L.A. Keeps E3 Show From Vegas Move by Matching Incentives

By DEBORAH BELGUM

Staff Reporter

After threatening to take its show to Las Vegas, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, known as E3, is staying at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

The expo, which attracts 62,000 delegates every May to one of the city’s largest and most profitable conferences, has signed a letter of intent to stay through 2012, sources said.

Las Vegas had offered to reduce the Expo’s move-in and move-out costs by as much as $700,000 for the three-day event, but Los Angeles has matched that offer to retain the conference, which pumps $12 million a year into the local economy.

E3 spokesman Rob Poetsch said the organization was not ready to make a formal announcement about the agreement. Officials were trying to organize a press conference with Mayor James Hahn next week to announce the decision when the conference will be in town.

E3 has been held in Los Angeles every year except one since it started eight years ago. The exception was in 1997 when it was held in Atlanta.

In the past, E3 organizers have spent about $900,000 for move-in and move-out costs at the L.A. Convention Center. Organizers wanted L.A. to reduce or completely forgive those costs, which it did, sources said.

The event, which features the latest in video games, consoles, entertainment software and Internet products, is a popular show for those in the industry. At least 1,000 new products debut at the conference and exposition.