Friday, October 01, 2010

San Diego Wins Comic-Con Through 2015

Guess this means I'm back on the Surfliner at least once a year:

Comic-Con, that whimsical show that for decades has been delivering costumed superheroes and Hollywood celebs to town, will be here five more years, ending months of speculation that San Diego’s largest convention might head north to Anaheim or Los Angeles where hotel rates are cheaper and exhibit space more plentiful.

Ultimately, Comic-Con International’s decision to stay, which will be announced Friday, hinged on detailed contracts negotiated with the 64 convention block hotels committing them to prescribed, discounted rates through 2015. Concerns had arisen in recent years that some local hotels took undue advantage of the enormously popular event by charging excessively high rates, especially in downtown where rooms sell out quickly during the four-day July confab.

Comic-Con’s current contract with San Diego’s convention center expires in 2012, which led organizers to begin looking elsewhere for the years 2013 to 2015.

In the end, San Diego proved to be a sentimental favorite for organizers of the convention, which debuted in 1970 as a relatively small gathering of devoted comic book fans.

“We’ve always had a desire to stay in San Diego, and we had three amazing proposals,” said Comic-Con spokesman David Glanzer. “It was obviously a very difficult decision, one born out by the amount of time it’s taken to make that decision. But in the end San Diego was able to address a lot of our concerns.

I appreciate the sentimentality, but the fact of the matter is that Comic-Con had outgrown the small San Diego Convention Center and viable surrounding hotels. Los Angeles allegedly offered free convention space to try and woo the annual event, to no avail.

Stay classy, San Diego. At least for five more years.

14 comments:

Josh S. said...

I actually prefer it there, but they desperately need to expand.

Oh, and speaking of San Diego, that e-way tiebreaker scenario I mentioned yesterday IS in play.

From MLB.com:
"...there's a chance of a three-way tie in the NL, which would lead to a pair of one-game playoffs -- first for the NL West title on Monday, and then for the Wild Card on Tuesday."

Here's the part I don't get, though:
"San Francisco would visit San Diego on Monday to decide the West, with the winner playing in Atlanta on Tuesday for the Wild Card."

Why would the WINNER go on to decide the Wild Card?

That all said, the fact that there's a huge article hyping all the possible scenarios this weekend assures that the Giants and Braves will win tonight and the rest of the weekend will be meaningless.

Kyle Baker said...

Booooooo! I wanted LA.

On the other hand, I'm glad Anaheim lost out.

Wait, is this baseball or convention contracting?

Josh S. said...

^e-way? The hell?

Nostradamus said...

I'm still holding out for the elusive 2.718 way tie, too, Josh.

Nostradamus said...

*is knoffed in the robs by Dusty for using math "humor"*

Joe Torre said...

Well at least San Diego won something.
Bastards.

Fred's Brim said...

Dodger Thoughts has a post about an ESPN 30 for 30 about Fernandomania.

FB NOT MAD. FB EXCITED!

NicJ said...

Why did they have to schedule the Fernando 30 for 30 on laker ring night?

Now I have to get the dvr ready.

spank said...

Dudes, Dish network took off Prime Ticket and Fox Sports West. No Dodgers or Lakers. My life is going down the tubes.




(cries)

Nostradamus said...

@Spanky

Fuck that, let's storm the Bastille!

MR.F said...

AHHHH that's ridiculous.

Kyle Baker said...

Off with someone's head! I don't yet know whose head, but I know a beheading is necessary at this point. Also endorse storming of the Bastille just for good measure. Hell
let's burn a witch, too.

Steve Sax said...

@Mr C 7:12a: love the math humor!

Also, I heard a rumor that San Diego won the bid due to some salami slipping. Not sure if this is credible, but it sounds right.

Nostradamus said...

@Dusty

Jamie McCourt turned me into a newt.