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Shop at Jay’s Market at 190 East Flamingo Road at the Koval Lane intersection east of the Strip.
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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — The Las Vegas Grand Prix estimates there will 102,000 spectators for the F1 race in the Strip corridor from Nov. 20-24 next week, according to a special event permit application granted by Clark County government to the event promoter.
The 102,000 spectators are less than one-third of the 315,000 fans that F1 claimed attended last year’s inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix that caused unprecedented disruption to commerce and massive traffic jams in the Strip area in 2023. Here is an excerpt from an ESPN story. F1 also told the local Las Vegas media there were 315,000 fans at the 2023 F1 race event here.
Clark County commissioners allowed the race promoter to have 3.8 miles of public roads and right-of-ways for free, giving Formula 1 unpaid access to the economic heart of the region to build the private race track.
All for 20 race cars and a 90-minute race Nov. 23.
The accepted narrative is that a only handful of high-end hotel properties like Bellagio made more revenues than usual for the F1 race weekend at the expense of local businesses that say they lost money because the race track blocked access to their stores. Four businesses have sued F1 and Clark County for losses in revenue they allege were caused by the road race and its months-long preparation.
The closed roads for the 3.8-mile track are Las Vegas Boulevard, Harmon Avenue, Koval Lane and Sands Avenue.
LVSportsBiz.com contacted Terry Miller, listed as the event representative on the special event application, to find out why the application says 102,000 spectators for 2024 when F1 claimed 315,000 were at last year’s controversial race event.
F1 representative Lori Nelson-Kraft said, “I believe last year’s number included how many guests collectively attended each of the three nights.”
There is no clear consensus on the net economic gain created by the Las Vegas Grand Prix. The CEO of Colorado-based Liberty Media, Greg Maffei, made an unverified claim in an apology last year that the F1 race in Las Vegas would deliver $1.7 billion in spending. Economists scoffed at that number.
Representatives of MGM Resorts International, Clark County, the LVCVA and Las Vegas Grand Prix have all provided varying economic spending numbers. But critics say these various numbers are misleading because they fail to consider economic factors like people avoiding the Strip because of the event’s disruptions, tourists displacing visitors who would be here anyway and businesses that lost money because of the F1 race.
In addition, a secondary ticket app called Gametime says Las Vegas Grand Prix tickets are going for less this year than last. Gametime said in a media release that the lowest priced three-day pass for the event is $1,023 (including all taxes and fees). Last year, ten days before the race, three-day passes were going for $1,387. And top-priced seats are going for $2,689, compared to $4,613 for last year’s race, according to Gametime.
One business that has lost revenue because of the F1 race is Jay’s Market at 190 East Flamingo Road at the Koval Lane intersection. Store owner Wade Bohn took a photo of the race installing a pedestrian walkway blocking one of his entrances. Take a look: