Fanatics Fest, the comic con of sports, just held it’s second event, and it was a smashing success. Attendance was up to 125,000 from 70,000 last year. And Saturday – when we were daunted by thick crowds – was a complete sell-out. And that’s not even counting all the storylines – real and kayfabe – that unfolded on social media.
With this success behind them, it’s no surprise that people are wondering when and where and IF Fanatics Fest will be expanding to other cities.
One such hot rumor on social media pages and an article from SanDiegoville speculated that there would be a new Fanantics Fest in San Diego at the end of this year. This was not just wild speculation: the San Diego Convention Center’s website had changed its upcoming event calendar with a listing that read “Fanatics Fest 2025” for the dates of December 12 to 15.
However, Fanatics CEO, Michael Rubin, answered one of these posts with a clear and short:
“First I’m hearing of it, and it’s definitely not happening! Still recovering from NYC!”
The Fanatics official account also commented on SanDiegoville post saying:
“Sadly this is not true, we’ve got our hands full with NYC!”
As of July 6, the San Diego Convention Center’s website has changed the event to a “Private Event: Consumer Show.”
While there is no word on what this new event will be, and it seems that Fanatics is not involved…..you’ve got to wonder where the original rumor came from? Maybe there was some talk that didn’t work out? Convention Center planners don’t just make things up out of thin air.
Adding a bit to the speculation party: the WWE IS coming to San Diego, with Survivor Series, their big winter show, planned for PEtCo Park on Saturday, November 28th. Fanatics is a WWE partner and puts on the WWE World WrestleMania fanfest event. Still..the dates don’t line up.
At any rate, with the success of Fanatics Fest adding it to the “mega show” tier of events, it does seem likely that it will be expanded to other markets in some fashion ….eventually. Fanatics Events, currently run by ReedPOP founder Lance Fensterman, has earned its stripes and it will interesting to see what happens when they do expand.
— Additional reporting by Heidi MacDonald
