It’s hard to imagine attending Comic-Con in a city other than San Diego but, according to a new story by SlashFilm, a change of venue may be coming.
As the article points out, Comic-Con has outgrown the San Diego Convention Center in recent years, causing longer lines, parking issues, and general overcrowding.
As their current contract with San Diego is about to expire in 2016, Comic-Con International is accepting proposals from other cities. Right now, San Diego is working to keep Comic-Con through at least 2018. The city’s tourism board president Joe Terzi is optimistic and believes the contract will be signed within a month. He has good reason to remain hopeful, Comic-Con is the city’s biggest annual event, generating more than $175 million for the local economy.
There night be on snag their plan, though. San Diego had proposed a 225,000-square-foot expansion to the convention center, but a state appeals court ruled against the financing plan, which would have cost $520 million. Mayor Kevin Faulconer is still exploring ways to expand the convention center but, he also has the San Diego Chargers threatening to leave for Los Angeles if they can’t build a new state-of-the-art stadium and convention center downtown.
If the con does move, it won’t be far. Comic-Con International plans to stay in Southern California, making Los Angeles and Anaheim the top contenders for the new location. Anaheim’s convention Center is 200,000 square feet larger than San Diego and is already home to WonderCon.
Of course, Los Angeles has plenty to offer tourists and, logistically, it would be a perfect fit for movie studios based in Hollywood.
According to Comic-Con’s David Glanzer the organization has yet to make a decision either way. “The proposals we’ve received are pretty amazing,” he said. “It’s not an easy decision.”
Would you like to see Comic-Con move out of San Diego? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
