Several California cities are trying to lure Comic-Con away from San Diego

(Image credit: T.J. Kirkpatrick/Getty Images)

published 22 January 2015

Since 1970, Comic-Con International has called San Diego home, but that could be changing in the near future.

The enormously popular Comic-Con, which attracts over 130,000 comic book and pop culture enthusiasts every year, has outgrown the 615,700 square foot San Diego Convention Center. The city planned an expansion, but that has been stalled after a court ruled against its financing plan. The current contract with San Diego is good through next year, but other cities have expressed interest in bringing Comic-Con to their large convention centers, including Anaheim and Los Angeles.

"The proposals we've received are pretty amazing," David Glanzer, a spokesman for Comic-Con International, told the Los Angeles Times. "It's not an easy decision." Last year, the four day event generated $177.8 million for the local economy, making it easy to see why other cities want to get in on the action. San Diego isn't ready to give up this lucrative contract, with San Diego Tourism Authority president and chief executive Joe Terzi saying, "For us, Comic-Con is our Super Bowl. We're very committed to Comic-Con."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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