This weekend was a big one for awards shows, but for comic book fans, Saturday marked the launch of ticket sales for the 2015 San Diego Comic Con. It also marked the end of ticket sales.
Tickets for the 2015 San Diego Comic Con started Staurday morning, and an hour later, all badges for the big comic book show sold out. That’s right, one hour. According to Comic Con International, that’s 30 minutes faster than last year.
Comic-Con 2015 badges have sold out! We thank you for your support. We are grateful to receive such a high level of interest. #SDCC #SDCCOOR
— San Diego Comic-Con (@Comic_Con) February 21, 2015
Ticket sales started at 9:00 AM, with the above Tweet hitting the Internet at 9:59 AM. While the San Diego Comic Con is one of the longest running comic conventions, the last couple of years has seen its title as the biggest comic con have slipped to shows like the Salt Lake City Comic Con.
There are far more eligible attendees than badges available. Not everyone will be selected for a registration session. #SDCCOOR
— San Diego Comic-Con (@Comic_Con) February 21, 2015
With growing interest/demand for the show, convention space continues to be a big issue for the city of San Diego. In August, the $520-million planned expansion of the hotel and convention center was determined to violate the state constitution and the City Charter by the Fourth District Court of Appeals. Comic Con International, the organizers of the San Diego Comic Con, agreed to sign a multi-year contract in 2011, with the understanding that the convention center would grew to support its needs. Now that expansion has been put on hold, other cities and convention centers have been courting CCI to move.
“The proposals we’ve received are pretty amazing,” said David Glanzer, a spokesman for Comic-Con International. “It’s not an easy decision.”
Cities like Los Angeles, Anaheim, Las Vegas, and Salt Lake City should be courting the organizers as attendees to last year’s convention brought $177.8 million to the local economy.
Show organizers have expressed interest in staying in Southern California, which makes sense as it is a short commute for the Hollywood types to jet in for the big Saturday Hall H presentation that causes the Internet to explode each year. Several years ago, CCI moved WonderCon from San Francisco to Anaheim, which has over 800,000 square feet of exhibit, meeting/ballroom and activity space, compared to the current San Diego Comic Con offering of 525,701 square feet.
If you were able to grab tickets to the big show, congratulations. For the rest of us, let’s hope for a venue change and increased ticket sales announcements by the end of the year.
