Team number

From FIRSTwiki

The team number is a unique identifier assigned by FIRST to each FIRST Robotics Competition and FIRST LEGO League team, though the numbering system for each group is independent of the other.

From 1992 to 1998, a team's number was reassigned at the outset of each competition season and, thus, held little importance in any logistical or operational sense. The number a team received was based upon its place in an alphabetized list of competitors they appeared, with such alphabetization being based upon the team's sponsor. This is why teams that have competed each year since 1992 have numbers as high as 191 (Xerox). Further, it shows that team 1 did not compete in 1992, but rather was sponsored by 3-Dimensional Services, thus appearing at the top of the alphabetized list of sponsors.

Beginning in 1999, returning teams were reassigned their existing team numbers from 1998, while rookie teams were assigned numbers consecutively thereafter. The consecutive numbering of new teams continued uninterrupted until 2002, when an error by FIRST forced a change in procedure. 2002 rookie team registration should have begun with number 717, but instead started at 800. When new team registration reached number 999, a control system limitation required FIRST to fill in unclaimed numbers, starting back at 717. So, while teams number 717 to 799 were rookies in 2002, they registered later than teams numbered 800 to 999.

Beginning in 2003, the control system was adapted for a four-digit numbering system and the consecutive assignment of numbers has continued since then.

If teams stop participating in the FIRST Robotics Competition, their team number is not reassigned to a new team. Instead, it lays dormant until such a time that the team may decide to compete once again. Team 73 is an example of a team that, after a years long hiatus from FIRST, reestablished its old team number and began competing again.

Also of note, team numbers 666 and 911 have never been assigned.