Editorial Analysis by Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
Topic: F1’s Las Vegas Grand Prix on Strip and in entertainment corridor in November.
Car race outcome and bottom line: The F1 race has created too many major disruptions to commerce and transportation in Strip corridor, with businesses losing revenues because of Las Vegas Grand Prix track blocking access. These negatives outweigh the extra money made by handful of high-end hotels like Bellagio, Wynn, Venetian and Caesars. Economic benefits have helped a narrow group of businesses while the race has triggered four lawsuits and counting against F1 and Clark County from other businesses.
Clark County Commission Chairman Tick Segerblom told journalist Sam Shad, “I think overall the question we have to ask ourselves, is it worth it?” Segerblom said clearly businesses were affected and asked whether the pain that locals and workers go through is worth the benefit of the F1 race?
Restaurant owner Gino Ferraro recently sent this text to a contact about the F1 race’s impact:
Solution: Keep Formula One race in Las Vegas. But move it to Las Vegas Motor Speedway site where infrastructure and land can accommodate a creative race track layout away from population density and business districts like F1 race events in Miami and Austin.
Clark County Commission Action: Negotiate a compensation deal to require F1 to pay Clark County millions of dollars to have a final year on public roads in Strip corridor in 2025 to complete a three-year deal, then allow Las Vegas Grand Prix to move to Las Vegas Motor Speedway site starting in Year 4.
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The Las Vegas Grand Prix was still more than a month away when workers closed the busy Flamingo Road-Koval Lane intersection just east of the Strip starting Oct. 13 for seven days to install a temporary bridge on Flamingo Road that spans Koval Lane. The intersection did not re-open until Saturday.
LVSportsBiz.com spoke with traffic control flaggers and security workers to find out what visitors and locals have to say about the road preparation work to create the 3.8-mile grand prix track for a race that is 50 laps and lasts 90 minutes. For some reason, Clark County commissioners gave away county roads to the race promoter for free to use for the F1 event.
“I get cussed out every day,” a traffic flagger told me at the closed Koval-Flamingo intersection Saturday. It opened later that day.
People have taken their anger about the Las Vegas F1 race to social media:
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Las Vegas is a fast-growing market of more than 2.3 million, but the dynamic of the politics is small-town, with Clark County commissioners who regulate the famed Strip afraid to stand up to the corporate hotel owners who dictate policy on the Strip.
Technically, the Strip is in Clark County, which is charged with its oversight.
But practically, the Strip is run by the hotel-casino owners and functions like a Vatican City. The county government signs off on permits and typically complies with event requests like those involved in putting on the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
In the case of the F1 race, the county was accused in four lawsuits filed by businesses of fast-tracking grand prix approvals and not properly following its own permit procedures in greenlighting everything from F1 road and land closures to giving the race promoter right-of-way access to install fencing and barriers.
The Strip and its corridor are the economic lifeblood of Southern Nevada. But it appears the race’s economic impact has translated into businesses losing millions dollars to allow high-end hotels more revenue than usual for that November weekend when the F1 event takes place.
Ellis Island hotel-casino was the first business to file a lawsuit against F1 and the county in May. Three others ensued. The Ellis Island lawsuit alleged the F1 race in Las Vegas was conceived in a confidential letter of intent between LVCVA chief Steve Hill and Las Vegas Grand Prix head Renee Wilm in March 2022, with F1 then misleading Ellis Island on racetrack construction to road closures to access to its business.
A fifth lawsuit is expected to be filed by Jay’s Market, which projects to lose several million dollars in revenues because of the race blocking access to its store and gas pumps. F1 has reduced the Flamingo Road bridge from four to two lanes with the goal of creating more space to reach Jay’s Market.
“Moving F1 to the Speedway land is the only way for F1 to succeed long-term in Las Vegas. The general public doesn’t want it on the Strip. Our commissioners are too weak to say no to F1,” said Wade Bohn, owner of Jay’s Market, which plans to file a lawsuit against the F1 and Clark County. “F1 can survive Las Vegas if they get it off the Strip.”
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The F1 race has enraged many Las Vegas locals and Strip workers.
It’s several months of traffic jams, closed lanes and long commutes.
Economic benefits? There are winners and losers. Winners: fancy, elite hotels. Losers: Many businesses that have seen a loss in the number of customers during race weekend. Most locals has voiced their displeasure over the race taking over the Strip and privatizing public roads.
LVSportsBiz.com has documented that Clark County, F1, the LVCVA and even MGM Resorts International have all issued different economic spending numbers related to the car race. The numbers are so varied and unverifiable that LVSportsBiz.com will not publish them.
Economists have told LVSportsBiz.com said the economic numbers presented are not accurate because they fail to include nuanced economic losses like employees missing work because of F1-related traffic problems, tourists who stay away from Las Vegas because of the chaos created by the F1 race and the millions of dollars lost by businesses with the massive drop in the number of customers on race weekend.
Local businesses have asked for compensation from Formula 1 and Clark County, but the sports event promoter and the county have not handed over any money to the hurt businesses.
A traffic flagger at the Sphere said the big hotels making money off the F1 race at the expense of businesses that have been financially hurt should also chip in money to compensate those who have been hurt.
It’s the policy of Clark County and Las Vegas Grand Prix to not comment about the filed lawsuits.
The Las Vegas Grand Prix did recognize the inaugural event did not help a wide cross-section of hotels in the Las Vegas valley and failed to connect with the host market.
So, the race has handed out free tickets to some locals and gave back-to-school freebies for kids a few months ago, while the LVCVA spent $1 million on a music festival in downtown Las Vegas for this year’s race weekend after downtown hotels and businesses said the first race in 2023 did not benefit them.
But the fact remains that the Las Vegas Grand Prix is not a local community sports event. It’s a very expensive tourist event that sells tickets for more than $1,000 each and caters to rich fans.
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Las Vegas Motor Speedway is on a sprawling site of 1,500 acres about 15 miles northeast of the Strip, with a lot of land that can easily accommodate a grand prix race layout.
LVSportsBiz.com has learned there is talk behind the public scenes of the idea of moving the F1 race from the Strip to the Speedway site. These are not people associated with F1, which obviously wants to keep the race on the Strip. Let us be clear, we are not talking about moving the F1 race into the 1.5-mile, tri-turn track. Instead, we are proposing F1 build a track on the grounds of the Speedway that can use the site much like the F1 event at the Dolphins stadium in Miami-Dade County.
F1 spent $500 million to build its paddock building, where race car garages and club-style VIP socializing spaces are located off Koval Lane at 260 East Harmon Ave. Here’s a look:
There’s no reason why F1 can’t stage its lavish parties at the paddock facility and transport guests to the race layout at the Speedway site. Thousands of visitors for the annual Electric Daisy Carnival stay on the Strip and are transported to the Speedway for the EDC, a massive electronic dance music festival.
The F1 race event in Miami is centered at the Miami Dolphins’ NFL stadium off the Florida Turnpike. Hard Rock Stadium is about 25 miles from Miami Beach. The recent Austin F1 race is also outside of Austin in Texas.
The Speedway stands ready to host the F1 race. Two NASCAR events are staged there, plus professional drag race events. The total site can hold more than 100,000 people for an event.
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The F1 road prep traffic alerts chirp on cell phones regarding the race’s road impacts.
Track lighting installation on Las Vegas Boulevard. Track barrier installation on Koval Lane. Bellagio Fountain Club installation on Las Vegas Boulevard. RTC bus closures.
Las Vegas’ every day people are paying a dear price so that a private sports promoter can cash in on free public roads courtesy of Clark County commissioners.
Just a reminder: county commissioners are elected by local residents, not F1.