Chicago/Rosemont is the answer.
Major flight hub, so flights are available and cheap(er). Very near population center of teams in North America (which is roughly Indianapolis). Significantly increases the number of teams that could drive (vs Houston or Vegas). Multiple venues available (but I’m assuming McCormick is mostly out of the question). Major & established public transit system.
This would be so much closer for Michigan, Ontario, Midwest, as well New England teams. Despite being in the same time zone as Houston, Chicago is, as you say, far more centrally located.
While Chicago would be ideal for Northern US and Canadian teams, the issue is finding a venue. Houston has the George R. Brown convention center and minute maid field next door to it. This district of Houston also has tons of hotels around it. There may be a similarly ideal location in Chicago (idk I’ve never been to Chicago), but Houston seems to still be the best spot for worlds. Also, having a consistent location every year makes planning and reserving venues much simpler.
While I agree having a consistent venue makes planning on First’s end easier, but is that worth having half of the Northern US and Canadian teams being unable to attend? They have proven that having 2 Worlds was feasible in Houston and Detroit. Another option would be going back to a more centralized location like St. Louis.
It would be interesting to see a heat map of FRC teams and where the actual most “Central” location would be.
I swear one of these was made somewhat recently and posted in a thread discussing cities to hold worlds in. Hopefully someone can find/link that here…
Edit: Found the heat map I was refering to.
I do desperately hope that FIRST either relocates Worlds, or at least goes back to 2 champs. Unfortunately though it looks like we’re stuck there for at least one more year 
.
Each year it is held in Houston, it seems to be a worse and worse location for teams. Between overall political climate and it’s geographic location, it’s no wonder so many amazing teams have had to decline their invite.
While it may be difficult to collect such data, I’d be very curious to know from teams who have declined, had World’s been in Detroit or St Louis (the 2 previous locations for Worlds), would that have changed their decision…?
Indy can also be a good choice, they have a ton of space there and hold major events all the time like auto shows, consumer shows and the combine.
Have you considered that Texas is actively enabling people to witch-hunt members of the LGBTQ+ community?
2 more years actually Trans students and mentors are not safe at FIRST Championship - #301 by Veeryuk
I live in Texas… and my team has many LGBTQ+ members… none of whom have been witch-hunted.
Also it’s probably easier (financially and logistically) to secure space there than in, say, Chicago. If there’s a suitable venue for it, I would love to see it happen!
Agreed, Indy seems like a great alternative, only problem is that there is no major international airport
“it hasn’t happened to me which means it cannot happen”
Fingers crossed for the 2026 location announcement. But based on First’s recent decisions I’m not exactly all too hopeful.
I don’t know if it has been confirmed but I have heard that First Is given a very good deal on the Houston venue space.
I am aware that this is what it seems like, but cities like Houston in Texas are about as liberal and LGBTQ+ friendly as it gets, it’s only the rural areas you really need to be concerned about. It bothers me when people think Texas is full of Homophobic and Racist ultra-conservatives. This is simply not the case, especially in the cities. It’s like most other states, extremely conservative countryside, more liberal cities.
(Edit: this is getting off-topic though so this conversation should probably be shifted back on-course)
Do you mean this? https://frcmap.com/
Agreed, do not want to take anything away from this very important and valuable topic but there are several other threads specifically designed for good conversations such as these. Lets try to keep this one on track!
That’s all US cities lmao
Actually this is what I was specifically thinking of (took me a minute to find it):
