WHAT GOES INTO A CHEER COMPETITION EVENT?

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David Owens was an OU cheerleader, a coach, and an All Star gym owner. He started running cheer events as a side hustle, and now running cheer competitions and events is his full-time responsibility. He owns and operates the Rockstar Championship, and he’s part owner of Gold Rush and The Open Series competitions, which is part of the All Star World Championship.

It’s clear to me that David not only loves cheerleading, but he has a deep commitment to our sport: to making it safer and better for all.

We talk about the business of cheerleading and how it works, behind the scenes of a cheer competition event and everything that goes into it, and the burning question all Cheer moms want the answer to: WHY DO WE HAVE TO PAY CASH AT THE DOOR??

What goes into a cheer competition event?

It really all depends on the type of show you want. A cheer event can be done in a high school gym, which is great for smaller, more regional one-day events. You have to look at the number of teams and gyms in a certain area and then do the math on how many you think you could get to your event, knowing how much the cost of the venue is and everything else. I’m not going to go and rent out the Staples Center in Los Angeles if I know that I’m only going to get 10 teams.

How do you get teams to register for a cheer event?

You very much have to convince cheer teams to come to your event. You have to convince gym owners and directors to try new and different cheer events, especially in new markets. It’s important to give them things that they’re actually looking for and that cheer parents and athletes look forward to.

What goes into the production of a cheer event?

Like the venues, it depends on what product you want to put out. Smaller, one-day events have a basic production, where we hang up the backdrop and have a couple of flashy lights. It’s not a huge logistical hurdle because there’s not that much involved. When you get into the larger events, companies will go all out: think LED walls, LEDs on the ceiling, and all kinds of crazy bells and whistles. You want to build the production so that it makes people’s jaws drop and that they remember it and they can’t stop talking about it.

Cheer event expenses

There are many! The venue is typically one of the larger costs. Then you have transportation of the equipment. One of David’s events 5 semi-trailers to transport all their equipment! David says he essentially runs a traveling circus: we drive to a town, we show up, we pop up our show, we do the show, we tear it back down, and we get back home.

Cheer event producers also have to fly people in from around the country to judge and work the event.

Cheer events can be extremely expensive to run.

WHY DO WE HAVE TO PAY CASH AT THE DOOR FOR CHEER COMPETITIONS?

You’re going to have to tune in to the full episode to find out!