[ebarker]

I don't want to sound rude, but please go understand what the definition of what a monopoly is. FIRST isn't a monopoly. It is an open market and they are putting up no barriers to entry, that is they are not preventing anyone from stepping and competing. There are other competitions that compete with FIRST and they are open to anyone.

FIRST doesn't make money, they get their bills paid. And they run the organization financially responsibly which means they keep a proper amount of reserves for operations.

If FIRST were making money, plenty of investors would be starting competitions to try to get a piece of that action.

To seriously impact the current cost structure would require a fundamental restructuring of the whole program. That restructure might be offensive to other people. That is one of the factors driving the district model. More plays, lower cost, less show, more high school gym, but that is another argument for another thread.

The real issue here is Value.

Anytime we are talking about cost, we also need to be talking about value.

Cost and Value are two distinctly different entities.

If you can persuade your community of the value of FIRST, then there is a chance the cost issue will resolve itself with increased funding.