Update:
The show is staying in L.A. for 3 years. New thread is over here.
Here's a summary of the new deal, full article is up at The Verge.
The West Hall will still be up next year and it appears that the construction of the Main Hall extension is planned to occur between the 2013 and 2014 show.
The ESA also got the city and AEG to promise them that construction of Farmers Field that could affect access to the convention center would stop when the show was in town.
They also got a deal to get better hotel rooms for show attendees at a fair price:
Original Post:
Saw this over at GT:
Here's an LA Times article from last month with a list of possible future locations for E3:
The show is staying in L.A. for 3 years. New thread is over here.
Here's a summary of the new deal, full article is up at The Verge.
The West Hall will still be up next year and it appears that the construction of the Main Hall extension is planned to occur between the 2013 and 2014 show.
While West Hall will still be around for next year's E3, plans for the AEG-backed Farmer's Field call for it to be torn down and rebuilt as an extension to the center's existing South Hall between the 2013 and 2014 shows, a construction project that threatened to impede the flow of convention-goers and the annual video game trade show. Once construction of the new extension is finished, the wall between it and South Hall will be removed, creating a single, massive hall.
The ESA also got the city and AEG to promise them that construction of Farmers Field that could affect access to the convention center would stop when the show was in town.
The biggest concern, that looming construction, was also settled. The city, convention center and the backers of Farmers Field promised to put on hold any construction that would impact the show or the ability to access the convention center in the days surrounding E3.
They also got a deal to get better hotel rooms for show attendees at a fair price:
While the construction was chief among the issues discussed between the association and the Los Angeles Mayor, AEG and the convention center, the ESA also had other concerns, Gallagher said. The association had over recent years received complaints of what Gallagher described as "opportunism" at some of the venues around the convention center. Some of the hotels and restaurants in the area were hiking their prices for rooms or swapping out menus for high-priced meals, when the convention center rolled into town.
"If E3 is the highest return on investment trade show in LA we deserve better than that," Gallagher said.
So among the negotiating points with the three LA groups was a request for more hotel access for show attendees and a promise that restaurants wouldn't hike their prices for the week of the show, something the city, AEG and the convention center managed to guarantee.
"We worked through those issues on hotel access to ensure we would have access to more hotels at a higher quality and a fair price," Gallagher said. "And they agreed to avoid the gouging that we had received a few examples of."
Original Post:
Saw this over at GT:
Danny Gallagher said:Rich Taylor, the Entertainment Software Association's senior vice president of communications and industry affairs, wrote on his Twitter feed that he plans on making a major announcement about E3 2013 next week.
If I had to put money on this, the odds-on favorite would go on the ESA announcing a new home for E3 2013. The ESA and the city of Los Angeles have been getting into some heavy negotiations over the E3 venue, despite their long association together. The problem this time is the construction of Farmers Field that will almost certainly disrupt the flow of access to the convention center. It's not scheduled to be finished until the summer of 2013 at the earliest and there doesn't seem to be much wiggle room on the city's part.
However, there is a chance the two parties could have worked something out and Monday's announcement will reveal that E3 is going to spend another year in LA. The city might be able to promise a completion date at the first part of the summer and the ESA could agree to a slightly later date in the summer for their big show. I wouldn't put my future kid's college tuition on that betting line, but it is a slight possibility.
Here's an LA Times article from last month with a list of possible future locations for E3:
The Entertainment Software Assn. last year put the city on notice when it balked at renewing its contract to stage E3 at the Los Angeles Convention Center beyond 2012, citing uncertainties around the proposed remodel of the convention center to make way for Farmers Field.
This year the tone seems more urgent.
"We're still in discussions with the city of Los Angeles," Gallagher said in an interview Sunday night, "but we have a number of issues that still need to be resolved. If we can't resolve them, we are preparing to go elsewhere."
He did not identify which cities his group has been negotiating with, though executives close to the association who requested anonymity because negotiations are confidential said San Francisco, New York, Chicago and New Orleans have been among the candidates. E3 has taken place in Los Angeles for 16 of its 18 years in existence.
Among the group's concerns are ease of access to the convention center during any construction and guaranteed access to adequate show floor space.
"We need assurances on things like square footage, the quality of the space, the ease of loading and unloading equipment, signage throughout the convention center for marketing and sponsorships," Gallagher said. "We love being in Los Angeles, but we also have a show to put on."