Judging from the Sideline: The Relationship Between On-Field Positioning and Percussion Adjudication in Drum Corps International

The adjudication of elite performing arts ensembles is a complex process susceptible to a variety of perceptual and cognitive biases. In Drum Corps International (DCI), a 2019 rule change restricted on-field adjudicators to a limited zone near the front sideline, fundamentally altering their perceptual access to the performance (Drum Corps International, 2019). This study investigates the potential impact of this change by examining the relationship between a percussion section’s on-field location and its adjudicated score. Utilizing a dataset from three years of Drum Corps International Semifinals (2023-2025), a multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to predict percussion scores. The model reveals that even after statistically controlling for a corps’ quality (via Semifinal Rank) and the specific judge, the time spent performing in a “sideline” zone remains a positive and statistically significant predictor of the final score (p = 0.007). This suggests a systemic, location-based bias where perceptual clarity afforded by proximity may be unconsciously translated into higher achievement scores. While yearly bivariate correlations showed a diminishing trend, the robust, controlled model confirms the persistence of this effect. These findings provide the first empirical, location-based analysis of DCI scoring in the post-2019 era, offering data-driven insights for adjudicators and designers and contributing field-based evidence to the broader literature on aesthetic judgment.