While not always true, for some American F1 fans it would seem membership indeed does have its privileges.
Costco, a member only warehouse best known for being a place to buy large quantities of everything from toilet paper to jars of mayonnaise the size of small children all while handing out enough free samples to feed a family of five for a week, is also a place to buy things you didn’t know you need, but you end up wanting anyway.
Like passes to the F1 race at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas in October.
Recently Costco began offering its members passes to the F1 race for the “members only” price of $349. Now these passes won’t get you a seat, or into the paddock, but will allow you to wander the general admission areas on the grounds of the expansive course and hang out in some of the corners.
At a glance the Costco price would seem like a pretty good deal. A three-day F1 grounds pass on COTA’s site runs $475 and includes “Super Stage” lawn access for both concerts (The Killers on Friday night, Queen + Adam Lambert on Saturday night), which is what the Costco pass gets you.
But neither the COTA nor Costco pass includes parking which adds an extra $275.
The move has some wondering if perhaps the facility is having trouble selling tickets to the event. Last year, thanks in large part to a Netflix special, COTA sold out its October event “almost immediately” after they went on sale. And officials estimated that 440,000 tickets were sold for the entire weekend.
So, is this a desperate grasp by COTA to sell tickets, or simply a move jam as many fans as possible into the venue on race weekend perhaps to provide good optics for the TV cameras? We may never know.
All this comes after reports of outlandish pricing for the inaugural F1 Las Vegas GP the month following COTA including a $5 million package that includes such amenities as a private chef and spa days. There’s also the controversial news that race officials are charging Vegas clubs and restaurants $1,500 per person to host a viewing event, and telling business that if they don’t pay up, they will have their views of the race obstructed.
Liberty Media group, the owners of F1 may need all that cash as they recently admitted that the cost for the first race through the streets of Las Vegas is rising.
American F1 fans seem to have a choice: Become a member of Costco and get a grounds pass to COTA to stand outside shoulder to shoulder with thousands of other F1 fans, or plop down several million dollars on a Las Vegas experience complete with a “luxurious Qua Signature 24-karat Gold Facial.”
The Costco passes are “while supplies last” so you better hurry. Though if you are a Costco member but miss out on the F1 passes, at least you will be able to get a box of 72 waffles and a free lunch of samples.
I have been around and written about the sport of NASCAR for over three decades and previously worked fulltime for the Sporting News and Scripps-Howard News Service. I am also a contributor to two Chicken Soup for the Soul books including the NASCAR edition, published in 2010 and the author of “The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers’ Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing.” I am a multiple National Motorsports Press Association award winner. Early in life I spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community serving in support of Operation Just Cause, Desert Shield/Storm and ended my military career in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
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