[l23k4]

But why? Won't that just make it far more awkward when they're inevitably forced to go through with very similar changes in the end?

[bombcar]

Because now they can say "we considered it, there was strong opposition, and we didn't change the rules and what happened happened".

And if they miss out on part of a runup, and the companies later enter the index, what is the long term "harm" if any??

But if they're "right" it makes the competing indices look weak.