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Originally Posted by Kevin Kolodziej
One thing about the layout - if the fields are rotated a bit so that they face the corners of the dome instead of the long seating areas, that would free up more space in the middle of the dome. I bet you could have FVC and FLL next to each other on one side and Einstein still on the other side. You don't lose any seating by facing the corner, except a little bit where the entraces to the floor are, but you get almost a seating in the round effect as well.
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The only problem with that idea is that FVC and FLL are ran simultaneously on Thursday and Friday. It would be quite confusing to have two different games being played in the same area, especially when you have different announcers for the different competitions. That is why they are played on fields on fields opposite on another.
Rather than people finding ways to try to cram another field into an ever crowded (in an electronic "noise" sense) GA Dome, why not just extend the Championships by a day? Travel costs would surely rise, but if you really want more matches, without additional fields, this is what you would need. But at some point we will realize that because of the nature of the games we play, we will reach the limits of how many matches can be crammed into the Championship Event.
What FIRST should really do is to find a way to use the excitement and energy of the Championshiops to their advantage. If the Georgia Dome can hold 70,000 people, and if only 30,000 people attended the Championships each year, why not open the other 40,000 seats up to the general public? And while they are at it, what if FIRST charged only a dollar for admission for everyone in the general public to help cover some of the costs of the event? (FIRST teams would recieve free, unlimited admisison vouchers for their team members, have special entrances to avoid lines, and be reserved priority seating sections in the arena.)
Although it might be a little costly, a few 30-second TV commercials in the greater Atlanta region in the weeks prior to the Championships with all kinds of action-packed video clips from FIRST advertising the event would help bring people in. If 20,000 spectators from the general public attend the Championships, and if 1 in 20 guests from the general public goes out and starts a team, (FRC, FVC, or FLL) voila! You now have 1,000 new FIRST teams!
