With just just one year remaining on their convention center contract, Comic-Con organizers have agreed to stay in San Diego through 2026 but are raising concerns that rising hotel prices and too few affordable rooms could stymie plans to remain here for years to come.
News of the contract extension, which was consummated 10 days ago, comes as the city and Comic-Con International prepare for the annual pop culture extravaganza, which kicks off with preview night on July 24.
David Glanzer, chief communications and strategy officer for Comic-Con, confirmed Wednesday that the nonprofit had agreed to a one-year extension through 2026 but said the organization was unwilling to sign a two-year contract, as sought by the San Diego Tourism Authority.
“In good faith we decided to sign this contract for one more year with the understanding we could meet our room block needs for 2026,” Glanzer said, “but for 2025 we are still far below where we would want to be on our hotel rooms.”
At issue is a block of about 60 hotels, largely in downtown San Diego and Mission Valley, that agree each year to provide discounted room rates during the always sold-out July gathering. Comic-Con not only fills the bayfront convention center and nearby hotels but also includes themed events in the Gaslamp Quarter and East Village.
Without those designated rates, hotels would be free to charge exorbitant rates at a time when demand for rooms is the highest for the entire year. The four-day mega show, plus a Wednesday preview night, draws well over 135,000 attendees, making it San Diego’s single biggest convention.
“The signing of this agreement underscores the strong partnership between Comic-Con International and our city,” San Diego Tourism Authority CEO Julie Coker said Wednesday, speaking on behalf of both her organization and the San Diego Convention Center Corp. “We look forward to welcoming the Comic-Con community and continuing to provide an exceptional experience for its attendees and exhibitors.”
Glanzer wasn’t quite as jubilant, reiterating his concern that many of the convention’s loyal fans may not be able to come every year as they have in the past because of pricey hotel rates. It is an issue that has come up time and again during contract renewal talks.
“We’ve said this a million times, we don’t want to leave but if it gets to a point where it’s too expensive for people to stay here, we’d have to look into that,” Glanzer said. “As much as we wouldn’t want to leave, never say never.”
While Glanzer acknowledged that major convention centers from other cities are not actively soliciting Comic-Con International, “we do get pinged from time time, where there isn’t a proposal, but it’s more like a gentle touch where they’re taking the temperature to see how things are going.”
The current room block for this year’s Comic-Con covers some 58 hotels accounting for about 14,000 rooms over the peak nights of the convention. Nightly rates range, on average, from a low of $215 to $425. With few exceptions, those rooms are largely sold out.
To find lodging now in the downtown area for the convention dates is difficult, and for those properties that still have rooms left, rates can run as high as $1,000 or more a night for hotels like the Hard Rock, Pendry and Omni that are in walking distance of the convention center.
The city and Comic-Con last consummated a multiyear contract in 2019, when San Diego’s pop culture titan agreed to stay in San Diego through 2024. At the time, the Comic-Con contract wasn’t due to expire until 2021. The announcement of a new deal was made just two weeks before the convention was due to start.
In 2020, when there was no in-person convention because of COVID-19, that contract was extended to 2025.
Glanzer was quick to credit San Diego’s largest convention hotels on the waterfront with helping each year to provide much needed meeting and event space given the constraints of the existing convention center. But he still worries about those properties that he feels aren’t stepping up to make sure there are discounted rates for the attendees who flood the city each July to attend Comic-Con.
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“Some of the bigger hotels have been incredible, but some smaller and midsized hotels have reduced their room blocks or have chosen to not participate,” said Glanzer. “That’s up to them and we’re not saying hotels shouldn’t make a profit. but it makes it more challenging for us to entice people to come to San Diego.
“It takes a long time to plan for this event, and the fact we were still having negotiations now is kind of unusual because convention centers book up so it’s not optimal to wait until the last minute to negotiate stuff.”
The new one-year agreement had remained under wraps as tourism and city leaders pondered holding a news conference for the start of Comic-Con to make an official announcement, a San Diego Tourism Authority spokesperson said.
In a statement provided Wednesday by Mayor Todd Gloria’s spokesperson, Rachel Laing, she said the mayor “has been and will remain actively engaged in helping ensure Comic-Con remains a San Diego cultural institution well into the future.”
Dan Shaughnessy, director of sales and marketing for the 1,628-room Manchester Grand Hyatt, said his hotel sets aside each year a large majority of its rooms for the discounted room block.
“I can’t speak to other hotels, but Comic-Con is one of our most valuable customers, and every hotel benefits when they’re here,” he said. “So if you’re going to benefit there needs to be a spirit of equal giving so we can keep Comic-Con here for years to come.”
