GalaxyCon will stay in Raleigh through 2031 with new deal

GalaxyCon, one of the largest annual events at the Raleigh Convention Center, will be staying in Raleigh through the end of the decade.

Why it matters: GalaxyCon, a convention for comic books, sci-fi and video game lovers, and its sister conference Animate!, which debuted last year, are two of downtown Raleigh's biggest annual events.

• Last year's GalaxyCon had more than 50,000 attendees and had an economic impact of more than $8.5 million .

Driving the news: On Thursday, at the onset of GalaxyCon's four-day festival in Raleigh, the organization's ownership inked a deal to keep GalaxyCon here until 2031 and Animate! until at least 2030.

State of play: The deal comes as Raleigh prepares to significantly expand its convention center.

• The city and Wake County plan to spend $387 million from their interlocal fund to expand the convention center on the site of the Red Hat Amphitheater.
• Red Hat is expected to move a block to the south .