Visit McKinney approves tourism grant up to $5,000 for Drum Corps International summer tour

The Visit McKinney board on Tuesday approved a tourism grant to support Marching Music Made in McKinney’s promotion of the 2025 Drum Corps International (DCI) summer tour, voting to authorize up to $5,000 in funding with the final amount to be determined by hotel room-night pickup.

Zach Samuel, representing Marching Music Made in McKinney, told the board the nonprofit raises funds for the three McKinney high school band booster programs and that band participation is “getting very expensive.” He said, “Band dues for McKinney high this year were upwards of $1,500.” Samuel described two summer events his group runs — a DCI competition at McKinney ISD Stadium and a drum-line exposition moved last year to Tufts — and said those events are major revenue drivers for local band programs.

Samuel told the board the program has generated more than $100,000 for local band programs over the past three years and that stadium-ticket sales have been “consistent around 3,000 tickets sold.” He said the Tufts exposition sold more than 500 tickets last year and that last year’s marketing campaign drove website traffic up “over 300%” and Instagram followers from about 250 to more than 10,000.

Under Visit McKinney’s new grant rubric, applications must demonstrate a minimum of 25 room nights generated to qualify for funding. Board materials and the presentation noted Marching Music Made in McKinney historically meets that threshold; Samuel said last year’s event produced “in the 25 to 30 room night range” and that this year organizers plan to work directly with corps, families and ticket buyers to increase room-night bookings.

The motion to approve the grant (agenda item 25-2830) was made by Ephraim Windham and seconded by Patrick McGuire. The board approved the funding by voice vote; the motion passed.

Board members discussed process and timing: the grant award will be calculated based on the hotel pickup report after the event and will not exceed $5,000. The board did not specify an exact dollar disbursement at the meeting; staff will use the reported room-night pickup to determine the final payment amount.

The Visit McKinney board’s approval clears the application to move forward under the organization’s new room-night–based rubric and authorizes staff to allocate support tied to measured hotel stays from the event.

Provenance: the application and discussion appear in the meeting transcript beginning with the agenda announcement for item 25-2830 and concluding with the board vote approving the grant.