Last year, at worlds, we used half of the arena for the event. This year, we pretty much used about 80% of the arena. 50 - 80% is a big change in numbers. I am expecting it to be filled next year. Is there a chance that the venue might change even though we are suppose to be there for the next 2 years?
There are a lot of factors that will determine this. I doubt worlds will be moved before the end of the contract but when the contract is up… If they can find a bigger/similarly sized convention center with a close arena to have finals n stuff in that would only be the first part. They would also have to approve of the area it is in. Next the RECF has to determine how much they will have to charge for registration fees (depends on how much it costs to rent). After that the RECF looks at whether flying in and out of the city is accessible, whether the hotel’s and food are accessible in the area.
Long story short is that it is not an easy decision and the RECF and Vex will not take it lightly
Freedom Hall was only that full during the game unveiling. For the rest of the events it was quite a bit less than 80% full, so it doesn’t seem super necessary to get a bigger stadium just for that one event. Especially when it would be possible to split it up between iq and VRC with the two arenas. And if people have to, they can watch it from the division stands. Also, there’s no reason why they have to keep increasing the number of worlds qualification slots.
I don’t think it will be necessary to move worlds to a new venue for more room within the next several years. They might move for other reasons though.
After Louisville, if Worlds continues to grow, do you think all of the separate World Championships (Vex U, VRC, Vex IQ) will still be in the same arena, or might they need to be in separate but close facilities? It seems like they will be hard-pressed to find a place much larger than the Louisville Convention Center for a reasonable price.
Worlds will be in Louisville the next 2 years. Louisville Fair and Expo has the most square footage under one roof in the US and a large arena. The question is where too after Louisville? Las Vegas? Next question will the number of Worlds team invites go up this year or stay the same? The Louisville venue has the capacity to add more teams for Worlds. I don’t ever see REC splitting the divisions to different venues, cost and time factors.
That’s not true. Mccormick Place in Chicago has it doubled.
and a large arena.
The Indianapolis Convention center has more sq. Ft and is connected to the Indianapolis Colts stadium. Which would be a really cool place to have finals n stuff
As an Indianapolis resident myself I may be a bit biased but the Indianapolis Convention Center would be an amazing venue to have worlds in, our city championship was in one of the halls this year and it was great!
YES!!! I know I’m biased because we only have to drive twenty minutes to get there but that would be pretty cool to have matches in Lucas Oil Stadium.
I think Indy would be a great location. I think one thing KY has going for it is the amusement park next door. Maybe Indy could build one here in a few years. 
It would be fun to leave North America and go to Europe for Worlds. I guess it’s not going to happen during time. Maybe France or Italy.
One of the goals of the RECF in planning locations is to make it less expensive for the most amount of teams they can. There is a veeeeery low percentage of teams that are from Europe so I don’t expect that to ever happen
Eh, I don’t consider this to be a benefit. We went to KY Kingdom last year (Skyrise). So many people we barely got on 2 rides within 4 hours. We didn’t even go this year because of that fact.
I think I’ll hop on the bias train. Anaheim is pretty cool, it should be there again.
What? Why would I say that just because I live in California? Pfft, you are crazy.
Oh wait, California is in a drought. Can’t have water games in a drought, forgot about that. We could host some pretty cool fire games…
I think I’ll just shush now.
Sorry
The only problem is the money with Anaheim… I believe they wanted to charge much more than Louisville for Worlds along with the fact not as many teams could fit
Especially right now, with the fires out by Duarte and Azusa (a bit of context for those who don’t know/care what fires are raging in California). And depending on how things go in November, we might have a really high jump contest.
In all seriousness, it seems like Worlds should be in a city with an international airport, or at least really close to one. Customs and a connecting flight sucks, and so does a long drive right after a long flight. Indianapolis would be good for that if REC can get a decent rate for the convention center.
Which downtown block would you demolish to build an amusement park?
Since everyone is throwing around there hometowns and reasons it should be there I’m going to be a little different and say the most fun I’ve ever had at an event was when worlds was in Orlando. The ESPN World Wide Sports Complex is huge and last time there were several buildings not in use. The massive air conditioned tents worked well I thought.
@Kevin817 not a big fan of tents. A physical building makes the even feel more legitimate IMO