FIRST Championship in years 2021+

[MrTechCenter]

Vegas seems like the best option for the West. As much as I would love to have West Champs in California, probably the only venue that can support it would be the Los Angeles Convention Center. It would be fool to have it there and the Staples Center but that would heavily conflict with the NBA and NHL playoffs (assuming either the Clippers or Lakers and/or LA Kings are in the playoffs). And that would also be extremely expensive.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by MrTechCenter

Vegas seems like the best option for the West. As much as I would love to have West Champs in California, probably the only venue that can support it would be the Los Angeles Convention Center. It would be fool to have it there and the Staples Center but that would heavily conflict with the NBA and NHL playoffs (assuming either the Clippers or Lakers and/or LA Kings are in the playoffs). And that would also be extremely expensive.

Anaheim Convention Center was considered at some point, I think. I suspect that Long Beach could be workable if a bit tight (using the convention center/sports arena mix, but it's not a football size--we'd probably need the entire facility). And then there's the planned NFL stadium(s), in theory, but those will be expensive and definitely won't have any convention centers nearby. Anybody from Seattle or Portland want to comment on stuff like that up there?

[Jacob Bendicksen]

Originally Posted by EricH

Anybody from Seattle or Portland want to comment on stuff like that up there?

The old Oregon Regional was held in Portland's Memorial Coliseum, and while it's a fantastic venue for a large regional/DCMP, I don't think it would have the capacity for a Championship. The Portland Thunder (Arena Football team) play in the Moda Center next door (along with the Portland Trail Blazers), and while it's a bigger venue than the Coliseum, I'm still not convinced that it's ideal for a Championship.

That's about it for large indoor stadiums in Portland, so unless they wanted to do it in the Portland Convention Center (not terrible as far as convention centers go), I don't think it'll happen in Portland. I know Seattle used to run two regionals in the same arena, but I'm not familiar with the details, so it would be awesome if someone from Seattle wanted to chime in on Washington options.

[Chief Hedgehog]

Originally Posted by JB987

Well, if the use of convention space for fields (as is planned for Houston and Detroit at this point) works out, I know of a great site for a western location...

The Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC), located adjacent to the Las Vegas Strip, encompasses approximately 3.2 million square feet with exhibit space of 2 million square feet and meeting space of nearly 250,000 square feet. The facility is one of the most modern and functional centers in the world - centrally located within walking distance of 100,000 guest rooms.

They are also adding another million plus square feet to be available within 5-7 years. We also have one of the best international airports in the US with tons of economical flights ...and the weather in April is amazing

That would be a terrible great idea, or a greatly terrible idea - depending on how the mentors control themselves

[Chief Hedgehog]

Originally Posted by EricH

I'm with Basel. Plan now, work on effecting change now, act surprised when it happens like you figured it would.

Assumptions: FIRST wants to keep some % of teams, say 25 or so, attending; districts are a thing in most of FRC; people have figured out that 2 geographically separated champs isn't a bad thing.

What I would expect...
Known districts: MI, PNW, MAR, NE, IN, TX (future--2 seasons from now?).
Assumed districts: MN, CA, Canada, and let's just figure a couple more in and around the Midwest for good measure.

The championships: Detroit maintains its contract and serves as the Northern Championship, MI, MN, Canada, IN, and other northern Midwest districts attending. Houston also maintains its contract (or loses it to New Orleans or one of the other Texas cities), serving as Southern Championship for TX, LA, southern Midwest/Great Plains, Mexico. A Western Championship is opened up, this for CA, PNW, HI, Australia, China, and the states on Mountain time. (And Arizona.) Location in Vegas, or Salt Lake City, or L.A. (I can dream, right?) And, on the East Coast, there's an Eastern Championship, for NE, MAR, and the rest of the Atlantic coast, as well as Europe and Israel. Each of the four has 200-400 teams.

"Interconnecting"--teams attending other area Championships is done by allocating about a quarter of spots at each championship event for teams from the other three events, and using a lottery signup system to award those "out-of-area" spots.

Sometime around 2022, somebody realizes that having a Final Four is really a slick idea, and we start again on the Super Regional model, with each Championship as a super Regional.

I am a big fan of the Super-Regionals. However, I will state that if my team advances and has to head to place outside of Minnesota, I would like to see us invade an area that has a warmer climate in April. Really folks, it is nice to get out of the snow once and while...

Overall, we would go anywhere once we make it that far.

[dodar]

Originally Posted by Chief Hedgehog

I am a big fan of the Super-Regionals. However, I will state that if my team advances and has to head to place outside of Minnesota, I would like to see us invade an area that has a warmer climate in April. Really folks, it is nice to get out of the snow once and while...

Overall, we would go anywhere once we make it that far.

So Orlando can claim Minnesota as a vote?

[Chief Hedgehog]

Originally Posted by dodar

So Orlando can claim Minnesota as a vote?

I cannot speak for all of MN - but FRC 4607 would be there!

[bobjones227]

Come on MN people... The cold and the snow isn't all that bad. I just love having to shovel a new batch of snow every three days, and nearly having hypothermia walking a mile home. Don't you all too?