Lotsa folks are writing me to ask what I think about rumors that the Comic-Con International will be moving to Anaheim or maybe even Los Angeles when its current contract with San Diego expires. I think they're not exactly rumors. I think it's a fact that the convention is talking to other cities…but that's all that's happening.
And what's more, they're always talking to other cities. The convention is a wildly successful enterprise that pumps megabucks into the San Diego economy. If you were running a convention center or chamber of commerce in a city that thrives on convention business, your fondest dream would probably be to wrest the con out of San Diego's grasp and relocate it in your yard. You'd probably be approaching the Comic-Con people often with tempting offers of bigger and better facilities, more hotel space, more financial considerations, etc.
And the Comic-Con people would listen to you and let you do your little dog-'n'-pony show because, first of all, they're polite and secondly, they're in the convention business. They have to know what else is out there if only so they can go back to San Diego and say, "Hey, the Pismo Beach Chamber of Commerce just offered us free clam chowder if we move the con to a Motel 6 they have up there. What are you going to do for us?" And of course, the Comic-Con needs to consider alternatives in case the day comes when San Diego just plain doesn't work for them.
I don't think that day is coming soon. The responsible folks in San Diego would have to be pretty damn irresponsible to let a con that puts $60 million annually into the local economy get away.
As I've said here before, I don't think the Comic-Con would be as wonderful in another city. Of the three towns generally mentioned — Los Angeles, Las Vegas or Anaheim — I think L.A. would be the worst, even though I could literally get there in 15 minutes by bus. (And I'd probably take a bus because parking at the L.A. Convention Center is sometimes less convenient than driving to San Diego.) Anaheim might be the best of the three, depending on how proximity to Disneyland affected traffic, room availability and so on.
Maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part but unless San Diego is really, really stupid, I think the con's staying put. And yes, it's true that if Comic-Con ever did leave S.D., several outfits would trample over one another to get in there, lock up the San Diego Convention Center and stage a new comic book convention there, on or around the same dates. That wouldn't be the same, either.
In any case, there really isn't any news here…yet. Comic-Con is talking to other suitors and will soon decide if they're going to extend their presence in San Diego through 2015 or if they're going to go elsewhere when the current contract is up after the 2012 show. That's not really news…and the fact that there are a lot of news reports about this suddenly doesn't mean it's news. Because those reports were obviously planted and encouraged — or at least, the first recent ones were — by someone hoping to make something happen by fomenting speculation that something is about to happen.