A recent report from the New York Post has revealed that Formula One (F1), in anticipation of its upcoming Las Vegas Grand Prix race in November, has sent letters to venues situated along the 3.8-mile track on the Strip threatening to obstruct race views if steep licensing fees are not paid.
According to a copy of a letter obtained by the Post, these fees could be as much as $1,500 per person, meaning that clubs and venues with over 1,000 capacity could be facing more than $1 million in costs, even if the race is not physically viewable for every patron.
“Las Vegas Grand Prix will use reasonable efforts to maintain sightedness from licensee’s venue to the track/race,” the letter said. “The license fee will equal the maximum occupancy of licensee’s venue (per fire code) multiplied by $1,500.”
Reps from Liberty Media, F1’s parent company, have reportedly threatened venue owners with barricades, stanchions and other obstructions that would severely affect views if they don’t pay up—one anonymous casino operator told the Post that the company is “literally shaking people down” for the additional fees, which doesn’t make sense for “public event that is taking place in the streets.”
Other sources cited by the Post indicated that reps working directly with Renee Wilm, the CEO of the race and chief legal officer for Liberty, have even gone so far as to threaten to shine lights toward non-paying viewing areas.
After the Post report was released, an F1 spokesperson confirmed to the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the company had indeed sent the letters, and noted that it is standard practice for its other races.
However, even though F1 may charge similar fees for street-style races in Monaco, Miami and elsewhere, the business owners in Las Vegas want to bring in a whole new audience of wealthy race fans who will return multiple times per year, not just for the race. As such, the initial reaction to Liberty’s alleged shakedown is a sense of fear that patrons will be turned off by the exorbitant prices, which already exceed $10,000 for tickets, lodging and food in most cases.
An anonymous source told the Post that most operators feel shafted in the sense that Strip properties cost billions of dollars to begin with, plus the race will shut down the Strip itself—when you ask for extra fees on top of that, it’s easy to see why some might get a little testy.
One venue reportedly told Liberty in recent days that it would not be paying for the licensing, and in response the company has allegedly asked its race sponsors—many of whom are fellow casino operators and suppliers—to apply extra pressure to the situation.
As far as the Post and its sources could tell, Liberty has not broken the law by requesting the fees, but it doesn’t exactly engender goodwill. The company declined to comment to the newspaper.
