Wizard World May Not Last Through 2018

Wizard World logo

As reported by ICv2, the Wizard World convention company is not doing very well. It lost $1.3 million during the third quarter of this year on its shows. Although the conventions brought in over $5 million, the cost of making that revenue and operating expenses resulted in a negative balance. The cost of putting on the shows has risen by $1.3 million in comparison to last year’s third quarter, and attendance is down, which accounts for $1 million less income (compared to the same three-month period a year ago). That’s not a good combination.

Looking at the year to date as of September 30, the company has lost $4.4 million. This data comes from the public company’s required 10-Q filings. The bombshell statement is this:

We have evaluated the significance of these conditions in relation to our ability to meet our obligations and have concluded that, due to these conditions, there is substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern through November 2018.

The company has eliminated outside marketing (and its costs) and “is working to greatly refine and enhance its mass media, digital, and grass-roots marketing techniques, and to implement a plan to commence marketing efforts earlier in each market.” Which would be a good idea, since some of these shows seem to sneak up on people. More advance notice will allow people from further away to travel to them. Here’s the planned list of shows for 2018.

In other news, Wizard World no longer has an investment in CONtv but still owes them $224,241 from 2016. And their ConBox service has been shut down.

Update: Heidi MacDonald reports that the folks hired to relaunch publishing efforts for the company have been let go, so don’t expect to see the rebirth of Wizard magazine any time soon. She says more layoffs may be coming, which would be expected for a company struggling financially.



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