Tickets For Comic-Con Go On Sale This Weekend ‎

Single and four-day ticket packages for the next Comic-Con International in San Diego are set to go on sale online this weekend on a limited basis.

Only those who registered early for the Comic-Con Member ID preferred E- list have been invited to purchase event badges starting at 8 a.m. Saturday.

Ticket sales for last year's Comic-Con did not go smoothly. The first two attempts to sell tickets for the event ended with only a handful being bought before computer systems were overwhelmed. A third attempt, which spread sales simultaneously over three websites, was more successful, with 1,000 four- day badges being bought online within minutes.

Those on the preferred E-list were sent a link on Wednesday to purchase the badges for this year's event, along with a cautionary note not to share the link information with anyone else. Organizers believe that if the link were shared, several thousand people who did not sign-up for the preferred E-list would attempt to access the registration system.

This year's Comic-Con is scheduled for July 12-15. Single-day badges to this year's convention range from $23 to $40. Four-day badges are $175.

Comic-Con began as a modest comic book fair in 1970 and has since grown into a premier pop culture extravaganza, with around 125,000 people attending each year. Hollywood has latched onto the event as a marketing tool and regularly uses it to premier films.

Comic-Con has always been held in San Diego despite aggressive attempts by Los Angeles and Anaheim to lure it away. Organizers last year committed to remaining in San Diego until at least 2015.

According to the San Diego Convention and Visitor's Bureau, the event has an annual economic impact of $162.8 million and generates $2.8 million in tax revenues.

-City News Service

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