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Nate, I think you hit it right on the head. FIRST is just too big for a single national venue. No matter how much Nats is expanded, it will never be possible for every team to go, and it will only get worse as time goes on.
I believe Dean said FIRST is growing at approximately 15% annually when he spoke at West Michigan. That may not seem like much, but when running a competition where everyone goes, that's huge. If Nationals were to grow at the same rate as FIRST, and no limiting was applied, this year we would have 385 teams at nationals. Next year, we would have 443 teams. By 2005, over 585 teams would attend. By 2009, 1000 teams would be at nationals! That's not to say this would happen, but it shows the futility of moving, rather than limiting nationals.
The fact of the matter is: it was bound to happen. FIRST had to limit attendance; simply moving the location would have only bought them a year or two. No facility they chose could support 1000 teams and still have a quality event. Furthermore, who would really want to attend Nationals with 1000 teams? People were already complaining about the size after last year, and only 335 teams were there. FIRST had to bow to reality, and make the only decision they could: limit nationals.
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