Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. Busiest airport in the world. Easy access for not only US teams but also international teams which are growing in number.

Most people have absolutely no problem with travel due to MARTA and many teams have said that their busses they brought to Atlanta just sit in a parking lot.

1 big question though. Honestly, how important are other attractions during a FIRST Event. I don't know about you guys, but after a day or two, most of our team is dead. Wednesday night people are just getting in. By friday night, most people are really trying to get their sleep, and Saturday is the carnival.

That leaves only Thrusday open. Maybe that is only my team. Maybe it is because we live here. I honestly believe that no city that has been discussed thoroughly here will have a large problem with attractions. Maybe other teams really look for attractions And even then, Atlanta has been ranked one of the top ranked cities for tourism in the nation.

The people here in Atlanta have dealt with champs before and know exactly how to run it and are improving on it constantly. This is evident from the movement of the pits and the reduced fares for hotel rooms.

If you go to another city it would be like someone said before in this thread reinventing the wheel.

This city has a history of being good with large scale events
Just a few:
- 1996 Olympics
- ACC Basketball Tournament
- NCAA Men's Final Four
- Sold out Falcon's game for every single home game
- Chick-fil-A Bowl
- SEC Championships
- Superbowl of Motor Sports
- Supercross
- NFL Superbowl
- NBA All-Star Game
- Bishop T.D. Jakes religious gathering

The city can definetly handle the growth of FIRST.
I don't think there were more than 50 teams that took the time to drive down to the dome in a bus or a car.

It must have looked pretty weird for a bystander to watch thousands of people all moving towards the dome in costumes and wearing bright colored shirts covered in buttons and not knowing what exactly was happening.

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

This thread has become very long, so it's possible to miss some of the earlier suggestions. My earlier post describes the St. Louis option:

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...7&postcount=25

Edward Jones Stadium is a fully enclosed dome (home of the St. Louis Rams) and America's Center is a large convention facility adjacent to the stadium. It is walking distance from Laclede's Landing and the Gateway Arch, Busch Stadium and other downtown attractions.

There is light rail service from the airport to downtown St. Louis, so you have the same convenience that MARTA provides in Atlanta.

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

Anyone remember Atlanta in '96? The olympics have been in atlanta; them coming to atlanta helped solve some (but obviously not all) of the traffic problems here. Olympic facilities aren't used because the Turner field (used for olypics) is open air and thus weather would be an issue. Besides, the georgia dome is one of a limited number of domes in the world, and they are preparing to do over 100 million in renovations to it. The only issue I see in atlanta is with location of the pits, but they improved on that this year, maybe even more in the future. Who knows what will happen, but I hope they stay in atlanta. Not just because I live here but because I havn't seen a better suited location yet.

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

Not to mention how easy it is to get to six flags or white water :yikes:

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

How many championships have you seen? :)

I think there are other locations out there that can suit it, that haven't held Olympics. So far I haven't seen enough information on other cities to know though.

Looking at the teams that attended this season, there were 41% that were in 12hr driving distance of Atlanta (majority being at the max or few minutes beyond 12hrs), but 65% to Indy (and majority of these were <9hrs to Indy). However, if you look at the Michigan teams, and assume they would have a slow moving bus driving them to Atlanta, that wouldn't make it in 12hrs, it drops to 28% of teams were in 12hr driving of Atlanta. Whether teams would choose to drive or fly, don't know. Depends on their budget, size of team, etc... But it does show the proximity of where many teams are coming from and a potential cost savings for many.

We can't expect it to be held in Atlanta forever, though I do like it... or maybe we can... but I highly doubt it.

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

I think he may have been saying that he hasn't seen a better suited city for championships that has been posted in this thread.

It would be fun to play in the same dome as the Greatest Show on Turf. There is plenty to do and it is much closer to California teams than Atlanta is.

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

Does anyone know when the decision will be made about the next host after Atlanta finishes up its contract?

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

If you have not had the pleasure of sitting in the EPCOT stadium on a clear, beautiful Saturday morning with 20,000 of your closest friends, then you can't understand why Disney is the only choice.

The only down side was that, sometimes, less dedicated folks were itching to go to the parks when they weren't supposed to.

Other cities are great and I have had a nice time in Atlanta and Houston, but Disney is pure MAGIC. There is an intangible feeling of togetherness that overwhelmed people there.

It also attracted more media attention and important visitors.

As a mentor, I also liked the safety and security of the parks.

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

Well, if we want to be called the Superbowl of Smarts again as we were in 2003, when we were in Texas, and the 2004 Bowl was held there, then... We can always have the choice of these Cities:

Tampa, Atlanta, Houston:
Or, even these cities which will host it in the next upcoming years:
Detroit, Miami, Glendale, AZ.
I've never been to Miami.. :cool: Or Tampa, Or Detroit Or Arizona for that matter.
But, which city has an International Airport very close by?
All of them?


Oh yeah, and for all you NYC Championship supporters:


* Source:



As for my own opinion, I believe that FIRST is an extension of Dean, and the things he does in his buisiness world is directly linked with his little microcosm of the world known as FIRST. Thus, since he wants support from D.C. for many of his projects, and also the fact that he is looking into patent reform who's office is in D.C., then I see Washington D.C, as a definate candidate for The Championship Event sometime in the future.
But... keep in mind I have not ever been to D.C., other than for a few days/hours no where near the heart in the thick of the city, but if it was in D.C., where could it be held?

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

That's an awsome point about DC that makes a lot of sense. I'm not completely familar with the DC area but the MCI center might work (might be too small).. I'm sure Washington has a big Expo center somewhere in the city that could host the compeition. I just don't know how seating arrangments and Ultimatly six fields could be setup in an expo center. (Ehh Woodie teaches at MIT and Dave Lavrey works at NASA I'm sure they could figure something out)

I'm just not sold on FIRST leaving Atlanta or going to another non-NFL domed arena (remeber MLB is back in session in April). Four fields, plus einstine and VEX is a lot stuff to push into one area, which is why a strictly NBA/NCAA basketball arena would be almost impossible to run the compeition, plus the NBA is also still in season during April and there could be a conflict of intrest between the NBA team and FIRST compeition.

Unless FIRST finds a way to host the compeition in Washington DC or a major industrial area where there would be a major impact on FIRST as whole; I don't think it would make much sense for them to leave Atlanta and that setup they have down to a science in Atlanta.

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

Washington just finished building a new convention center :yikes: , so they should have enough space there.

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

There is enough space for the pits, but nowhere to put playing fields with enough seating.


Wetzel

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

Even though Atlanta lost the Super Bowl bid, Arthur Blank, the owner of the Falcons is still going to go through with his $150 million renovation of the Georgia Dome. I got that from an AJC Article. I think the renovation will be taking place in 2007 or something like that.

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

So during what months will this renovation take place? I'm guessing NOT during football season, which means the spring/summer months. How long would it take? I assume the Georgia Dome would be off limits while the construction was going on. Is that a potential impediment to Atlanta receiving the contract?

Re: Championships location from 07 and onwards
 

I don't think that the renovations would occur durin Spring. The reason for this is because during Spring, there are quite a few events. Especially the AJC International Auto Show the week before Nationals. Summer is the biggest option for renovation time because there afe fewer events going on during summer (or atleast I think so).

And looking at the improvements that it looks like they are making, I don't believe much of it will effect the kids except the concourse areas around the Dome.

In all, I don't believe that there will be a problem and that this may actually help the bid. The fact that there is gonna be a renovation to the exterior of the Dome. Maybe we will start using the video screens to display some of the final matches.