Battlebots I.Q.- A serious threat to FIRST or a half thought up cheep copy?

[fftwizard]

In all honestly, I don't think that there is really a threat to anything here. Sure, both programs have different goals and are using robotics in order to accomplish it. FIRST is for futhering engineering education and to show what students are really capable of; battlebots is merely for entertainment of the masses. I don't think either threatens the other.

FIRST is great program, but television audiances aren't ready for it. I mean look at what battlebots has become compared to what it used to be back in the day before when you had to actually order it on pay per view. The quality of the fights has dropped significantly since its airing on comedy central. This is the complete opposite of FIRST which in my opinion is doing better than ever. Battlebots is forced to accomedate audiances to get ratings while FIRST does not. Therefore there are no outside influences really trying to change what FIRST is trying to do.
My Two Cents.