The Car Race That Won’t Go Away: Las Vegas Grand Prix Work To Remove Road Fences, Light Mounts, Grandstands Will Last For Weeks After F1 Event Ended Ten Days Ago
By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
The big hotel companies like MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment generated tens of millions of dollars in revenues from the Formula 1 race in the Strip corridor, but ten days after the 90-minute Las Vegas Grand Prix workers were still dismantling fencing, grandstands and lighting mounts Tuesday.
LVSportsBiz.com checked most of the 3.8-mile race course that included the Strip, Harmon Avenue, Kival Lane and Sands Avenue early Tuesday afternoon and saw traffic on Koval Lane while Las Vegas Boulevard had minor traffic issues.
Liberty Media-owned Formula 1 took over the Strip and its surrounding roads like no other event in Las Vegas history.
And no other event divided the community like the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
The disruptions and inconveniences caused by the road work and preparation for the 3.8-mile race were unprecedented in an entertainment-focused economy like Las Vegas. Clark County handed over nearly four miles of public roads and right-of-ways to a private sports promoter, with the Strip hotels being the primary beneficiaries.
Formula 1 fans were happy their sport came to town for a Nov. 16-18 event.
Most locals, however, were disappointed that Formula 1 did not compensate Clark County for using its public roads.
LVSportsBiz.com held a 24-hour poll on X social media to see if people supported Clark County renegotiating its deal with F1 to require the grand prix event to compensate the county for using its public roads in the busiest part of the Las Vegas area. Nearly 78 percent of respondents said, yes.
The irony is that Formula One actually wants Clark County to pay $40 million for road paving work. The roads in the 3.8-mile course were paved not once but twice in the weeks leading up to the race.
County Commission Chairman Jim Gibson said negotiations regarding that $40 million request by Formula One would happen after the race.
F1 was not shy about asking for money from Clark County.
Why is Clark County not asking Formula One to pay the county for using the county’s public roads?
