Glenn Connelly / Photo Editor

Every year, thousands of people all across the world come to the San Diego Convention Center for one of the biggest comic book and pop-culture events in North America: Comic-Con International. Started as an event with roughly 300 participants in 1970, attendance has increased to 126,000 visitors since last July. This international gathering has not only attracted tourism in San Diego and increased revenues, but has also filled the convention center, streets, hotels and parking areas in downtown for years.

But this massive event may be changing locations.

According to a recent report from www.signonsandiego.com, Comic-Con is not able to accommodate all of the exhibitors because the event is expanding so quickly. Comic-Con spokesman David Glanzer said in the report that space is a factor in considering whether to stay or leave.

In the meantime, three different cities have been vying to host Comic-Con. According to the San Diego News Network, convention and visitor bureau managers from Anaheim, Los Angeles and Las Vegas are actively pursuing Comic-Con organizers to move to their respected cities. But for Comic-Con fans, changing cities could be detrimental, especially for San Diego dwellers. Each of the cities have their own strengths to prove they are worth considering.

Anaheim
Located in the center of Southern California, Anaheim is a contender for hosting Comic-Con.

According to the Anaheim / Orange County Visitor and Convention Bureau’s Web site, it has the largest convention center on the West Coast with a total coverage of 1.6 million square feet and can accommodate more exhibitors than San Diego.

In addition, Anaheim has many affordable lodging options for guests to choose from. Orange County has around 55,000 hotel rooms, 12,000 of them about a mile from the convention center and 7,000 within walking distance from the convention center. Not to forget, Anaheim is also home to Disneyland, for attendees who are looking to extend their trip.

Even though Anaheim might have the largest convention center, a theme park and a safe city reputation, ACC can only accommodate 90,000 attendees, that’s 36,000 less than the SDCC can accommodate.

Los Angeles
Los Angeles may have the biggest advantage in terms of location. The city is close to studios where villains, superheroes and aliens are created 8212; Hollywood. But this city has more than just Tinsel Town to rally Comic-Con support. The city has the efficient and technologically savvy-designed Los Angeles Convention Center. It has 720,000 square feet of exhibitor space. Not far from the convention center is the 27-acre entertainment complex in downtown called L.A. Live.

Adjacent to Staples Center, L.A. Live features the Nokia Theatre, where American Idol finals usually take place; Nokia Plaza, a 40,000 square foot open-air plaza and Regal Cinemas LA Live, a chain of 14 cinema halls. It also has plenty of restaurants to choose from.

According to the San Diego News Network’s Web site, Michael Krouse, the convention center’s senior vice president of sales, said that the total capacity would allow Comic-Con to accommodate 140,000 attendees. And for lodging, attendees have 94,000 rooms to choose from in the Los Angeles County, and 5,000 of them are within eight blocks of the LACC.

Las Vegas
Last but not least is Las Vegas. This city is not only a popular place to spend weekend getaways and Spring Break, but is also ranked number one in trade shows. This city boasts the biggest exhibit space among the four cities. The Las Vegas Convention Center has approximately 2 million square feet of space and is conveniently placed near the Las Vegas strip.

In addition, Las Vegas has numerous hotel rooms to choose from. Las Vegas has around 140,000 rooms county-wide. However, during the month of July, this city can get exceptionally hot. According to www.vegas.com, the average temperature in July is 106 degrees, the highest of the year.

Whether Comic-Con stays in San Diego or not, it isn’t only bureau managers trying to convince the Comic-Con board to relocate. Bloggers and Facebook users are also creating fan pages to support their cities.

According to The Associated Press, the SDCC has decided to perform $750 million worth of renovations to the convention center, with hopes of keeping Comic-Con a client.

The Comic-Con board hasn’t release any decisions about future locations, but one local San Diego State student strongly believes that this event should stay in town.

Advertising senior Paulo Delacruz is one of the many advocates for Comic-Con to stick to its San Diego roots.

“Comic-Con should stay in San Diego because it was born and raised here,” Delacruz said. “It has been an annual staple of San Diego tourism for 40 years now. It has become a part of San Diego’s identity.”