Question of the Day - 07 March 2025

[Editor's Note: This answer is written by David McKee.]

Las Vegas wishes it had a 10-year deal with NASCAR. Instead, it’s stuck with F1. 

Actually, the City of Las Vegas has no dealings with Formula One. It even counter-programs against it during F1 Weekend. Clark County is a different kettle of fish, being the entity that’s in bed with Formula One owner Liberty Media.

Interestingly, for something that’s supposed to be such a big success, nobody wants to talk about it on the record. We tried Liberty Media, Clark County Commissioner Marilyn Kirkpatrick, and the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority. All took refuge under the cone of silence.

A source close to the LVCVA, however, told us that Formula One and Clark County are currently working on a new contract, as the current one expires this year. Also, “Clark County must review and provide a permit each year for the race to take place, regardless of contract length.” As for the racing circuit, we’re told, “There has been no discussion” of running it anywhere besides the Las Vegas Strip.

Our source claims that the Las Vegas Grand Prix had $1.5 billion in economic impact in 2023: $600 million in construction and $900 million from the event. The fact that nobody wants to address the question of profitability suggests red ink to us.

Regarding the economic-impact figure, we have to call BS on that. For starters, it’s well over three times Formula One’s economic impact on Miami ($449 million) and more than double its effect on Austin ($700 million a year over 10 years). So there’s that.

Never mind, also, that the economic impact for Year Two was ratcheted down well in advance of the event. We’re not inclined to believe the spending figure, as both Caesars Entertainment and sundry local merchants reported disappointing business that weekend. MGM Resorts International and Wynn Resorts soaked up most of the gravy.

However, after this year’s running of the Grand Prix, Wynn reported that revenues were lower for Year Two, largely due to depressed room rates, although business was 50 percent better than in non-race years.

Finally, no two entities can agree on the economic impact figure for Year One. Jeremy Aguero’s $1.5 billion, the most-oft cited, seems to have come from the seat of his pants. In the Nov. 18, 2024, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Aguero put the number at $1 billion. By Nov. 22, the number had magically risen to $1.5 billion, per remarks by LVCVA spokeswoman Lori Nelson-Kraft to the R-J. Six days later, the LVCVA was floating a $1.2 billion figure, in G&M News.

Also, the economic impact may not have been all positive. It’s unclear whether Aguero’s mythic $1.5 billion accounts for lost productivity of workers stuck in traffic due to construction disruptions, the cost of canceled shows (many), and the losses sustained by businesses like Batista’s Hole in the Wall, a vocal F1 critic, and Ellis Island.

Given such vagueness on the part of race proponents, perhaps you'll understand our skepticism. However, having made a bad bet on F1, Clark County seems — like a degenerate gambler — bent on chasing losses down the drain.