What it actually costs
Registration, hardware, events, travel — and the smallest realistic budget for a rookie season.
By the end you can
- List every category of cost in a rookie FTC season
- Separate what you must buy from what you can borrow, delay, or skip
- Sketch a minimum viable budget and know where grants can cover it
Money is the reason most rookie teams never make it to their first event, and almost nobody explains it up front. Here is the honest version.
Prices change; categories do not
Specific dollar figures shift every season and by region, and we are deliberately not quoting exact numbers that will be wrong by the time you read this. Get current figures from the official FIRST site and your regional partner. What stays true is the shape of the budget below.
Where the money goes
1. Registration
A per-team season registration fee paid to FIRST, plus in most regions a fee per event you attend. This is non-negotiable and comes first in the budget.
Rookie grants exist. Many regions, and FIRST itself, offer grants that cover part or all of a rookie team's registration. Sponsors like local businesses, community foundations, and some large technology companies fund these routinely. Apply early — most have deadlines months before the season.
2. The control system
This is the expensive, non-optional hardware:
- A REV Control Hub (the robot's brain)
- A driver station — typically an Android phone or approved device
- Gamepads for the drivers
- A 12V battery and charger — buy at least two batteries
- Cabling: motor cables, encoder cables, XT30 power leads
This is the part to buy used
Control system components hold up well and teams upgrade. Ask veteran teams in your region whether they have a spare Control Hub or last year's battery set. Many will simply give a rookie team parts.
3. Structure and motion
Metal, wheels, motors, servos, gears, and fasteners. This is where budgets balloon because it feels infinite. It is not:
- 4 drive motors and wheels
- A kit of structural parts — goBILDA, REV, Actobotics, or the FIRST kit, depending on what your region and budget favour
- 1–2 motors and 1–2 servos for your one scoring mechanism
- Fasteners, spacers, and a basic tool set
You do not need a second mechanism, a fancy intake, or spare everything in year one.
4. Events and travel
Event fees, transport, and food for the day. If your region has an overnight championship, that is a separate and larger line item — worry about it if you qualify, not before.
5. The things people forget
- Tools
- A basic set: hex drivers, wrenches, a drill, a hacksaw or chop saw if you can borrow one, a multimeter. Borrow before buying.
- A place to work
- Free is ideal: a school room, a library makerspace, a garage. Space costs are the fastest way to sink a rookie budget.
- Spares
- One spare motor and one spare servo will save a competition day. A spare battery is close to mandatory.
- Team identity
- Shirts, a pit banner, business cards for judges. Cheap, high-impact, and easy to sponsor — but not before the robot.
The minimum viable rookie season
If money is tight, this is the order to spend in. Do not buy anything in a lower row until the rows above it are covered.
| Priority | Item | Can it be borrowed or granted? |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Team registration | Often fully covered by a rookie grant |
| 2 | Event registration | Sometimes covered by the same grant |
| 3 | Control Hub, battery, charger, driver station | Frequently donated by a veteran team |
| 4 | Drive motors, wheels, structural kit | Partly — veteran teams have surplus |
| 5 | One scoring mechanism's motors and servos | Rarely; budget for this |
| 6 | Tools | Almost always borrowable |
| 7 | Spares | Buy after the first event, once you know what breaks |
| 8 | Shirts, banner, marketing | Ask a sponsor to fund this specifically |
Sponsors like funding specific things
"Please give us $500" is a hard ask. "It costs $X to register our team, and your logo goes on our robot and our shirts" is an easy one. The Business track covers how to build this into a real sponsorship packet.
Ask other teams
The single most underused resource in FTC is the team one town over. Veteran teams routinely hand rookie teams surplus parts, lend tools, and share a practice field. Most of them were funded by someone else's generosity and are actively looking to pay it forward.
Find them through your regional partner, at an event, or through the FIRST team directory. Ask directly — the worst outcome is a polite no.
Check yourself
Your team has just enough money for registration, a control system, and a drivetrain — but not a scoring mechanism. What should you do?
Next
Money planned. Next: the actual mechanics of registering a team, which is more paperwork than most people expect.