Could Comic-Con International Leave San Diego?

When it comes to where future editions of Comic-Con International, there are two schools of thought. On one hand, there are people who are adamant that the show has outgrown its space in San Diego and desperately needs more room. Then there are those who insist that there’s no way it will ever leave, as it’s too intertwined with San Diego to ever set up shop anywhere else. Heck, plenty of people call it San Diego Comic-Con or just SDCC.

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But the latter group also assumes that San Diego will do whatever is necessary to keep Comic-Con in town, and recent events suggest that isn’t necessarily the case. It’s not going anywhere for the next two years, but now that the expansion plans of the San Diego Convention Center have hit a snag, it’s at least conceivable that the show could move elsewhere after 2016.

As The Hollywood Reporter noted last week, it isn’t simply a matter of not having enough space in the Convention Center, though that is the primary factor. There’s also the question of having enough hotel rooms and other amenities to host the throngs of Comic-Con attendees. That’s something other cities already have.

Orlando and New Orleans have huge convention centers and plenty of hotel rooms, but with the increasing importance of Comic-Con to the movie industry, it’s almost inconceivable to think that it would move that far from the west coast. That’s why both Los Angeles and Anaheim have emerged as potential relocation spots, though having attended several editions of E3, the Los Angeles Convention Center might not be an ideal venue for Comic-Con just because of the way its laid out. If Las Vegas wanted to get in on the action, it obviously has no shortage of hotel space, and the convention center in Sin City dwarfs the one in San Diego.

With two years left on its current deal with San Diego, any talk of Comic-Con relocating is simply speculation at this point. But if it becomes clear by this time next year that the current facilities in San Diego are going to remain as they are going forward, that could change in a hurry.

I don’t know about you, but Anaheim Comic-Con International just doesn’t have quite the same ring to it …

(via Comics Alliance)

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