Drew Green

I was in Las Vegas for the Formula 1 race this weekend, and the on-ground experience was very different from what you've read on social media. Here's a breakdown of my experience. 1. Las Vegas Was Packed All Weekend I stayed at The Wynn, and it was super busy. There were thousands of people on the casino floor at night, the top restaurants were booked out weeks in advance for dinner, and the Formula 1 pop-up shops were selling thousands of dollars in merch every hour. I also visited hotels like The Venetian, Caesars, etc., and they all seemed pretty busy, too. It felt like the major disconnect between what I was seeing online vs. reality on the ground was that F1 is a super expensive sport, and the top restaurants/hotels in Las Vegas benefitted much more than normal spots. As for the race, FP1 was the least attended session, and it sucked that people only got to see nine minutes of racing. But I've been to FP1 in Monza, Miami, etc., and it was still fuller in Vegas than any of those places. The start-finish was standing room only all weekend. And 315,000 fans in attendance puts Vegas as the 7th most-attended race this year, significantly higher than many European circuits that average 200,000+ fans. 2. F1 Needs To Stop Pricing Out Fans And Locals My biggest complaint about the weekend is that Formula 1 continues to price out real fans and locals. For example, I met people from New York, Florida, Europe, and even Dubai, but there weren't many people from Las Vegas. And with the average three-day ticket costing more than $1,600, Las Vegas was *by far* the most expensive race on the 2023 F1 calendar. 2023 Average F1 3-Day Ticket Prices • Hungary: $184 • Bahrain: $265 • Australia: $276 • Canada: $297 • Austria: $313 • Spain: $328 • Japan: $341 —————— • Miami: $1,113 • Las Vegas: $1,667 This sucks because 1) locals that had to deal with 6-12 months of road closures and traffic couldn't attend the race, and 2) it attracted a more corporate crowd to the race vs. fans that were passionate about the sport. Some of this can be blamed on the secondary ticket market, but I hope F1 keeps real fans in mind next year. 3. F1's New Permanent Pit Building Is Incredible Many people were skeptical about the Las Vegas Track — there was nothing truly unique about it other than the sphere lol — but the race turned out to be full of action, and the new pit building stole the show. For context, F1 paid $240 million for an empty 39-acre parking lot near the Las Vegas Strip last year. They then invested millions more, building a permanent, 4-story, 300,000-square-foot pit building. The entrance had a "black carpet" for celebrities. The food was world-class, and each team (and several brand partners) had big spaces to entertain guests. Miami also built a permanent paddock building this year, but the Las Vegas building is better IMO and it's instantly the nicest one anywhere in the world. 4. Liberty Media Deserves The Benefit Of The Doubt My biggest takeaway from the weekend is that there is a drastic difference between how F1 teams feel about Liberty Media compared to how fans feel about them. For example, I recorded a podcast with Jefferson Slack (Managing Director of the Aston Martin F1 Team), and he told me that he thinks Liberty Media saved the sport. His main point was that before Liberty Media took over, F1 was losing viewers, and teams were going bankrupt. But then Liberty Media did various things, like introducing the cost cap and partnering with Netflix, to make teams financially viable and bring in new fans. He called Liberty Media the best operator in sports. So, yes, some of the stuff at the Las Vegas Grand Prix was over the top and cringe. But Liberty Media continues to innovate — no other promoter on the planet would have invested $500 million on this race — and if you never cross the line to figure out what is acceptable, you'll never know where the line really is. So let's give Liberty Media the benefit of the doubt. The first Las Vegas Grand Prix was a success, and this race will only get better from here. ** If you enjoyed this breakdown, follow me @JoePompliano for more sports business content **