Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin Kolodziej
We're already sacrificing the stadium feel. It seems that most people are still unaware that in the original announcement it clearly says that all matches will be played in the convention centers. The stadiums are only for the opening and closing ceremonies. This is what I wanted to ask about at the town hall meeting but got cut off - I was able to talk to Done Bossi about it afterwards and he said currently only St. Louis and Atlanta are able to handle the current setup of pits in convention center and matches in an attached dome, and Atlanta is about to build a new stadium so its not an option. I specifically asked then how they intend to have 20,000 people watch the Einstein matches in a convention center (because in 2011 the division fields in the convention center were awful and didn't have enough room for their own teams) and he said they are working on a solution to that.
They want to give the experience to more teams. Playing matches in and never leaving the convention center is NOT the championship experience. Walking into the stadium this year and seeing all 8 fields under one roof was one of the best images I've seen in FIRST. Enjoy it next year - you'll never see it again if this continues the way it currently is.
|
There are pluses and minuses to it.
IF you can provide adequate space around the fields, segment the pits from the fields so the traffic to/from the stands isn't going right through pit areas, and provide more seats it is doable. I won't say I loved the pit fields in 2011 but I did like that the commute to the stands was so much shorter than what we have had in Atlanta and St. Louis.
If they are going to keep 100 team divisions they are crazy you'll never have enough seats. If you do 50 team divisions the stands aren't that much of an issue anymore but I wonder if they have enough floor space to handle 400 pits, 8 competition fields, and 2 for practice?