2025 DCI Southwestern Championship pres. by Fred J. Miller

DCI San Antonio 2025: Here's Why You Should Watch

The 2025 DCI Southwestern Championship is set up to be one of the most competitive events that the DCI summer tour has seen in over a decade. Here's why.

Jul 16, 2025 by Andy Schamma

DCI San Antonio 2025: Here's Why You Should Watch

Each season, the DCI San Antonio Regional at the Alamodome gives fans one of the most entertaining DCI events of the summer as all World Class corps converge upon one location to compete for judges and a very enthusiastic Texas crowd.

This year, the regional's importance has skyrocketed even higher as competition between corps across the board has intensified.

Already having traveled thousands of miles, the corps have shaken out the early season nerves, added a working ending to their shows, and are ready to unveil the latest version of their productions in the heat of the Lone Star State. Well, kind of. The Alamodome is typically cooled to the mid-70's all day.

Anyway, watch it all live on FloMarching! Make sure you don't miss this week's events as we tour across Texas with stops in Denton, Waco, and Houston before it all goes down under the dome on Saturday, July 19.

2025 DCI Southwestern Championship pres. by Fred J. Miller

DCI San Antonio 2025: Here's Why You Should Watch

The 2025 DCI Southwestern Championship is set up to be one of the most competitive events that the DCI summer tour has seen in over a decade. Here's why.

Potential For Closest Top 6 Since 2019

Until around 10:45 p.m. ET on Saturday, July 19, after the Bluecoats leave the field and Dan Potter has read the scores—we will have no idea where the top six corps sit in relation to each other.

This week, we'll get our first chance to watch the "West Coast" and "East Coast" contingents of corps collide. But, all six will not be at the same event until Saturday.

With the Boston Crusaders starting their tour out West, we haven't seen the usual collision in Broken Arrow, OK that typically previews San Antonio at the end of the week.

The Crusaders joined the Blue Devils and Santa Clara Vanguard to make their way through California before heading to Texas. As of July 16, they led the field with a season-high 86.75.

One of the stops along the way was at one of the most iconic venues on the summer tour, the Rose Bowl.

The scores revealed that not only did the Boston Crusaders extend their lead ahead, but Santa Clara Vanguard closed the gap behind the Blue Devils from 0.80 earlier in the season to just 0.25.

DCI Denton (July 17) will be the first head-to-head performance for the Bluecoats, Santa Clara Vanguard and Boston Crusaders. The 21-time DCI World Champion Blue Devils and reigning champion Bluecoats won't be judged by the same panel until DCI Houston (July 18) this Friday. This will undoubtedly superheat the race towards perfection just 24 hours later in the dome.

Never count out the Blue Devils. With six days between shows to clean and refine their performance before competing in Texxas, their score is expected to increase significantly.

Two more corps, Carolina Crown and Phantom Regiment, have yet to perform alongside the West Coast contingent. They've been locked in a tight battle, with only 0.05 separating them at DCI Broken Arrow (July 15). Both will see each other again, plus the Blue Devils for the first time, at DCI Houston. All eyes will be on the recap as fans try to decipher the judges' scores.

Historically, the average score gap between the top six corps at the San Antonio Regional since 2014 has been 4.80 points. In 2019, it was at its closest, with a gap of 3.7 points. However, if you look at each corps' most recent score as of July 15, the gap between the top six is a mere 2.55.

We're in for a treat.

The DCI San Antonio Winner To World Champion Pipeline Is Open

Since 2011, the corps that won in San Antonio would go on to secure the DCI World Championship that August eight times out of twelve. The San Antonio winner was passed by another corps only four times during that period: 2019, 2015, 2013, and 2011.

In the past decade and a half, only once has a corps that scored outside of the top two spots in San Antonio raised the Founder's Trophy—The Cadets in 2011.

If this trend holds, a spot in the top-two this weekend could be as good as gold. Unless, of course, we're in store for a historically entertaining season, which arguably 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2019 all have in common.

Will the winner in San Antonio leverage that momentum to propel themselves towards drum corps Valhalla? While the reality is more nuanced, the historical data is compelling.

Get Your First Reads In Now

Much like watching your favorite sports team, each corps' show is constantly evolving and improving. For professional athletes, fundamental skills are a given, and DCI is very similar.

It's the subtle details and how coaches combine mastery of fundamentals across athletes that creates the ebb and flow of a season.

If you haven't watched most of the World Class shows by this point, the DCI Southwestern Championship is your prime opportunity to get a "first read."

Between now and the second weekend of August, performers and staff will be challenged to extract every last possible point from their shows. This relentless pursuit of perfection will determine who ultimately earns one more day to perform at the DCI World Championship. San Antonio is not just another stop; it's a critical benchmark making it a must-see experience for any drum corps enthusiast.

How To Watch DCI San Antonio 2025

Fans can watch DCI San Antonio from home exclusively on FloMarching and the FloSports app. Coverage begins promptly at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Subscribe to watch every moment of the 2025 DCI Summer Tour.

DCI San Antonio 2025 Schedule

All times Eastern.

1:00 PM Gates Open
2:30 PM Welcome and National Anthem
2:40 PM Arsenal - El Paso, TX
2:52 PM Zephyrus - Tulsa, OK
3:09 PM Gold - San Diego, CA
3:26 PM Genesis - Austin, TX
3:43 PM Seattle Cascades - Seattle, WA
4:00 PM Pacific Crest - City of Industry, CA
4:17 PM Music City - Nashville, TN
4:34 PM The Academy - Tempe, AZ
4:51 PM Intermission - 30 min
5:21 PM Spirit of Atlanta - Atlanta, GA
5:38 PM Crossmen - San Antonio, TX
5:55 PM Madison Scouts - Madison, WI
6:12 PM Colts - Dubuque, IA
6:29 PM Blue Knights - Denver, CO
7:46 PM Intermission - 60 min
7:46 PM Troopers - Casper, WY
8:03 PM Blue Stars - La Crosse, WI
8:20 PM The Cavaliers - Rosemont, IL
8:37 PM Mandarins - Sacramento, CA
8:54 PM Carolina Crown - Fort Mill, SC
9:11 PM Santa Clara Vanguard - Santa Clara, CA
9:28 PM Phantom Regiment - Rockford, IL
9:45 PM Blue Devils - Concord, CA
10:02 PM Boston Crusaders - Boston, MA
10:19 PM Bluecoats - Canton, OH
10:44 PM Scores Announced

DCI Texas Series On FloMarching

DCI 2025 Streaming Schedule

Here's a list of all of the DCI 2025 events you can stream live on FloMarching this summer:

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