All-Star Varsity's Monopoly

SL&AM · Jan 15, 2020

An article was written by Matt Stoller who runs the newsletter BIG. This newsletter focuses on the politics behind monopolies as far as I can tell. He has done his homework and does a good detailed list of Varsity as a monopoly. He also mentions Fierceboard. Here is the link for those interested: This is Not a Democracy, It's a Cheerocracy: The Cheerleading Monopoly Varsity Brands - BIG by Matt Stoller

CLynn · Jan 15, 2020

How depressing... "Indeed, Webb has testified in court that the competitions exist solely for the “promotion of his cheerleading supply business.”

wishfulthinking · Jan 15, 2020

Break up Varsity.

oncecoolcoachnowmom · Jan 15, 2020

CLynn said:
How depressing... "Indeed, Webb has testified in court that the competitions exist solely for the “promotion of his cheerleading supply business.”

I feel like I remember ScottyB posting something like that before.

As in when college teams register for comps, Varsity people always look up what camps they've registered for, when they placed uniform/apparel orders, how often they place orders, etc.

I do not remember what he said they did with the info though.

UCFKnights07 · Jan 15, 2020

i mean i understood from the beginning that varsity didnt like the idea of cheerleading becoming an olympic sport.
im also kinda surprised that so many people back him and support him, he sounds like he could care less about the integrity or expanding cheerleading into a more respected sport, he only cares about dollar signs and selling overpriced uniforms and competitions to gullible gyms, owners and parents, etc....
i also wonder how accurate the statement of varsity makes most its money from camps... you would think at this point they are making the most from allstar competitions.

oncecoolcoachnowmom · Jan 15, 2020

UCFKnights07 said:
i mean i understood from the beginning that varsity didnt like the idea of cheerleading becoming an olympic sport.
im also kinda surprised that so many people back him and support him, he sounds like he could care less about the integrity or expanding cheerleading into a more respected sport, he only cares about dollar signs and selling overpriced uniforms and competitions to gullible gyms, owners and parents, etc....
i also wonder how accurate the statement of varsity makes most its money from camps... you would think at this point they are making the most from allstar competitions.

I can believe it.

Think of how many camp brands fall under Varsity:

NCA.
UCA.
USA.
UDA
NDA.

1. Google MAP how many cheer gyms and dance studios there are within 50 miles of you.

2. Then Google high schools and middle schools.

3. Assume that every MS and HS has a cheer or dance team.

4. Compare the school programs with the number of gyms/studios.

Even if you're in a gym-heavy area, school cheer participants usually outnumber all star.

90% of them are doing a camp with one of the above brands. Even if it's home/private.

I can definitely see school as the main moneymaker.

Parents are constantly reporting here that AS participant numbers are different than they used to be. It is still considered an elite sport that is not as accessible as HS.

DonnaM · Jan 15, 2020

The homeschool cheer team here, which does not compete and just does sideline, does a UCA camp. The two most expensive things on their package are camp and the uniform-both Varsity. And cheer is by far the most expensive homeschool sport.

SL&AM · Jan 15, 2020

oncecoolcoachnowmom said:
I can believe it.

Think of how many camp brands fall under Varsity:

NCA.
UCA.
USA.
UDA
NDA.

Think of how many gyms and dance studios there are within 50 miles of you.

Then think of how many high schools. Then middle schools.

Now how many of them have cheerleading and dance teams. Even just sideline.

Compare the school programs with the number of gyms.

Even if you're in a gym heavy area, school cheer participants usually outnumber all star.

90% of them are doing a camp with one of the above brands. Even if it's home/private.

I can definitely see school as the main moneymaker.

Parents are constantly reporting here that AS participant numbers are different than they used to be. It is still considered an elite sport that is not as accessible as HS.

This! Also, if you consider overhead costs it is significantly more to put on a competition than it is to fly a team around the country to put on camps. Every high school in our area goes to UCA or UDA camp. When I danced way back when, we were able to use our UDA camp to bypass regionals to get a bid to the UDA competition. Don't know if they do that anymore, but it was always the biggest pull for our studio to keep doing it year after year. They'd come in, teach a routine and the score it against the sheet. If you scored x or higher, you'd get an automatic bid.

CoachTamara · Jan 15, 2020

Camps around here are running $400+ PER KID. Many of them have 1,000+ at them, and they are everywhere, all summer long. Camps being the big money maker does not shock me at all.

oncecoolcoachnowmom · Jan 15, 2020

CoachTamara said:
Camps around here are running $400+ PER KID. Many of them have 1,000+ at them, and they are everywhere, all summer long. Camps being the big money maker does not shock me at all.

Yes. Visit any decent-sized university in any state during the summer months and you are almost guaranteed to spot a camp.

And you have not even gotten into the home camps.

CLynn · Jan 15, 2020

oncecoolcoachnowmom said:
I feel like I remember ScottyB posting something like that before.

As in when college teams register for comps, Varsity people always look up what camps they've registered for, when they placed uniform/apparel orders, how often they place orders, etc.

I do not remember what he said they did with the info though.

Yes, I think so too. There was also this gem in the article, which I think is what he also referenced "Webb admitted that in at least one contest, cheerleaders got more points if they used more Varsity equipment as props."

Sterling von Shimmer · Jan 15, 2020

CLynn said:
Yes, I think so too. There was also this gem in the article, which I think is what he also referenced "Webb admitted that in at least one contest, cheerleaders got more points if they used more Varsity equipment as props."

I KNEW IT. I SO knew it. Gut feeling. The girls always used to ask, “Why can’t we get (props) from xyz? They’re all sparkly and cute etc etc...” And I would say, “I like the quality of Varsity stuff more.” In reality, I believed that if were dancing around in front of judges at a Varsity event, we’d better be head-to-toe in Varsity gear. I had no evidence of this and really didn’t want to believe it, but at the same time thought that at least it couldn’t hurt to go with Varsity stuff. But I didn’t want to tell the girls that and make them cynical. I knew, though. Bleh. This sport.

CLynn · Jan 15, 2020

Sterling von Shimmer said:
I KNEW IT. I SO knew it. Gut feeling. The girls always used to ask, “Why can’t we get (props) from xyz? They’re all sparkly and cute etc etc...” And I would say, “I like the quality of Varsity stuff more.” In reality, I believed that if were dancing around in front of judges at a Varsity event, we’d better be head-to-toe in Varsity gear. I had no evidence of this and really didn’t want to believe it, but at the same time thought that at least it couldn’t hurt to go with Varsity stuff. But I didn’t want to tell the girls that and make them cynical. I knew, though. Bleh. This sport.

To be fair a lot of the quotes in the article are not new so who knows if things have changed at all since then. As far as the monopoly angle though, nothing has changed and flocheer is just another example of Varsity trying to kick everyone else out at every single opportunity.

UCFKnights07 · Jan 15, 2020

I guess its just been awhile. My last year doing hs cheer was 2006. Got out of all-star in 2008.
We attended one camp some local comps and regionals, nationals and that was it. Times have certainly changed....

Kiermyc · Jan 15, 2020

I keep seeing the line in articles varsity owns cheer gyms but it’s never expanded on, do people know what gyms they own or is it a secret type of thing?

All-Star Varsity's Monopoly

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