Wizard CEO Gareb Shamus has acquired Michael Carbonaro’s Big Apple Con, and plans to move the show to Pier 94 for the fall show this year.  Pier 94, at 175,000 square feet, is considerably larger than the Penn Plaza Pavilion (50,000 square feet), where Big Apple Cons have been held the past, but still well under the 675,000 square feet available at the Javits Center, where New York Comic Con has been held. 

As part of the move to Pier 94, Big Apple Con will be held on October 16-18 this year, roughly a month earlier than the show’s previously planned dates in November.  According to Shamus, Big Apple Con will occupy the entire Pier 94 facility.  Pier 94 is on the west side of Manhattan, at 55th St., around 20 blocks north of the Javits location.  

Carbonaro will continue to be involved in the show, according to the announcement. 

We asked Shamus what plans he had for the Big Apple shows other than the National (the fall show), and he said that “we’re still working that out.”  Carbonaro had run as many as three other Big Apple shows annually, in addition to the National. 

We also asked Shamus for clarification on the ownership structure, and he said that he will own Big Apple, and that Wizard Entertainment will run it.  Asked why he chose that ownership structure, Shamus replied, “I’ve always wanted to own a show in New York.  This is just something that was very near and dear to me.”

Benji Dejohn, who runs Wizard’s Chicago and Philadelphia shows (see “More on Wizard Layoffs”) will run Big Apple as well. 

Also involved is Video Game Expo, with which Wizard announced an alliance for its Philadelphia show last month (see “Wizard Allies with Video Game Expo”).  The alliance is now being expanded to include Wizard’s Chicago show and Big Apple Con.