[Donut]

Originally Posted by Nawaid Ladak

I think within a couple of years, the event will either have to move back to Atlanta, or move to Chicago/Dallas. Cities like Las Angeles, Orlando, Las Vegas and New Orleans are also viable options, although these cities are not centralized. If FIRST somehow makes it tougher for teams to get into the Championship event, keeping roughly the same number of teams/fields, then options like Denver, Indianapolis, San Francisco, San Diego, New York, Houston and Phoenix become available.

I've seen this mentioned in other threads before so I just wanted to mention it. Atlanta is NOT centralized. It was a good venue and it is the busiest airport in the US in terms of passenger volume, however it is no closer to the center of the country than Las Vegas, and is quite a bit further than the current championships in St. Louis. Once the championship is more than a 6 hour drive away flying begins to look like a better option and many teams will always be forced to fly to attend, so a good international airport is more important than a centralized location IMO.

I also wouldn't mind seeing FIRST rotate the championships once every 3 or 4 years. It'd be nice if only from a perspective of letting other areas see what it is like once in a while.

I like your ideas on a qualifying score system, though I think it should be simplified quite a bit. The idea of a Pre-elimination tournament seems like a pricey proposition though, I know my team could not pay to fly out for a "pre-qualifying" tournament where we may only be competing for one day, and it would be impossible to book hotels after winning (since you wouldn't want to book them before you know if you are staying).