Las Vegas Visitors Authority to Spend $19.5M Sponsoring F1 Races in Southern Nevada

Posted on: May 11, 2022, 07:49h. 

Last updated on: May 11, 2022, 03:04h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) has agreed to spend $19.5 million to sponsor the scheduled Formula One races to be held on the Strip in 2023, 2024, and 2025.

Las Vegas Formula One F1 Strip casino
An artist’s rendering of what the F1 race in Las Vegas on the Strip will look like in 2023. The agency tasked with marketing Las Vegas has agreed to spend $19.5 million over a three-year period to sponsor the Formula One Las Vegas circuit. (Image: F1)

The LVCVA board of directors yesterday signed off on the sponsorship spend with F1 owner/operator Liberty Dice Inc. The marketing pact, which comes to approximately $6.5 million per year, will allow the governmental agency tasked with promoting the casino destination for leisure and business to have a strong presence during the F1 races.

Formula 1 is such a phenomenon at this point. We think it’s going to be in Las Vegas permanently. Matching the brand of Formula 1 with Las Vegas is unbeatable, and those first three years are going to show it,” said Steve Hill, CEO of the LVCVA.

Announced in late March, the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix will race around a 3.8-mile track that loops around the Strip. The circuit passes landmarks such as the Bellagio Fountains, Caesars Palace, and the forthcoming MSG Sphere.

Value Received

Las Vegas tourism officials believe F1 will bring tens of thousands of new visitors to Southern Nevada during the annual race. The first Las Vegas Grand Prix is scheduled for November of next year.

Critically important is that the F1 races are expected to attract many international guests, as the international racing circuit is wildly popular in many of the world’s wealthiest countries and cities. F1’s premier events race in Monaco on the French Riviera, Italy’s Monza north of Milan, and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

F1’s biggest and wealthiest fans travel to great lengths to watch the races in person. The LVCVA believes Las Vegas’ first-class casinos, entertainment, restaurants, and retail shops will benefit from the well-to-do crowds coming to town.

“A strategic partnership between Liberty and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority to hold annual Formula 1 Grand Prix races in Las Vegas will bring thousands of Formula One fans to the destination, and further cement Las Vegas as the sports and entertainment capital of the world,” the LVCVA meeting agenda packet read this week prior to the board’s approval.

The LVCVA isn’t only sponsoring the F1 events but also helping in their planning. The tourism agency confirmed its intentions during yesterday’s board meeting to help Liberty gain needed land-use approvals and assist in the design and building of the circuit.

Track Specifics

With F1 Las Vegas officially moving forward, track details are becoming more concrete. Currently, the Las Vegas circuit will include just 14 turns. Only Monza and Austria have fewer.

With three healthy straights and several turns that are expected to be “high-speed turns,” Las Vegas will likely be one of the fastest circuits on the F1 schedule. According to simulations, cars will hit speeds upwards of 210 mph.

The highlight of the Las Vegas route is the one-and-a-quarter-mile straightaway down the Strip.

“Drivers will experience an assault on their senses as they blast past iconic hotels including The Venetian, Bellagio, and Caesars Palace,” wrote F1 correspondent Lawrence Barretto. “As they approach the Cosmopolitan, drivers will hit the brakes and get their machines slowed … before tackling the left turn [off of the Strip].”