[Siri]

I think a lot of build season's length is less about progression and performance and more about logistics. There's a limited set of dates available for Worlds, and I doubt they want thus to conflict with APs more. That sets your end. Qualifying events need a certain number of weeks, particularly in the district model but also due to things like spring breaks at college venues. Combine that with Week 0 and limit it on the other end with winter holidays (for both practical and parity reasons), and 6 basically is the magic number. There can be some years where it's possible to squeeze out more, but 6 is consistently safe if you intend to bag before the first official event. FIRST has to do these venue contracts rather far in advance, and likely not entirely in sync with one another.

That said, my issue is not so much with the time between kickoff and the first event, but rather with what happens during and after the first event. If they're seeking parity in machine access time--though to be honest, I'm not sure they're even trying to--why isn't every allowed to unnatural every competition weekend? (Maybe ban the one before your own event for regionals to allow international shipping.)