Einstein seating: possible solution

[nikeairmancurry]

Originally Posted by Chris Hibner

Here is what I would REALLY like to see for a future championship.

1) Get rid of domes. They're such big caverns that the atmosphere is usually bad, the site lines are bad, etc.

2) Find a convention center next to a 20k-25k seat basketball arena.

3) Put one field in the arena and three fields in the pits (hey, I loved the pit fields - just get more seats).

4) Cycle the divisions through the arena field (thurs afternoon Curie, Friday morning, Newton, etc.) and the rest of the matches on the smaller fields. Remember the old days when they did this at EPCOT? It worked just fine.

5) Awards ceremony and Einstein matches in the basketball area, which would be JAMMED PACKED with spectators. The view would be good, and the atmosphere would be absolutely electric. It would feel like the NCAA basketball championship or game 7 of the Stanley Cup.

I love this idea.. I could image having a full house of stands filled to the rim.. It just makes the place feel LOUDER!

[Lil' Lavery]

Originally Posted by Chris Hibner

2) Find a convention center next to a 20k-25k seat basketball arena.

Your choices are:

• Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, NC.
• Oklahoma City Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (technically under 20k in basketball configuration)

[nikeairmancurry]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

Your choices are:

• Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, NC.
• Oklahoma City Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (technically under 20k in basketball configuration)

500 miles from St. Louis to Oklahoma City... Maybe to much westward travel?

[Robby Unruh]

The drive to Atlanta would take our team about 7 or 8 hours. The drive to St. Louis would take our team about 7 or 8 hours.

I don't want to go any farther west.

[Alex Dinsmoor]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

Your choices are:

• Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, NC.
• Oklahoma City Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (technically under 20k in basketball configuration)

What about Joe Louis Arena and Cobo Convention Center in Detroit, MI?

[Lil' Lavery]

Originally Posted by nikeairmancurry

500 miles from St. Louis to Oklahoma City... Maybe to much westward travel?

I'd be more worried about the other logistics. The OKC airport only services 1/4 of the passengers a year compared to the one in StL. There's no subway or train service, only a bus route for public transit (and that only runs sparsely outside of peak hours).
Greensboro's airport has very few connecting airports and the only major airlines that serve it are Delta, United, and US Airways (no service from Southwest or American Airlines). I have no idea what public transit exists there.

Originally Posted by Alex Dinsmoor

What about Joe Louis Arena and Cobo Convention Center in Detroit, MI?

Woops, missed that one due to the fact I was looking at basketball arenas and Joe Louis only services hockey regularly. But I also doubt that Joe Louis would be willing to part with a solid block of 3-4 days in mid-late April due to the NHL playoffs.

[dodar]

Oh, Oh! I know where FIRST can go...Atlanta! Nothing was wrong with the Georgia Dome/GWCC.

[cpeister]

Originally Posted by Alex Dinsmoor

What about Joe Louis Arena and Cobo Convention Center in Detroit, MI?

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

But I also doubt that Joe Louis would be willing to part with a solid block of 3-4 days in mid-late April due to the NHL playoffs.

There is actually an arena attached to Cobo Hall, although it only seats 12,191. Good luck getting Joe Louis from the Red Wings

However, I think that playing in a convention centre, just wouldn't have the championship feel. Although St. Louis was my first trip to CMP, I felt that the Dome fields felt much more like a championship than the pit fields. This is just my opinion though... I would expect that FIRST will stay with Domes even after St. Louis, but only time will tell.

[Colin P]

Cobo Hall would be perfect. The remodeling is going to be under way for the next few years, though. Maybe we'll see this in 2014 or so when it's finished?

[Alex Dinsmoor]

Originally Posted by Colin P

Cobo Hall would be perfect. The remodeling is going to be under way for the next few years, though. Maybe we'll see this in 2014 or so when it's finished?

And looking at the renovations that are taking place, it is bound to be a wonderful contribution to Detroit!

But as those before me said, the Joe holds the Wings (who won tonight!), and the arena attached only has 12k seats.

Though, logistically, it would be a great location for CMP looking at team concentration.

[nikeairmancurry]

Originally Posted by Alex Dinsmoor

And looking at the renovations that are taking place, it is bound to be a wonderful contribution to Detroit!

But as those before me said, the Joe holds the Wings (who won tonight!), and the arena attached only has 12k seats.

Though, logistically, it would be a great location for CMP looking at team concentration.

Most Canadian team would love such a short commute...

[cpeister]

It would be nice

It would be an even shorter trip if they moved to the Metro Convention Centre and Rogers Centre (Skydome) in Toronto Only trouble is the Jays play there.

[Lil' Lavery]

Originally Posted by Chris_Elston

Conceso Fieldhouse, Indy. 18K seats.
http://www.seats3d.com/nba/indiana_pacers/

3 Blocks away Convention Center or of course Lucas Oil Stadium.
http://www.lucasoilstadium.com/Asset...wntown_Map.jpg

3 blocks is an awfully long trip between the pits and the field...

Originally Posted by IBdrummer

Oklahoma City Arena is used by the Oklahoma City Thunder and the NBA would have playoffs going on during late April, so you couldn't reserve their arena.

If you moved the Championship event back to the Atlanta time-frame, it would be very possible. The NBA playoffs started on 4/17 this year. The Championships in Atlanta would typically end no later than the 19th. Given that not every NBA series starts on the same day, it could be possible to work around the NBA schedule (agreeing never to have the Championship end later than the 18th).
The NHL playoffs start a week or two before the NBA playoffs, usually. That makes any NHL-related stadiums near impossible to book.

[Jaxom]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

3 blocks is an awfully long trip between the pits and the field...

Ah....but still shorter than Atlanta.

[akeisic]

While I can see why a lot of people would wish to have the Champs in Detroit (or other east coast locations) due to the location of many teams, I feel it would actually hurt FIRST by doing so.

I participated with FIRST in Detroit (Team 217), Florida (Team 386) and now LA (Team 294). I've been to the champs in Disney, Atlanta and now St Louis. So I've seen how a region and teams are affected by the location of events.

Having the champs in Detroit or similar would only further promote FIRST in relatively saturated regions that "get it" already. I feel there is a larger potential for FIRST growth further west and am glad to see champs in St Louis.