- Officials from the Founding Partners—including Caesars Entertainment, MGM Resorts and Wynn Resorts—have attended several Grands Prix this year in order to learn more about Formula 1.
- Formula 1 and Las Vegas have an initial three-year deal but the infrastructure and investment means both sides are regarding the Grand Prix as a long-term project.
- The pits and paddock complex—off East Harmon Avenue and Koval Lane—is now over 85% complete ahead of the Nov. 16-18 race weekend in Las Vegas.
Formula 1’s Las Vegas Grand Prix will be the biggest event in the world in 2023, according to the senior officials involved in the creation of the Grand Prix.
This Friday (August 18) marks three months to go until the Saturday night race around the streets of Las Vegas, in which Formula 1 drivers will speed down a section of the famous Strip.
Extensive work has been ongoing in Las Vegas in recent months, including repaving the public routes that will comprise the track, while the permanent bespoke pits and paddock complex—off East Harmon Avenue and Koval Lane—is now over 85% complete.
“We need to be ready so that we can offer people something special in November,” said Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali during an event at Silverstone last month.
It has been a Grand Prix several years in the making, with Steve Hill, CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority which is one of the Founding Partners, first discussing the matter seriously with Domenicali’s predecessor Chase Carey in 2019.
“He came to Vegas and said we’re interested in doing this,” said Hill. “I was interested—I wasn’t disinterested—and then they reached back out during the pandemic.”
Domenicali quipped that some in Las Vegas must have thought he was “under the effect of a good glass of wine” when the plans that came to fruition were eventually officially proposed, with Hill concurring that “we thought he was a little crazy, but we’re a little crazy too.”
“I started to watch Drive to Survive as kind of homework, I felt like I needed to learn more about this sport,” said Hill. “I saw what was there and thought ‘wow this is something.’ I went to Austin in 2021, and you see what that does (as a Grand Prix), it overwhelms Austin, it’s crazy, and it’s out in a field and it’s still such a big event. You see it there and see what that can be to Las Vegas and you think this is going to be something.”
Hill and key figures from the Founding Partners—including Caesars Entertainment, MGM Resorts and Wynn Resorts—have attended several Grands Prix this year in order to learn more about Formula 1. Hill said other promoters have been “exceptionally helpful” in supplying advice, recognizing that a successful Las Vegas debut will elevate every event.
“Our hope and expectation is we set the new standard for the fan experience,” said Sean McBurney, regional vice president Caesars Palace.
They have also attempted to assuage fears that the event is only being targeted at the super-wealthy.
“There’s different levels of hospitality in Vegas, there’s entry-level, mid-tier, luxury, there’s a place for everyone, and everyone is welcome,” said Brian Gullbrants, chief operating officer for Wynn Resorts. “With respect to tickets, F1 has stepped up and has added different levels. It is expensive, but the demand is greater than we’ve seen for any event ever, so it is supply and demand.”
Hill added that the Grand Prix “is going to be the biggest event in the world in 2023” and that the short-term pain of disruption to the city will be beneficial in the long run.
“We have done most of the paving; the entire circuit has all the initial asphalt lifts laid,” said Hill. “When that paving was happening in front of the properties that was pretty disruptive, but it was pretty short, they did sections, so for a couple of weeks it was painful, and it’ll last five or 10 years.
“We’re building a bridge over the circuit right now, over one of our main highways, to make sure we have access to the hotels, it’s a spectacular undertaking. It’s going to get better every year.”
The initial work has required additional investment in recent months from Formula 1, which is self-promoting the Grand Prix in conjunction with the Founding Partners and local authorities, when extra costs were discovered.
“There were cables under the ground that needed to be addressed, there have been wires overhead that have needed to be moved,” said Las Vegas Grand Prix CEO Renee Wilm during a Liberty Media investor call this month.
“We’ve also encountered some additional requests from the local stakeholders such as the casino properties, around enhanced security, around opening and closing the track. This has led to additional equipment that was needed, as well as additional actual road work.
“The paddock building is being built at lightning speed in an inflationary environment, so as you can imagine, there have also been some additional costs along the way in that regard.”
Formula 1 has invested heavily in Las Vegas’ Grand Prix, purchasing the land on which the pits/paddock and first section of circuit is located, and will utilize the facility outside of the grand prix weekend. This could involve elements such as karting, high-end supercar events, trade shows, Super Bowl parties—with Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium the host of next February’s showpiece—and other corporate and entertainment gatherings around business, music and sports.
Formula 1 and Las Vegas have an initial three-year deal but the infrastructure and investment means both sides are regarding the Grand Prix as a long-term project. Earlier this year Clark County approved legislation that would allow the Las Vegas Grand Prix to run the week prior Thanksgiving through 2032. Attention is already turning to 2024—when the race will be on November 23—before the first event has even taken place.
“This year has been a year of building—the track, the construction, a lot of interruption for people,” said Hill. “Next year we’ll be able to focus on the guest experience and how to better move people around the city, and improve it overall.”
Liberty Media president and CEO Greg Maffei (L) and Las Vegas Grand Prix Inc. CEO Renee Wilm check in on the progress of the Las Vegas circuit.
Liberty Media President Greg Maffei, speaking during this month’s investor call, spoke of “opportunities, both around the grand prix and outside of the grand prix” into 2024.
“We moved with lightning speed, the F1 team, Renee’s team, to put this in place,” said Maffei.
“That’s probably led to increased costs (for 2023), and it’s also meant that there are opportunities we had to not capitalize on, whether it be fan festivals, whether it be sporting events, whether it be music events. All of those are things that potentially can grow around the second—and beyond—GP.”
The next few months will nevertheless be busy for those in Las Vegas.
“You’re not going to have a bigger event in Las Vegas than F1,” said Hill. “We have Super Bowl three months after Formula 1—Super Bowl from an execution point of view is easier because it’s all built. But there’s still a lot to do. Most cities don’t try and pull off both those in that period of time.
“There’s a lot going on in Las Vegas but Formula 1 will stand out.”
The 2023 F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix circuit incorporates the Las Vegas Strip.
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