Comic-Con will stay in San Diego through 2021

Mayor Kevin Faulconer said on Friday Comic-Con is staying in San Diego at least until the year 2021, but the expansion to the convention center is going to be what makes it a continued success to the local economy.

Outside the convention center, Faulconer was joined by Tourism Authority CEO Joe Terzi and Convention Center CEO Rip Rippetoe. They thanked Comic-Con head David Glanzer for the renewed contract.

The old agreement was set to expire in 2018 according to ABC News 10. But through working with Comic-Con, Faulconer was able to get them to extend it for another three years.

"San Diego has always been the proud home of Comic-Con and we are extremely pleased that we can carry on that tradition of being the destination for the world's premier celebration of the popular arts," said the mayor. "San Diegans can be excited to know that Comic-Con will continue to pump millions of dollars into our economy to support local jobs, street repair, and neighborhood services. It is more important than ever that we continue to push the expand the convention center so we can ensure Comic-Con and other large conventions continue to stay in San Diego for years to come."

Each year the giant pop-culture convention brings in $135 million and $2.8 million in tax revenues.

This money goes into city services including public park upkeep, street repairs, and libraries.

“While it did take more than a year in negotiations, we are pleased with this outcome,” Glanzer said. “We are grateful for the leadership of Mayor Faulconer and the hard work of those at the San Diego Tourism Authority who were instrumental in securing this agreement."

Faulconer was unable to get a special election scheduled for November in regards to expanding the convention center. He wanted to increase hotel taxes to pay for a 400,000 addition to the nearly three-decade-old building.

In addition, Fifth Avenue Landing controls the convention center and is obligated by the Port of San Diego, which owns the land, to build hotels.

Faulconer’s expansion plan may make it to the general election ballot in November 2018.

"These three additional years are going to go by real quickly," Faulconer said. "Our convention center must be expanded if we want to keep Comic-Con and other major events in our city."