Fan Expo Parent Company Buys Boston Comic Con!
Informa Canada, parent company of the Canada-based growing nerd convention conglomerate Fan Expo has purchased Boston Comic Con, according to sources at the convention this weekend that did not want to be identified.
Fan Expo runs Fan Expo Canada, Fan Expo Vancouver, Fan Expo Regina, Toronto Comic Con, and has expanded into the United States in recent years. Its first US purchase was Dallas Comic Con, which became Fan Expo Dallas, and then MegaCon (now known as MegaCon Orlando to differentiate itself from the newly launched version in Tampa Bay).
The site Bleeding Cool News ran the rumor of the sale on Friday, Aug. 12, with speculation that a press release would be coming on Saturday. No release came, and the rumor seemed to be just that, but as of Sunday, I was told that news of the sale was “unofficially official.”
Bleeding Cool News reported in an update Sunday that Boston Comic Con officials were going around telling vendors and artists that the sale had happened, and I have seen evidence of that. The website has also reported that tables rates have climbed to $400 for the weekend for 2017, which jibes with what I heard at the con. No word yet about any change in ticket prices for attendees.
Boston Comic Con had a reported 40,000 attendees last year, and was looking for about 45,000 this year, founder and event runner Nick Kanieff said in a Boston Globe article from the week before the 2016 convention. A big part of the growth can be attributed to the increase in big-name celebrities, such as William Shatner and Gillian Anderson this year.
Once either party makes an official announcement we will update the story with any new details.
