Rumor: Canada’s Fan Expo Buying Orlando’s MegaCon

One of the signs in the business world that a business sector has reached maturity is the steady growth of new startups in the market. The geek and nerd convention sector has been at that stage for a couple years now, and even we are jumping in on the bandwagon with our Cosplay And Photography Expo (CAPE) coming up on August 15. (Shameless plug.)

Another sign of a mature sector is merger and acquisition activity and today we have the website Bleeding Cool reporting they have an inside source confirming that MegaCon, one of the oldest comic book conventions in the country, has been acquired by Canada’s Fan Expo parent company, Informa Canada. While there is as yet no confirmation of this from either party, Bleeding Cool has a reputation in the comic book industry of having the best inside connections — and therefore are often the subject of creators’ ire when they break news well before they or the publishers want it out.

Of course it’s no surprise that MegaCon, with its 2015 convention coming up in just a couple weeks, wouldn’t confirm the news — the staff is probably pretty busy. MegaCon reported an attendance of approximately 83,000 last year — an increase of more than 20,000 over the previous year, which led to massive parking and crowding issues. That was when I took the picture of Alexia Jean Gray as warrior Zelda in the feature photo above.

Informa, based in England and Switzerland, bought Dallas Comic Con and two other cons from its owner in Feb. 2104. The name has already been changed to Fan Expo Dallas, so anticipate a name change for MegaCon, if Bleeding Cool is right.