[Clem1640]

I was not suggesting that there is no reason for valid complaints. I think there are. I think that these are more associated with the relative difficulties in qualifying for FTC championships than the amenities of the venues and quality of awards.

And the higher revenue of additional FRC teams vis-à-vis FTC teams may be as much a driver for FIRST's expansion of FRC Championships from 400 to 800 teams than an explanation for better venue.

Still...

$1.5M will buy a better/bigger venue than $128K.

Operating an FRC team requires a much larger budget and mentor base than FTC. I operate both, so I know this. My season FTC registration & event registration costs were $2,325 for (6) events (3 Quals, State Champ, Super-Regional & FTC Champ). My season FRC registration & event costs registration costs were $14,500 for (5) events (3 District Quals, District Champ & FRC Champ). This is a significant difference.

A key benefit of the FTC program over FRC is the lower cost and investment required to run the program. FTC can be run with less "variable cost" (registration, materials & parts), fewer mentors, and lower capital investment (mills, lathes, welders, etc.). This makes the FTC program more accessible than FRC.

Due to VEX, FTC also competes in a far more competitive market than FRC. There are a lot more VEX teams in my immediate area than FTC, and they operate on a significantly lower budget. Making FTC more expensive would seem to be an untenable path.