How Las Vegas Rolls: A Year Ago Ellis Island Sued F1; Friday Hotel-Casino And Las Vegas Grand Prix Have Sponsorship Deal After Settlement
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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 — Only a year ago Ellis Island hotel-casino sued F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix and Clark County, alleging the controversial November road race cost its business millions of dollars in revenues.
But Friday, it looked like Ellis Island and Las Vegas Grand Prix have patched things up, as last year’s lawsuit led to a settlement that proceeded Friday’s announcement that Ellis Island will be an “Official Venue of the Las Vegas Strip Circuit.”
That’s Las Vegas for you where you can go from plaintiff to sponsor in only a year.
LVSportsBiz.com contacted Emily Prazer, Las Vegas Grand Prix president and CEO, about F1 and Ellis Island reaching a settlement in the lawsuit filed April 30, 2024 .
In response, Joslyn Garcia, F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix communications director, sent this statement on behalf of Prazer: “We are thrilled to be growing our partnership with Ellis Island. Over the last two years, we have committed to working with the community and local businesses to ensure they are part of the race week excitement. Ellis Island is not only a great partner for us but also offers fans another exciting viewing locations along the circuit.”
The sponsorship deal allows Ellis Island to use the recently-opened Grand Prix Plaza area on Koval Lane for an annual Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation of Nevada Halloween Bash, which has been supported by the Ellis family for decades.
The race is controversial because it made money for the big hotels on the race course that sold seats and rooms at high prices during a typically slow weekend. But it also cost other businesses money because their customers stayed away from the Strip corridor. The race brought glitz, but also caused disruptions on a scale never seen before in the Strip corridor.
The race disrupted commerce and transportation in its inaugural year in 2023 like no other sports event in Strip corridor history. Things improved in Year 2 with less chaos, headaches and massive traffic jams and now F1 is working on improving community relations in hopes that Clark County commissioners will approve a seven-year extension for the race event.
Economists also say F1 misled Las Vegas on its race event’s economic numbers because the Las Vegas Grand Prix gives out gross spending numbers without factoring in all the losses to businesses. “These sorts of economic impact statements are generally pretty good about adding up the stuff that does happen due to a major event but are terrible about addressing the things that don’t happen because of an event,” College of the Holy Cross economist Victor Matheson said.
While Ellis Island and F1 may have settled, there are still three other businesses that have sued the Las Vegas Grand Prix and Clark County: restaurants Battista’s Hole in a Wall and Ferraros Ristrorante and business Stage Door Casino.
In an interview with LVSportsBiz.com at its Las Vegas headquarters at the Hughes Center two months ago, Prazer said settlements are not impossible.
Will there be settlements? It’s unknown, but we do know the Las Vegas Grand Prix wants that seven-year extension very badly.
Dealing with lawsuits from businesses alleging the race hurt their revenues while also seeking county approvals is not the best look.
For now, one business seems content. Gary Ellis, Ellis Island owner, gave this statement in Friday’s press release: “As we enter into this partnership with our neighbors on Koval Lane, we look forward to working with Las Vegas Grand Prix to extend out offerings at Ellis Island during race weekend and beyond.”
