Gen Con brings in record attendance at its 50th convention

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Gen Con enjoyed record attendance for the ninth straight time at its 50th convention, officials for the annual gaming event announced Monday.

This year’s Gen Con, which took place Thursday through Sunday at the Indianapolis Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium, recorded 207,979 turnstile visits, a 4 percent increase from a year ago.

Those visits came from roughly 60,000 unique attendees, which Gen Con drew for the third straight year.

The convention also sold out of all attendee badges prior to the show for the first time in its 50-year history.

"Our team is thrilled to continue setting new records,” Gen Con CEO Adrian Swartout said in written remarks. “We made a decision early in planning Gen Con 50 to optimize the attendee experience while still continuing to grow the convention to new attendance levels.”

This year’s event also included usage of Bankers Life Fieldhouse for a concert by They Might Be Giants. The concert set a record as Gen Con’s largest single event in its 50-year history, surpassing 5,500 tickets sold.

This year’s convention featured about 500 exhibitors and more than 19,000 ticketed events, and raised more than $26,000 for local charity Child Advocates.

Gen Con will return to Indianapolis next year from Aug. 2-5. The event has taken place locally since 2003, and officials have an agreement to hold it here at least until 2020

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