San Diego Comic-Con May Start Looking For A New Home Soon

While there is certainly a great deal of history between Comic-Con and the city of San Diego, it's not exactly hard to see the problems in the relationship - and I can say that having been to the last five San Diego Comic-Cons. While the San Diego Convention Center has expanded over the years in order to try and contain the annual event's ever-growing capacity, the truth is that the place becomes a disturbingly-packed madhouse every year for a couple days. Attendees have spent years wondering just how long it would be until Comic-Con picked up its roots and settled in an city more suited for its size. That day may be coming soon.

The deal between the annual expo and the Southern California city took an interesting turn this week, as the San Diego City Council has revealed that they will not be appealing a court decision that looks to end plans to expand the convention center that serves as Comic-Con's home. According to The Hollywood Reporter, there was a plan to pay for the construction by putting a proposed levy on all of the hotels in the area that are used to house Comic-Con attendees. This money would have been used to $520 million cost of the project, which has been on the books to start sometime in late 2014.

What makes this development so important is that the proposed expansion of the San Diego Convention Center was one of the key factors in Comic-Con International's decision to extend their deal with the city back in 2012. As it stands, there is a contract that goes until 2016 between the event and the city, but Los Angeles and Anaheim have both been seen as options for the event. In an official statement, Comic-Con International's David Glanzer has said that the event's deal with its home city has always been dependent on many factors even beyond the convention center, including "hotel room rates, available meeting space and other concerns, none of which necessarily override the other."

The San Diego City Council's decision to not appeal the court ruling is an interesting one, as Comic-Con has brought a lot of money to the area over the years. THR says that the five-day event brings in $180 million to the city every year, which isn't exactly a small amount of cash. Going forward it will be interesting to see what kinds of moves are made.

San Diego Comic-Con was first inaugurated back in 1970, but is it time for it to leave home and find somewhere else to live? Answer our poll, and tell us what you think in the comments below.

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