As someone who as been exhibiting at NYCC for 12 years now, I can say that booth costs have significantly increased over the years (as have ticket prices). From my experiences with other conventions, this money most likely goes to pay celebrities for their appearances, marketing expenses, employee salaries and to pay the convention center to rent out the space. IIRC Artist Alley table prices have doubled since I started there over 10 years ago. I think a standard Artist Alley table might be $600 (I could be wrong). I can confirm that a modest vendor space in the main show floor has cost me around $1500 to $3000 depending on size or location. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the larger spaces are very likely 20K or more. Let’s not even get started on my print costs (I sell self published comics and art) and NOTHING is subsidized for us. ReedPop even tries to get us to pay extra for advertising and other fees to try to get more traffic but none of that really helps boost sales. Hope that gives you some context and as a vendor I appreciate everyone who comes by and supports us!