San Diego's not corporate sponsored per se. Yes, there are some things, including the expenses of some of their "Special Guests" that are taken care of by companies, but I'm pretty sure that's a miniscule part of their budget.
On the other hand, what really serves as an extra income source for them is the Dealer's Room. I don't know offhand what the space rate is, but per scuttlebutt from people with spaces I believe it's considered on the high side...and they've got a *lot* of space. 52 aisles, each 100 yards long, spaces on both sides of each aisle. Some of it is the non-revenue generating Artists' Alley, but they're making a *lot* every year from that room.
However, people tend to forget in these days of 100,000+ attendance "Nerd Prom" that San Diego started out as a tiny little local comics con, drawing a few hundred folk. They didn't jump from 300 to 100,000 overnight, but fairly gradually grew. It didn't hurt that the location and timing, as well as the organization, got them a rep early on of being one of the best comics conventions, which is something that can feed on itself and lead to more industry types and general attendance showing up (see Boskone: The '80s or Minicon: The '90s).
no subject
On the other hand, what really serves as an extra income source for them is the Dealer's Room. I don't know offhand what the space rate is, but per scuttlebutt from people with spaces I believe it's considered on the high side...and they've got a *lot* of space. 52 aisles, each 100 yards long, spaces on both sides of each aisle. Some of it is the non-revenue generating Artists' Alley, but they're making a *lot* every year from that room.
However, people tend to forget in these days of 100,000+ attendance "Nerd Prom" that San Diego started out as a tiny little local comics con, drawing a few hundred folk. They didn't jump from 300 to 100,000 overnight, but fairly gradually grew. It didn't hurt that the location and timing, as well as the organization, got them a rep early on of being one of the best comics conventions, which is something that can feed on itself and lead to more industry types and general attendance showing up (see Boskone: The '80s or Minicon: The '90s).