Fan Expo HQ has announced they’ve acquired Wizard World’s six remaining conventions, including Chicago, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Portland, St. Louis and Cleveland, effectively taking Wizard out of the convention business and expanding Fan Expo’s portfolio to 17 conventions in North America.
The six shows will be rebranded in 2022 as Fan Expo events. The 2021 Chicago show, scheduled for Oct. 15-17, will continue on under the Wizard World brand.
“Fan Expo HQ is devoted to creating unmissable, exceptional fan experiences. We’re beyond thrilled to be able to offer that to fans in six new locations, and pleased that Wizard World recognized our ability to elevate guest experience to the next level. We’re looking forward to getting to know each of these individual communities, learn what they’re looking for and raise the bar,” said Fan Expo HQ President Aman Gupta. “Personally, I’m eager to contribute to the incredible legacy of the Chicago event, the second oldest comic event in North America (1972), and restore it to its former glory and beyond.”
Fan Expo has been running events in Toronto, Dallas, Vancouver, Boston, Edmonton and other locations for years, with plans to add a San Francisco event next year. They also own Florida’s Megacon and acquired the Denver Pop Culture Con. According to the press release, they claim to be “the largest producer of fan events in the world” now.
This should be good news for Chicago fans in particular, as their convention used to be one of the premiere conventions on the calendar, not quite at the San Diego level but closer than they have been since Wizard took over. It would actually be great Fan Expo let them return to/retain their legacy name, like they’ve done with Megacon.
As for Wizard, the once-dominant geek brand is down to Wizard World Vault, which sells autographed merchandise. Oh, and they own something called Jevo, a “gelatin shot maker.”
Ended, the con wars have.