[Daviddavid]

The FIRST person I talked to at the Davis Regional did tell me that the local committee needs to raise about $200,000 to hold an event and that none of the registration fees from teams at that event go towards that amount. So a 50 team regional sends FIRST about $200,000 and the teams send FIRST $300,000 in registration fees. So the event generates $500,000 but costs much less.
I think FIRST should have extra cash in the bank, that sounds smart. But after 3 million, or 5 million or now 8 million, when do they stop buliding that cash account at the expense of team fees? Now that they have $8 million, they should reduce the fee back to $4,000 or $5,000 like it used to be to help more schools be able to afford to join FIRST or start a FTC teams. If they don't lower it, they're just going to add another $2 million in profit next year which is money coming from schools and sponsors like NASA and GM, that doesn't make sense. If it's not needed, let the schools keep the money for parts and travel.