Gen Con renews contract with Indianapolis through 2030
Gen Con has renewed its contract with Indianapolis through 2030, following record-breaking attendance at its most recent gathering over the weekend.
The news, first reported by IBJ, comes after the tabletop gaming convention had a record-breaking attendance of over 70,000 at the 2023 event, bringing in around $75 million in economic impact for the city of Indianapolis, Gen Con president David Hoppe told IndyStar early Monday. This is more than the previous 2019 record of just over 68,000 attendees.
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The four-year contract renewal keeps Gen Con in Indianapolis beyond 2026, when the contract was set to officially expire.
Hoppe said the city of Indianapolis taking over financing for the $510 million Signia by Hilton convention center hotel, in addition to an expansion of the Indiana Convention Center, was a driving factor in Gen Con's decision to renew its contract.
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"That was really the impetus for us to put together and work with the city leaders around here to get to a plan that that allowed us to stay and grow together," Hoppe said.
The city approved $625M in hotel revenue bonds to fund the hotel construction. The city is also funding the $200 million convention center expansion with a mix of TIF financing, funds from the Capital Improvement Board and the Metropolitan Development Commission. The project broke ground last week and officials say they are aiming to complete construction by mid-2026.
The successful end to two years of negotiations with Gen Con evokes a "sense of pride" for Indianapolis tourism officials and the city as a whole, Visit Indy executive Chris Gahl said. Gen Con had long supported the Pan Am Plaza hotel project, first telling tourism officials they were poised to outgrow Indianapolis' hotel and convention space in 2014.
"From a Visit Indy tourism perspective, the Pan Am expansion, both the convention center and the new Signia hotel, are the linchpin toward retaining Gen Con through 2030," Gahl said. "It gave them the confidence to say yes, again, Indianapolis."
The news comes despite Gen Con's angst over the rightward turn of Indiana's state government.
During last year's Gen Con, the Indiana General Assembly was in the midst of a special session where the body would eventually vote to ban most abortions. At a press conference preceding the 2022 convention, Gen Con CEO David Hoppe said the passage of the bill banning most abortions "will have an impact on our stakeholders and attendees and will make it more difficult for us to remain committed to Indiana as our long-term annual home."
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This commitment to remain in Indianapolis despite increasingly socially conservative legislation from the Indiana Statehouse marks a shift in tone that Hoppe said came after a year of consideration about the convention's role and importance in Indianapolis.
"It was important for us to stay and continue to keep our presence here as opposed to packing up and leaving." he said, "even if we disagreed with some things that are happening politically."
Contact business reporter Claire Rafford at 317-617-3402 or crafford@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Gen Con renews contract with Indianapolis through 2030
