Las Vegas Tourism Agency Proposes Using Public Dollars To Buy $7 Million Worth Of Las Vegas Grand Prix F1 Race Tickets
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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher/Writer
Las Vegas’ publicly-funded tourism agency, charged with drawing visitors to Southern Nevada, likes to hype the spending related to sports events in Las Vegas.
Turns out the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority (LVCVA) wants to help out with some of that sports-linked spending.
Bear witness: the LVCVA is proposing to spend $7 million on Las Vegas Grand Prix tickets for the Formula 1 race set for Nov. 16-18.
Steve Hill, the LVCVA chief, placed the item on Tuesday’s LVCVA board meeting:
The LVCVA, last May, approved a three-year deal to spend $19.5 million in a partnership with race promoter Liberty Dice, Inc., a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation, the publicly traded broadcasting conglomerate that owns SiriusXM, the MLB Atlanta Braves, as well as the Formula One Group.
Here’s the way the LVCVA put the $7 million F1 ticket request on its agenda. Basically, it’s the same explanation the agency uses for all money it wants for sports — that it brings “visitation and brand awareness” to Las Vegas.
The public agency wants to buy the F1 tickets “for our current and future customers.” The LVCVA hopes to recoup $2.8 million of the $7 million in tickets by selling some to “destination properties and other partners and community members.” The agenda item did not identify the “destination properties” and “community members.”
The cheapest Las Vegas Grand Prix race ticket is $500, with deals floated by Caesars Entertainment and Wynn Las Vegas running as high as $5 million and $1 million, respectively.
The LVCVA issued this statement to explain the ticket expenditure request:
“LVCVA’s mission is to sell and market Las Vegas around the world. It’s our job to host our customers who buy travel to Las Vegas for millions of visitors each year. There’s also no better opportunity to cultivate future business than showing off our destination during what will be the greatest event in the world in 2023.
“To give you some context as to the types of customers (not just inside the Las Vegas Convention Center, but throughout the entire destination) being invited:
- Trade show organizers for shows like ConExpo/Con-Agg this week attracting 130,000 attendees
- Airlines that grow their routes and seats to Las Vegas
- Leisure travel buyers like HelmsBriscoe that buy 480,000 hotel room nights throughout Las Vegas annually”
The 3.8-mile, 14-turn race course, which includes a stretch of the Strip, is being completely repaved so that the road surface meets Formula 1 standards. That means construction on the Strip and other roads like Koval Lane that are part of the circuit will start in April.
