]

Parents did demand an end of year "best of the best" competition, but that does not have to be Summit, especially the way it has been run the past couple of years. The importance of that end of year competition is not who is running it, but rather who is attending. If the top gyms all came together and decided on which competitions they would attend and an EP hosted an end of year championship, my guess is it would be hugely supported. Add some clinics during the off times hosted by those top owners and coaches and you could quite possibly have a game changer that could benefit gyms, athletes and parents.
However I'm not sure we will ever see this happen because @East78 hit the nail right on the head.

I agree and ugh it is all so depressing!

It doesn't benefit the owners of the gyms to walk away from a large chunk of money. Its easy to post a list of things to change or send out a Twitter comment.....then run to the bank with that Varsity check.

I could be off base but it seems to me there is little leeway for programs to increase prices on tuition or monthly fees and many programs probably NEED that check. I've often said I find our gym fee reasonable; it is the travel, uniforms, comp fees and everything else that needs serious reigning in. Also, I do not think it is their (top gyms) core competency to be in the business of event planning.

 

[icequeen]

This kind of reminds me of the first year of worlds when Top Gun, World Cup, and Georgia(?) all boycotted any world bid competitions.

 

[justpeachy]

Parents did demand an end of year "best of the best" competition, but that does not have to be Summit, especially the way it has been run the past couple of years. The importance of that end of year competition is not who is running it, but rather who is attending. If the top gyms all came together and decided on which competitions they would attend and an EP hosted an end of year championship, my guess is it would be hugely supported. Add some clinics during the off times hosted by those top owners and coaches and you could quite possibly have a game changer that could benefit gyms, athletes and parents.
However I'm not sure we will ever see this happen because @East78 hit the nail right on the head.

Always comes back to money, doesn't it? Ultimately, gyms are going to have to take a hit to the pocket for real changes to happen. I hate that.

 

[SL&AM]

This kind of reminds me of the first year of worlds when Top Gun, World Cup, and Georgia(?) all boycotted any world bid competitions.

I wasn't around then, why did they boycott?

 

[catlady]

Cheer Alliance and Champions League were designed to get away from Varsity but they only lasted 1-2 years before that went away or became varsity ran (Cheer alliance). Owners don't want to be involved in event planing is the appearance from those events. As long as Varsity keeps sending those mega rebate checks for the events entered and uniforms purchased nothing will change. It doesn't benefit the owners of the gyms to walk away from a large chunk of money. Its easy to post a list of things to change or send out a Twitter comment.....then run to the bank with that Varsity check.

I agree owners don't want to be involved in event planning, but I think it goes beyond owners. After the purchase of BSN Sports Varsity Brands tag line quickly went from "We Are Cheerleading" to "Elevating Student Experiences in Sport, Spirit, and Achievement." Adam Blumenfeld, from BSN Sports is the current CEO and you can look at their current website (<click) and it's obvious his big focus is on high school and college sports (Herff Jones got BSN in the doors of almost every HS and college in the US and Canada). Sport equipment and apparel is extremely profitable and there's hundreds of companies out there doing it for that reason. Cheer event planning....Googling....searching....nope, not so much. Human error, drama of scoring a subjective sport, social media drama, cities that purposely control the number of hotels to maximize prices for higher tax revenue while controlling the multi million/billion dollar venues you need and have no control over. That's not really any business owner's dream, but if there's someone out there that can do it better, cheaper, and more profitable they will.

 

[Cheerfan1234]

This kind of reminds me of the first year of worlds when Top Gun, World Cup, and Georgia(?) all boycotted any world bid competitions.

The first year of Worlds was 2004, and none of those programs "boycotted". World Cup just didn't qualify for Worlds that year because at that time, I think only the top 2 scoring level 5 teams at bid-events were invited (again I think...we're talking 14 years ago).

In 2005, these teams "boycotted" NCA (not sure what other comps), but Georgia and I think Top Gun were at Worlds.

 

[Eyes On The Prize]

The thing that gets me with this is that you would never see this in any other sport. I was explaining it to a friend who is an NHL fan and the only equivalent I could draw is a team (say the Pittsburgh Penguins) uploaded game highlights to their youtube channel. A network like Sportsnet or Fox Sports has the rights to the game that night and therefore demand them to remove the content promoting the team from the team's youtube channel or other social media accounts when it came from the teams own licensed coverage. It sounds absolutely absurd in relation to other sports, so why should it be a common practice within cheer? Things need to change and I'm hoping the petition can do something.

I don't think thats a proper comparison. In your analogy of the NHL and sports networks, the league would be the equivalent to EP's/Varsity and the Fox Sports/Sportsnet would be Flo. Both the league and the networks have agreements that claim rights to content, especially for marketing (which would include YouTube clips posted to network and league channels).

Gyms, in this analogy, would be the person who is not allowed to record at the game or the person who records the televised event and uploads it to YouTube. They are not part of the agreement between the service and the provider. Gyms are the consumer and have no rights here. (EDIT: Or you could argue the gyms are the hockey players on the teams, who still have little to no rights to content.)

Leagues and networks go after people on Youtube, Twitter, other media outlets, etc all the time. It does happen in other sports, it happens everywhere.

As much as I adore the idea of gyms having their own media channels so their fans can cheer on teams rather than recording, I'm doubtful Flo is going to reconsider their policy. Flo has nothing to gain and everything to lose from allowing that.

