I should have mentioned this when I was writing about why I think Comic-Con International should and will stay in San Diego. As others have noted, the calendar on the San Diego Convention Center website lists an unidentified convention with an estimated attendance of 130,000 for the dates of Thursday, July 19, 2018 to Sunday, July 22, 2018. That's around the time Comic-Con traditionally happens there and that's its estimated attendance. Oh — and nothing else that takes over that facility is ever as big.
So we think we know when the 2018 Comic-Con International will be. We already know that dates for 2017 are July 20-23. In both cases, Preview Night is the night before.
2018 is the last one on the current contract and pretty soon, they'll probably be having the usual renegotiation battles with rumors of the con going elsewhere. I have no idea how the timing of all the dickering will be impacted by the ballot initiative that will be on the November ballot down there to build a $1.8 billion stadium and convention center in downtown's East Village, next to Petco Park. This is to stop the San Diego Chargers from becoming the Los Angeles Chargers. Obviously, even if approved, the venue would not be available for many years.
If the online editorials and such are accurate — and they may not be — ratification of this initiative is not a slam dunk. There is much opposition and a new report throws much icy water on projections of this being great for the economic health of the city. Then again, some people in San Diego would rather lose their children than their Chargers.