[EricH]

I think that the "lots of teams" model won't work very well. I'd rather see a third of the teams or fewer, but larger, with a very wide sponsor base apiece instead of a deep sponsor base for all of them. You have a wide base and lose a sponsor, you get another one. You have a deep base and lose a sponsor, you're hurting for years.

Instead of going for everybody, you go with one location in X area. That team is now responsible for getting rooted, developing business relationships, spreading the word, etc. in that area. Give it a few years, and ideally, it's ready to spin off another team that can last a long time because of existing relationships and new advertising. Something on the order of NiagraFIRST a few years back: we work as "one business unit" until you guys are ready to go it alone.

This is almost ignoring the FTC/VRC level, but you could easily modify that to work the same way. Club X runs out of room for new students, all the students in club X from Y area form club Z with its own complement of teams--and the relationships needed already in place.