Saturday was "Returning Registration" day for Comic-Con International 2027 — the day when folks who had paid admissions to Comic-Con 2026 could compete online to be there in San Diego next year. The sale didn't last long. The competition started at 9:00 AM and at 9:34, all the badges for Preview Night were sold out.
All the available badges for Saturday were gone by 10:02 and six minutes later, Friday was gone. Thursday sold out at 10:21 and five minutes later, Sunday was done and it was all over.
"Open Registration" — when anyone can vie for prizes — is November 14 and the badges will probably sell out with the same speed. I don't think it's the number of people online that determines the pace. I think it has more to do with how the software operates, which seems to be like the "Randomizer" on the game show, The Floor. Either way, there will be no point in doing what someone wrote me they did, which was to get around to logging in around 11 AM.
I wonder how many badges they could sell if that convention center and the infrastructure of San Diego tourism could accommodate everyone who wants in. When I was in the hospital last year, I had some of my gear in a bag the convention gave me with its name and logo on the outside. Every doctor, nurse, orderly, food deliverer or person who dropped by to stab me for blood who noticed the bag said something like, "You got into Comic-Con? Oh, wow — I hear it's great and I'd love to go sometime but I hear it's impossible to get in!"
If everyone who wants to could, it might be in the millions. But then I also wonder if the fact that it's so hard to get in is one of the main things that makes some people want to.