This thread is expanding much faster than I can read it. I don't mean to step on anyone's toes if I'm repeating ideas.
My thoughts as I've read through:
1) Having Super-regionals and then a Championship event adds at least one, probably two, and possibly even three weeks to the competition season (Having back to back competitions that you have to qualify for and can't plan for ahead of time is simply not feasible).
The length and intensity of competition season as it is now - at least in the district model- already stretches a lot of student's resources. With a super-regional model, we'd be running into graduation season for many people by the time champs rolls around. We'd also be looking at more mentor and volunteer burnout. Not to mention that smaller super-regionals won't be able to offer the full CMP experience, see my next point.
2) People seem to be mostly upset over a lowering of the level of competition and not being able to find out which is the best robot in the world. I'm obviously pretty alone in this sentiment, but to me, World Champs is a lot more about the gathering of the teams to learn from one another. I get a lot more out of volunteering, attending the conference talks, and perusing scholarship row than I do watching the Einstein matches. Obviously, the finals are ridiculously exciting, but for overall benefit, it's the rest of the week that I'm there for.
I know that a lot of people will argue at this point that it's the drive to be the best in the world that inspires them, but... I really don't think that that ultra-competitiveness is in the spirit of FIRST.
Mostly I want to yell at people to put the rulers away, that finding out who has the biggest --, ahem, the best robot is not the overall goal of this program. (In case you haven't heard, it's Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). From the tone of the announcement, I think I'm on the same page as FIRST here.
3) The stated reasons for this change is
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We continue to witness substantial growth of interest in our mission, our programs, and our annual Championship. Far beyond what we can currently accommodate, a growing number of young people are eager to participate and compete in our iconic, international celebration; yet due to space limitations, and sometimes travel costs, only a small fraction of teams can participate in the FIRST Championship.
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I know the travel costs thing is dubious at best. Having North/South events is dumb when compared to East/West, when considering the distribution of teams. But, as numerous people have pointed out, if FIRST is releasing locations and dates, they're already pretty set in stone. Can't do anything about that.
But the other point? I think that's valid. It's no denying that FIRST is expanding, and there are a lot more kids and teams that should benefit from the CMP experience than are able to currently go. The system as it is is already pushing the accommodation resources of a major city to the breaking point. You can't get any more teams to CMPs without splitting it up.
tl;dr:
*The 'solution' of adding super-regionals will extend the season, ultimately leading to student, mentor, and volunteer burnout.
*Champs is about a lot more than who has the best robot
*FIRST is expanding and Champs needs to as well.
Finally, to get to the constructive bit, here's my suggestions:
1) Get as many teams as possible into the district model before 2017.
2) If you absolutely must know who has the best robot, have a smaller event during the summer. Or, you know, there's always IRI.
3) As an alternative to everyone just dealing with the horror of multiple world champions, split the two events into FLL/FTC and FRC.