[Sam Slade]

I know I'm late to the party here so I haven't had a chance to read all of the posts yet but this came to my mind almost immediately after reading the announcement.

By limiting which Championship event teams can go to based on geographic regions, you are pretty much guaranteeing (at least through 2020) that there will be two main groups of "powerhouse" teams that will never get to compete against one another. With a Championship event in Detroit, you will see Michigan powerhouse teams like 67 and 33 with Canada powerhouse teams like 1114 and 2056. In Houston, you will have teams from Texas like 118 and 148 with, more than likely, west coast teams like 254 and 978 (Las Vegas isn't exactly the coast but you get my point). These teams are almost always the best of the best and seeing them compete against one another is one of (IMO) the best parts of the World Championship event. By forcing them to compete in separate World Championship events, matches between these teams is something we may never see except in the off season (IRI).

Another issue I have is placing one of these Championship events in an area where the district structure is already present. This year 64 teams from Michigan are qualifying for the Championship event to be spread over 8 divisions. Michigan teams have been competing against each other all year. At the Championship event, they will be spread out and get to compete against the best teams from around the world. With a Detroit championship and only 4 divisions, are they going to decrease now the number of teams in Michigan (a growing district) that qualify for the Championship event? If they don't, then the Detroit championship will be saturated with Michigan teams, diminishing the "World Championship" feel. And instead of playing the best teams from around the world, now they are playing the best teams from the Midwest and Canada.

I agree that the World Championship event is growing and it is a great thing. I have no problem with two championship events but I would propose a few changes.

1. Don't limit teams to championship events based on their geographic region.
2. Hold both events in the same weekend.
3. Take the top 4 alliances from each championship event and have them compete at a 1 day event the following week in a third location.

This gives you 8 alliances of the best robots in the world to compete in one final tournament. Invite the Chairman's award finalists, etc. to the event and make it a big deal. No qualification matches, just the best of the best competing for the crown. This gives you your World Champions, your Chairman's Award winner, etc.

It wouldn't have to have the huge pit areas like a normal championship event. You could but it in a basketball arena and make a huge deal out of it. Give the best of the best a stage to play on and the marketing and FIRST's exposure would take care of itself.