David Glanzer is the chief communications and strategy officer for Comic-Con International, which means he's greatly involved in the ongoing debates over whether that annual event will remain in San Diego. He just penned this article for an S.D. newspaper in which he asserts that it's better for Comic-Con — and probably for the city — if the Chargers don't get their wish-dream of a big, new multi-use stadium facility unconnected to the current convention center.
I have two prejudices operating in this discussion. One is that I think team owners everywhere — not just in San Diego — should be told, "You want a new stadium? Fine. You buy the land for it and you build it wherever you like. You're a profit-making organization that makes huge profits so don't expect taxpayers to buy you a palace that will make you even richer just because you threaten to move our home team to another city home!" Not many cities will say that but they all should.
And secondly, I think Comic-Con is just fine for San Diego and vice-versa. I'd like to see it stay there forever — and if the city isn't foolish, they'll make that possible and it will. For reasons I've explained elsewhere here, I don't think the con would work anywhere near as well at the convention centers in Los Angeles, Anaheim or Las Vegas, which seem to be the only three present options. It certainly wouldn't be as important to any of those cities as it is to San Diego. Comic-Con takes over San Diego in a way it could never take over L.A., Anaheim or Vegas.
I dunno how this will all play out. It feels like the Chargers are demanding what they're demanding as something of a bluff, pitting their needs against Comic-Con's so the city, trying to keep both, will give the football team an even plusher, more expensive facility away from downtown. If that's the way to resolve this, I'd like to see the city give 'em what they want just so Comic-Con can flourish where it is. But what I'd really like to see the town do is to tell the Chargers to go find another city to extort.