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For the past six years, Gen Con Indy has continued to grow. This year’s numbers are in, showing a 9% increase in the number of convention attendees from Gen Con Indy 2014 with 61,423 attendees (unique) and a turnstile attendance of 197,695. Leonard Hoops — the head of Visit Indy, the city of Indianapolis’ tourism board — said that the gaming convention “drives more than $67 million in annual economic activity” to the city, with past conventions bringing in “more than $50 million” in 2014 and $47 million in 2013.
Not only is Gen Con Indy the world’s largest tabletop gaming convention, the growth of Gen Con has made the 2015 convention one of the largest-attended conventions in Indianapolis. However, the Future Farmers of America‘s return to the city in 2016 may topple that: The FFA’s 2014 convention in Louisville, KY, had 64,409 attendees, a 2.2% increase over the previous year. We’ll be keeping an eye on FFA 2015 when it’s held this coming October to compare numbers. (Note: although the NRA 2014 Annual Meeting reportedly brought in 75,269 attendees, repeated inquires to that organization about if those were based on unique or turnstile attendance have gone unanswered.)
Assuming Gen Con Indy’s growth continues, it is on track to overtake the PAX (Penny-Arcade Expo) as the largest gaming convention in 2017. (PAX’s last public attendance records were in 2011 with 69,500 at PAX East.) Housing may start to be a problem for Gen Con in future years as the city only has 20,335 sleeping (hotel) rooms available.
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