Already a commercial success, can F1’s Vegas GP deliver more?

LAS VEGAS — After weeks of controversy, angry local feedback and even criticism from reigning world champion Max Vertstappen himself, the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix produced the best race of the 2023 season. Not only that, it delivered the most financially lucrative weekend in Sin City’s long and storied history, eclipsing even February’s Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium.

It wasn’t to everyone’s taste. During the buildup to last year’s event, which featured a very over-the-top driver presentation, Verstappen quipped the race was “99% show and 1% sporting event,” adding that the ceremony had made him feel like “a clown.”

As if to prove winning makes everything better, the Dutchman signed off his victory at the inaugural race later in the weekend by singing “Viva Las Vegas” over the radio. When asked how he was feeling about the second year’s race during Wednesday’s media session, Verstappen started with a typically frank reply.

“I get it,” he said, with a wry smile. Pressed on what he meant, he added: “I get it. I understand why we’re here and business wise, racing-related wise. For me, the opening ceremony… if you ask me if I want to do that or not, I will always choose not to do it, but that’s not why something is more positive or not. But I’m happy to be here, I’m happy to be in Vegas, it’s a great city.

“Is it my favorite track on the calendar? No, but everyone has their favorite tracks. But I’m happy to be here. Last year the racing was very exciting, there was a lot of racing going on, a lot of straights, it’s good for overtaking, the shots are amazing, you know, driving on the Strip. So I hope you don’t write all too negative about what I think about Vegas because the race last year was great.”

Glowing praise indeed, which will have been music to the ears of the organizers of the race: Formula 1 itself. The event is unique on the sport’s schedule as it is the only one that sees F1 double up as the promoter, having invested in building the permanent paddock facility in the middle of the city. Verstappen will also be relieved to know there is no driver presentation this time around.

His comments and the other negative headlines the race generated — which peaked when Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari was destroyed by a loose drain cover, with the subsequent delay to fix the others on the circuit denying any practice running for the rest of the first day — ended up being a blip on the overall event and the money it generated.

The eye-watering numbers were historic.

A Clark County report issued in April totaled the economic benefits from the first race at $1.5 billion, while $77 million was generated in tax revenue. To give those staggering figures some context, Super Bowl LVIII totaled overall economic impacts at $1 billion, with $33.6 million generated in taxes.

Outdrawing America’s biggest sporting event was not something F1 had dared predict 12 months ago. It was a massive vindication on a project that cost the series an estimated $400 million. Most impressive to those on the Las Vegas side is that the debut race managed to do something previously considered impossible: generating big bucks the weekend before Thanksgiving, traditionally the leanest on the calendar in terms of revenue.

F1 and Las Vegas have been careful in downplaying the chances of replicating or beating those numbers this year, and also brushed off reports of lower ticket sales this time around — the city is notoriously a late market when it comes to people purchasing holidays and attending events.

When asked if the race had seen a late boost for tickets this year, Las Vegas GP CEO Renee Wilm said on Wednesday: “Yes, we’re seeing very much what we expected. We have a number of zones that are already sold out, our general admission is sold out. Wynn Grid Club has sold out, main grandstand has sold out. I’m probably missing a couple, but we’re very excited about the conversion rates we’ve seen this past week.

“Once we got past Austin and the election, that’s when (ticket) traffic increased and so did conversion. This is a very last-minute market, and we didn’t go on sale as early as we did in Year 1. Year 1 we had our big launch event, that was essentially six months earlier than we went on sale for Year 2.”

In terms of how to measure success this time around, she said: “We have many objectives, obviously, but there’s the (Las Vegas Grand Prix) objectives, and then there’s Formula 1 objectives. I think from an F1 perspective, it’s obviously continuing to grow and educate the sport in the US We still believe it’s our key strategic growth market.”

It wasn’t just on-track matters that precipitated negative headlines, though. The long buildup to the first race, which included an extensive build of the barriers that line the circuit and the construction of scaffolding near iconic landmarks such as the Bellagio fountain, irked locals, who dealt with disruption. But with the first event requiring everything to be done from scratch, this year has felt like a much lighter lift.

“We’ve been much more engaged in a constructive way with the community, and we did just a better job with communication, just around road closures,” Wilm said. “We also didn’t have nearly as much construction as we did in Year 1. Year 1 was 3.8 miles of re-asphalting. This year, we (only) put up some lighting tresses, patched a few areas and put up some safety barriers.”

Locals were not just upset with the disruption to roads, though. While the money generated last year was impressive, some critics have suggested that impact was felt by a small minority rather than the community at large. Wilm countered that suggestion by saying that $22 million of the tax generated last year has been redirected back into the local school system.

“We’ve seen such a turnaround in local sentiment,” Wilm added. “I think once you really look at the numbers, and then you eliminate the negative sentiment, it has absolutely hit home with locals that we are creative. We’re here to stay. We’re here to be part of the community and to give back both economically as well as in other qualitative ways.”

Making an event that has a happy community at the heart of it has become the driving force behind all future plans made for the race.

“It needs to work for everybody,” said Steve Hill, CEO and president of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. “It needs to work for the businesses, the sponsors of the race, the resort community and it needs to work for the community itself. This year I think we are much closer to that balance than we were last year. It was a fantastic performance last year and an amazing achievement to pull it off.”

And what of the final product? Most in F1 expect another great race, with the colder November temperatures creating a rare challenge for teams with their tires.

Another bonus, ironically centered around Verstappen, is also tantalizingly close. The Dutchman could wrap up the title at the race if he finishes ahead of Lando Norris or avoids losing more than three points to him. The race has played out multiple scenarios in case that happens to mark the occasion. Whether Verstappen will be triumphantly belting out another rendition of Elvis Presley come Saturday evening remains to be seen.