[PayneTrain]

In all honesty, Detroit, New Orleans, and Las Vegas would all be great places to have CMP for so many reasons, but varying fair/unfair perceptions about each of these cities could scare away FIRST.

I think FIRST will never sacrifice these two things:
All age groups of the sport under one roof
The roof is a convention center/arena hybrid. Personally, I feel weird even thinking about playing Einstein in an Exhibit hall...

Other logistics issues: New Orleans and Detroit aren't really airport hubs like Atlanta, St. Louis, and Vegas are. While every city makes a proposal, I feel like FIRST liked St. Louis for its flights and central location over others. I'm not saying a city won't offer a better deal later and FIRST the deal just under the pretense of location in the contiguous states, but it's something they are considering now.