FIRST Championship Updates: 2025 & Beyond
June 26, 2024
We are preparing to welcome teams from throughout the world to Houston for FIRST® Championship 2025 and would like to share more details on event registration and booking team lodging accommodations.
There are two separate steps required for teams to attend FIRST Championship:
- Pay (secure) the Event Registration Fee to FIRST
- Book lodging accommodations with the FIRST official housing provider, ConferenceDirect
Teams must complete both steps before the deadlines stated in their invitations. It is strongly recommended that teams who are planning to attend FIRST Championship be prepared to make room reservations and pay event registration shortly after qualifying, especially for qualifying events that occur in March and April.
As shared in our previous blog, all teams traveling to FIRST Championship will be required to book their lodging accommodations within designated hotel blocks. Only rooms booked through FIRST official housing provider, ConferenceDirect satisfy the team lodging requirement. Teams who reside within 100 miles of the event are exempt from this requirement.
Shortly after a team receives an official invitation to attend FIRST Championship from FIRST, both Lead Mentor/Coach 1 and 2 listed on the team’s dashboard account will receive an email with a unique link to browse available hotel inventory and create their team room block. The email containing this link will be sent from “FIRST Teams Housing,” info@cvent.com. The email will include a specific booking deadline for the team to submit their block request and secure their hotel reservation with a credit card.
FIRST has contracted with over 150 hotels throughout Houston, and a list can be found on the FIRST Championship website. This inventory will be managed to ensure a variety of options are available to teams when they receive their invitation while recognizing that many teams will not qualify until close to the event. We have implemented the following to best provide equitable access to hotel availability:
- Hotel inventory will be sub-divided by program, meaning FIRST LEGO League, FIRST Tech Challenge, and FIRST Robotics Competition teams will have separate inventory.
- Hotel inventory will be added throughout the FIRST Championship qualification season to provide a variety of hotel options for teams.
- FIRST has updated the hotel cancellation policy for 2025 to help ensure teams book only the number of rooms they need for their attendees. If a team's total room block pick-up falls below 85% of the originally reserved room nights, the team will be charged for each room night below the 85% threshold. These charges will be applied to the credit card on file after the event. Additionally, the hotel’s cancellation policy of one night’s room rate plus tax may apply for any reservations canceled within 72 hours of arrival. These fees will be charged by the hotel per their cancellation policy.
- Teams may increase their room block without penalty, based on availability, after securing their initial reservation.
Please visit the FIRST Championship website to find a variety of resources including hotel details and step by step instructions for booking hotel rooms.
We look forward to seeing you in Houston!