Comic-Con International and Mayor Kevin Faulconer announced Thursday that the annual showcase of the popular arts will remain in San Diego through 2018.
Comic-Con, which annually brings thousands of visitors to the city, had been working under a contract to stay in San Diego through 2016.
"We are very happy to call San Diego our home for another two years," Comic-Con spokesman David Glanzer said.
Show and city officials have said for a week or two that an extension was close, but a small group of hotels hadn't signed on to agreements regarding rates and setting aside blocks of rooms during the busy summer tourism season.
Glanzer said the agreement was finalized Tuesday.
"I will be honest, it was touch-and-go for awhile," Glanzer said.
Other cities have been trying to lure Comic-Con away for several years now, mainly because it outgrew the San Diego Convention Center long ago. Glanzer said they've been able to remain in San Diego in recent years because they've used space at nearby hotels and, this year, the San Diego Central Library.
A planned expansion of the center is on hold after the funding mechanism was struck down in court. Mayor Kevin Faulconer said reports from consultants looking at reviving the project are due next month.
For San Diego, the economic stakes of keeping Comic-Con in town are large. The show normally attracts 130,000 attendees, many from outside the area and some from other countries.
"The more than $135 million Comic-Con pumps into the economy helps support jobs, roads and neighborhood services," Faulconer said at the news conference. "More Superman means more super streets."
Councilman Todd Gloria, whose district includes downtown, said this year's show, which begins Wednesday with the annual Preview Night, will generate 60,000 hotel room nights and $2.8 million in tax revenues, while supporting hundreds of jobs for electricians, stage hands, concession workers and others.