 

[ScottyB]

I agree owners don't want to be involved in event planning, but I think it goes beyond owners. After the purchase of BSN Sports Varsity Brands tag line quickly went from "We Are Cheerleading" to "Elevating Student Experiences in Sport, Spirit, and Achievement." Adam Blumenfeld, from BSN Sports is the current CEO and you can look at their current website (<click) and it's obvious his big focus is on high school and college sports (Herff Jones got BSN in the doors of almost every HS and college in the US and Canada).

not quite correct.

VB was the name when the company was just what is now known as Varsity Spirit, hence the tagline. Then they were bought by Herff Jones as a last hurrah save, where they made Jeff the boss of both. Meanwhile, BSN on its own was growing rapidly, and is the now VB's biggest revenue driver. Herff/VS bought BSN, named it VB and changed the tagline to student experiences cuz duh, sold to Charlesbank, who sold to Bain.

Blumenfeld has been with BSN since day 1 (his dad founded the company)

 

[ScottyB]

I don't think thats a proper comparison. In your analogy of the NHL and sports networks, the league would be the equivalent to EP's/Varsity and the Fox Sports/Sportsnet would be Flo. Both the league and the networks have agreements that claim rights to content, especially for marketing (which would include YouTube clips posted to network and league channels).

Gyms, in this analogy, would be the person who is not allowed to record at the game or the person who records the televised event and uploads it to YouTube. They are not part of the agreement between the service and the provider. Gyms are the consumer and have no rights here. (EDIT: Or you could argue the gyms are the hockey players on the teams, who still have little to no rights to content.)

Leagues and networks go after people on Youtube, Twitter, other media outlets, etc all the time. It does happen in other sports, it happens everywhere.

As much as I adore the idea of gyms having their own media channels so their fans can cheer on teams rather than recording, I'm doubtful Flo is going to reconsider their policy. Flo has nothing to gain and everything to lose from allowing that.

But where is the league for cheer in this comparison?

I would think that the USASF or even USA Cheer would be protecting its members/orgs from this type of predatory behavior OR they would help set up a better deal to allow orgs and athletes to promote themselves

 

[catlady]

not quite correct.

VB was the name when the company was just what is now known as Varsity Spirit, hence the tagline. Then they were bought by Herff Jones as a last hurrah save, where they made Jeff the boss of both. Meanwhile, BSN on its own was growing rapidly, and is the now VB's biggest revenue driver. Herff/VS bought BSN, named it VB and changed the tagline to student experiences cuz duh, sold to Charlesbank, who sold to Bain.

Blumenfeld has been with BSN since day 1 (his dad founded the company)

My apologies if I stated my facts wrong, I thought Blumenfeld was in fact the CEO over Varsity Brands which is the parent company of BSN, Spirit and Herff Jones after the Bain lbo. My point remains the same, however, that VB will concentrate on what's profitable (sporting goods and apparel) and no one seems to be banging down the doors to be an EP.

Varsity Brands Announces Appointment Of Adam Blumenfeld As CEO - Varsity Brands

 

[icequeen]

The first year of Worlds was 2004, and none of those programs "boycotted". World Cup just didn't qualify for Worlds that year because at that time, I think only the top 2 scoring level 5 teams at bid-events were invited (again I think...we're talking 14 years ago).

In 2005, these teams "boycotted" NCA (not sure what other comps), but Georgia and I think Top Gun were at Worlds.

I’m quite sure none of those programs attended any worlds bids competition and none competed at worlds that year. I don’t remember the exact reason behind it and they formed a board that year. It was on the old Pro x board so I’m not sure if anyone else is left from those days.

ETA: all three programs did compete at Worlds in 2005 but not the inaugural year 2004.

 

[ScottyB]

My apologies if I stated my facts wrong, I thought Blumenfeld was in fact the CEO over Varsity Brands which is the parent company of BSN, Spirit and Herff Jones after the Bain lbo. My point remains the same, however, that VB will concentrate on what's profitable (sporting goods and apparel) and no one seems to be banging down the doors to be an EP.

Varsity Brands Announces Appointment Of Adam Blumenfeld As CEO - Varsity Brands

he is.

 

[icequeen]

I wasn't around then, why did they boycott?

I don’t remember the exact reason. I remember the thread on the old pro x board.

 

[Eyes On The Prize]

But where is the league for cheer in this comparison?

I guess I would say there is no league in cheer that functions similarly to professional leagues. I wouldn't compare pro sports to youth sports. They are way too different.

My response wasn't meant to compare pro sports to cheer but to compare the analogy of professional sports coverage to competition coverage. In the analogy that was presented, the professional league (NHL) would be equivalent to Varsity/EPs.

I would think that the USASF or even USA Cheer would be protecting its members/orgs from this type of predatory behavior OR they would help set up a better deal to allow orgs and athletes to promote themselves

USASF and USA Cheer are governing bodies. In my very own personal opinion, I don't think the governing body should be involved with stuff like that unless its directly harming athletes. I think they should be involved with rule and safety regulations and creating/upholding a universal scoring system and that's it.

If gyms want an organization that they feel will protect them from predatory behavior in the "free market", they can create one themselves, separate from the governing body.

 

[Cheerfan1234]

I’m quite sure none of those programs attended any worlds bids competition and none competed at worlds that year. I don’t remember the exact reason behind it and they formed a board that year. It was on the old Pro x board so I’m not sure if anyone else is left from those days.

ETA: all three programs did compete at Worlds in 2005 but not the inaugural year 2004.

Actually, Top Gun, GA, and World Cup all attended NCA (a World's bid competition) in 2004. That was an important year for Stars because that was the first time they won the Large Senior division.

Also, World Cup didn't attend Worlds in 2005, either. The "boycott NCA" year was 2005.