pic: Growth of FIRST in Michigan

[IKE]

Originally Posted by AGPapa

I see how districts keep the cost down for FiM, but how do they keep them down for teams? Doesn't each team still have to pay the $5,000 registration fee? If Michigan teams are paying less, it's because the government is paying for them.

With so many events around the states, Most teams (not all, but most) have 2 events within a reasonable daily drive. This reduces hotel, bus, and food related travel fees for the team.
While not directly apples to apples, say you have 20 students staying 4 to a room Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night for an event at $100/room. This is 5 rooms x 4 nights or $2K just for the student rooms.

Having events within driving distance allows for teams to dramatically reduce that portion of their budget, and still have a 2 event season (minimum).