San Diego Will Be The Home Of Comic-Con Until 2018

This year’s San Diego Comic-Con will begin exactly one week from today. And while pop culture fans are looking forward to roaming the city’s convention center and hearing about all the exciting news regarding their favorite movie franchises and TV shows, there was one major concern that the popular convention may be leaving San Diego, the city in which it began in 1970. Fear not, though, as Comic-Con International has come to an agreement to keep the convention in the city for a few more years.

According to Variety, the lease agreement between the city of San Diego and Comic-Con International was set to expire in 2016. The organization was looking to move the big event to another location following discussions between the city’s mayor, Kevin Faulconer, and hotel owners in regards to pricing, which tends to increase around the week of Comic-Con.

Another issue concerned the size of the San Diego Convention Center, where the event is held each year. Comic-Con has outgrown the venue over the years, and there were discussions on possibly holding it in another city with a bigger venue, according to NBC San Diego. Some of the possibilities included Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Anaheim.

But an agreement has been reached to keep Comic-Con in San Diego until 2018. David Glanzer, one of the organizers for this year’s event, said there was some uncertainty over whether or not it would be relocated.

“It was touch-and-go for a while.”

Faulconer and Glanzer are both aware that the event has become too big for the San Diego Convention Center. But Faulconer promises that the city has plans to make the venue more accommodating for the event – which has been a huge financial contributor to its economy, bringing in more than $180 million.

“We will be expanding our convention center. We’re going to continue to grow, and Comic-Con is going to continue to grow with us in San Diego.”

With the event starting next week, Comic-Con International has started to unveil its lineup of which guests will be attending and what panels will be held. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, some of the hit television shows that will have panels at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con include Orphan Black, The Walking Dead, Fear the Walking Dead, and The Big Bang Theory. Other panels include a celebration of the 65th anniversary of Charles Schulz’s Peanuts, and a look at how artists have adapted to the digital age.

[Photo by Frazer Harrison / Getty Images]