F1: Miami GP Expected To Generate More Money For South Florida Than A Super Bowl

About 300,000 people from all over the world are expected in town for next weekend’s Miami GP and organizers say some of them will start arriving by the end of the week.  Not just in Miami but also in Fort Lauderdale because the GP circuit is actually about as close to Fort Lauderdale as it is to Miami Beach.

CBS Miami’s Ashley Dyer reports that Visit Lauderdale is gearing up for the race with scheduled events starting next week. They’re expecting Formula 1 to bring in at least $50,000,000 to Broward County.

These projections mean, the race could be an even bigger moneymaker than the Super Bowl.

“It’s the hottest ticket I’ve ever seen in South Florida,” says Mike Sophia, Vice President of Sports & Entertainment with Visit Lauderdale.

This close to the event, it’s just about impossible to get a ticket without spending a fortune, but Mike Sophia said that won’t stop people from coming.

“People who don’t have tickets are going to come just to be a part of the experience,” he said.

At Las Olas Oceanside Park in Ft Lauderdale, Alfa Romeo will be sponsoring free events happening all day long from May 6th-8th.

“Anyone staying here for the race can come down here and experience it. Anyone who doesn’t have tickets for the race can come out and get a feel for formula 1,” said Sophia.

In Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, hotels are filling up and some of the most popular restaurants are sold out.

“All of our businesses really wrap their arms around the event and the visitors and try to capitalize on the whole experience,” explains Sophia.

And talk about an experience, how about watching the race from a yacht? Playing off the infamous Monaco Grand Prix, Pier Sixty-Six South will host a rendezvous for superyacht owners to anchor and watch the race from the marina.

Sophia said, “We consider ourselves the yachting capital of the world so for them to come experience Formula 1 in that way is going to be fantastic.”

Restaurants and businesses will be booming and Sophia says they’re already brainstorming how to make the events bigger and better over the next 10 years of the Grand Prix contract.