LVCVA, Las Vegas Grand Prix Execs: F1 Race Was Great; Store Owner On Race Track: Lost $340,000 In Gas Sales This Month

 

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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer

LAS VEGAS, Nevada — A day after chief executives for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and Liberty Media-owned Formula 1 lauded the second Las Vegas Grand Prix, convenience store owner Wade Bohn Tuesday pulled up his November financial records.

As of Monday, Jay’s Market on Flamingo Road at the Koval Lane intersection on the F1 race course showed $340,000 less money in gas sales and 24,000 less customers this month compared to Nov. 2022, the last year before the F1 race started in the Strip corridor in 2023.

Bohn then broke down his overall gas sales to the actual monthly loss in gas profit from Nov. 2022 to this month. November monthly profits on gas sales plummeted from about $104,000 in 2022 to $36,243 this month, Bohn said.

Bohn’s financial disclosure came a day after LVCVA CEO Steve Hill and Las Vegas Grand Prix CEO Renee Wilm praised the 3.8-mile road race for coming off much better in Year 2 than in 2023. Hill wants to extend an original three-year race agreement between the LVCVA and Liberty Media, which is based in a Denver, Colorado suburb. Twenty race drivers made 50 laps around the Strip corridor’s public roads that were privatized in the the economic heart of Southern Nevada. The race that disrupted life in the resort corridor took about 90 minutes.

In May 2022, the LVCVA board agreed to a three-year, $19.5 million deal for Las Vegas’ public tourism agency to support the Las Vegas Grand Prix in 2023, 2024 and 2025.

In July, the LVCVA staff approved an 18-month, 15-race sponsorship deal with F1. That cost the public agency $12 million and did not require LVCVA board action.

Hill, however, does not run the Clark County Commission, the county’s seven-member governing board that will ultimately decide the fate of the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

For Las Vegas Grand Prix’s Year 3 in 2025, F1 will need Clark County commissioners and government staff to approve the race and a litany of permits and road closures.

Store owner Bohn said he explains to friends that county commissioners approved a street race event that cost his business tens of thousands of dollars. “My friends say, ‘How is that possible? That’s not the way the system is supposed to work.’ ”

Lisa Mayo-DeRiso, CEO of Mayo & Associates who is representing a group of businesses hurt by the F1 race, said the Las Vegas Grand Prix created a negative financial impact for small businesses, Strip-area workers, entertainment shows, Uber drivers and venues.

“Social media is filled with actual footage of the half-empty venues, traffic jams, cones, blocked access, the struggles of the monorail, the empty  restaurants, and the dark showrooms,” Mayo-DeRiso said. “No amount of PR will hide the truth: F1 in the Las Vegas resort corridor is not working.”

Hill and Wilm sang the praises of the F1 race. F1 fans liked the event. And setting up the track, which looked like a lit-up highway from above, was handled overnight since early September though there were still lane closures and closed roads when the Flamingo Road bridge was installed.

Bellagio set up a fancy club and suite zone in a temporary trackside building that sold out all 3,600 luxury experience tickets at $12,500 each. MGM Resorts International, which owns the Bellagio property, generated $45 million from those three-day ticket sales at the space dubbed the Bellagio Fountain Club.

MGM Resorts executive Andrew Lanzino offered this comment: :Thousands of MGM Resorts employees collaborated to elevate the Las Vegas Grand Prix to unprecedented heights in its second year, delivering results that exceeded all expectations.

“This weekend was more than just an event—it was a collection of unforgettable ‘wow’ moments for our guests, solidifying its place as one of the most remarkable weekends of the year for our resorts and our city,” said Lanzino, MGM Resorts’ VP for Citywide Events Strategy.

Hill and Wilm were thrilled about the improvements in the track setup. (Then again, it’s hard to imagine the race disruptions could have been worse this year than in 2023.)

Hill and Wilm did not acknowledge the race brought four lawsuits from businesses against both F1 and Clark County. The legal action alleged that not only did the plaintiffs lose millions of dollars because of the race, the county also fast-tracked the race’s permit approval process. Bohn was not one of the plaintiffs.

In addition, Clark County gave away the 3.8 miles of public roads that make up the circuit for free to F1. Liberty Media generated tens of millions of dollars in ticket sales for the race event that brought in 102,000 spectators, according to the county’s event permit.

Clark County charges rent for businesses that use county-controlled facilities but failed to negotiate a compensation deal for F1 to use nearly four miles of public roads. The county approved a 17-week plan for F1 to set up and dismantle the track.

A county spokesperson said Clark County stands ready to consider future F1 race events.

“The County continues to evaluate the race each year, which includes a public report on what has improved and what needs to improve. The Board will provide direction on future races as needed,” spokesperson Jennifer Cooper said Tuesday.

LVSportsBiz.com reached out to the Las Vegas Grand Prix about its financial impact on Bohn’s store. If we hear back from the F1 race, we will include the response.

The grand prix typically issues an unverified spending impact number that appears to be gross sales without factoring in vital economic factors like the losses to businesses, shows and workers in the Strip area caused by the race event. The grand prix spending number is not a net income figure and has been privately ridiculed by professional economists.

Interestingly enough, the major hotel companies on the Strip like MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment that supported the race have not publicly commented much on the F1 event. Many observers say the big hotels on the Strip that financially benefitted from the race like Bellagio and Wynn dictate policy to the county commissioners, who typically follow the hotels’ directives.

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