The inaugural Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix race is set to take place November 16-18, and a recent economic impact study from Applied Analysis has posited that the event will generate an overall impact of $1.3 billion, dwarfing the $600 million projection that Applied gave to the 2024 Super Bowl at Allegiant Stadium.
The eye-popping figure was announced January 23 by Las Vegas Grand Prix CEO Renee Wilm during a publicity event that was held at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
According to the report from Applied, visitor spending could reach $950 million or more, with operations and support costs coming in at $316 million. Wilm also said that Formula One (F1) expects the event to garner a daily attendance of 100,000 between practice rounds, qualifying and the race itself, as reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The projections are even more impressive given the fact that the race will largely be attended by domestic travelers, despite the fact that the sport is extremely popular all over the world.
So far, tickets have sold out so fast that other markets haven’t had the opportunity to book them. Wilm told the Review-Journal that “we sold out so quickly on the first wave that the European and our Asian fans didn’t even get the chance, due to the time zones, to participate.”
According to F1, another round of ticket sales will be announced in the coming months.
F1 President and CEO Stefano Domenicali was also on-hand for the event, and he pointed out that the Las Vegas Grand Prix is expected to become an annual staple in the city’s event calendar; the Super Bowl, by comparison, is a one-time deal.
“We are going to have a continuous flag here in the city, and we are going to mark not only for the week of the event, but we are going to mark F1 in Vegas as a place where we will develop the sport,” Domenicali told the Review-Journal.
As one may expect, a lot of infrastructure work will need to be done in order to prepare the 3.8-mile race route, through which the cars will travel at speeds of 200 miles per hour or more.
That work is slated to start in April, and according to Wilm, it will be done “in small chunks so that we are trying to mitigate the inconvenience.”
The planned route will encompass parts of several streets in and around the Las Vegas Strip, including sections of Harmon Avenue, Las Vegas Boulevard, Koval Lane and Spring Mountain Road.
Steve Hill, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), told the Review-Journal that despite the traffic hiccups, he and others hope that motorists will recognize the overall benefit that the event will bring.
“I’m not sure if you didn’t know that it was a Formula One circuit that was being built, you wouldn’t think any different from the normal road infrastructure work that we have to do anyway,” Hill said. “We’ll probably put some fancy signage on it and hope people will appreciate it more that the orange cones are there. It will just be a lane or two at a time in segments along that route.”
According to the newspaper, Clark County Commissioner Michael Naft indicated previously that F1 could legally request as much $30 million in infrastructure expenses from the county, but talks are still ongoing with regard to how much public money will be used, if any.
The 300,000 square-foot paddock facility, which will house the start/ finish line as well as the pit crews, VIP zones and spectator viewpoints, is currently under construction on a 39-acre plot near the intersection of Harmon Avenue and Koval Lane.
In total, the land and construction costs for Liberty Media, F1’s parent company, are expected to reach $500 million.
