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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 — LVCVA CEO Steve Hill says he plans to take a deal with Las Vegas Grand Prix for F1 races in the Strip corridor in 2026 and 2027 to the LVCVA board at the end of the summer.
“Yes, we have an agreement with F1 for the 2026 and 2027 races. It’s important that our customers maintain control of their event announcements. Because of that, nearly all major events are announced prior to board approval,” Hill said. “All of our agreements are subject to board approval and plan to take it to the board around the end of summer.”
The controversial road race has created financial winners and losers in Las Vegas.
The winners are the big hotel properties along the 3.8-mile race course like Bellagio that generate more revenues than usual for that weekend that used to be a typically slow weekend before Thanksgiving.
The losers are small businesses that lose money because customers face problems reaching the business because of the track set-up or simply stay away from the Strip corridor. LVSportsBiz.com has also learned of event businesses that do not hold events that F1 race weekend in Las Vegas because hotel room rates are too expensive for their potential out-of-town guests.
The Las Vegas Grand Prix has successfully misled gullible Las Vegas area government leaders into thinking the race is an economic boon because a grand prix PR staffer gave out economic numbers that are gross general spending numbers that fail to factor in all the losses to business. Economists at colleges criticized F1 for publicizing general spending numbers without including all the business losses. What is the actual net income to the Las Vegas area from the F1 race? Nobody knows.
The race’s traffic headaches prompted four businesses to sue F1 and Clark County, but one of those businesses, Ellis Island hotel-casino, has settled and even became a race sponsor.
The third year of the F1 race in Las Vegas is Nov. 20-22.
The first race year in 2023 was a logistical traffic nightmare for Strip workers and business customers leading up to the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix. Most cities would not have another F1 race after what happened in Year 1 in the Strip corridor. But Las Vegas is different and the major hotel companies dictate public policy to Clark County here. The grand prix evnt happens in Clark County, not the city of Las Vegas.
Traffic and track set-up improved in Year 2 for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, as Clark County approved the race organizers’ 17-week race circuit buildout and dismantling.
PSA