F1: Las Vegas GP to make Liberty Media a lot of money
–by Mark Cipolloni–
After investing $500 million in the Las Vegas GP, Greg Maffei, the CEO of Liberty Media (pictured above), is confident Formula One will “make a good return on that investment and a lot of money” in the long term.
F1/Liberty Media has invested over half a billion dollars in the project, including buying the land and constructing a permanent paddock building in Las Vegas.
Speaking in a meeting with investors on Thursday, Maffei said Liberty Media, which owns F1, should have a goal to be “long-term greedy” with the Las Vegas race and focus on getting the experience right for all stakeholders in the first race.
“We’re going to have a high revenue stream, (and) we’re going to have a high-cost stream, but it’s more important that we have a great experience for everybody involved in the first year,” said Maffei.
“I think we will make a lot of money in Vegas over the long term. I’m very excited. I think we will make good money this year. But way more important than that is that we have a great experience, for our drivers, for our patrons, for our fans, for our viewers, for everybody involved. That’s the goal.”
Ticket Revenue
10 races that generate the highest ticket revenue
| Rank | Grand Prix | Average ticket cost for the weekend |
Estimated Attendance per day | Estimated Annual Ticket Revenue |
| 1 | USA Las Vegas | $6,975 | 105,000 | $732,375,000 |
| 2 | USA Miami | 4,235 | 85,000 | $359,975,000 |
| 3 | USA Austin | 3,333 | 143,000 | $476,619,000 |
| 4 | Azerbaijan | 3,382 | 30,000 | $101,460,000 |
| 5 | Saudi Arabian | 3,166 | 50,000 | $158,300,000 |
| 6 | Monaco | 3,186 | 50,000 | $159,300,000 |
| 7 | Abu Dhabi | 2,603 | 55,000 | $143,165,000 |
| 8 | Mexico City | 2,653 | 132,000 | $350,196,000 |
| 9 | Singapore | 2,456 | 100,000 | $245,600,000 |
| 10 | Canada | 2,334 | 112,000 | $261,408,000 |
But there are no concerns from F1 that the three American events will negatively impact each other or draw fans away. Maffei said each race would have “unique and distinctive” elements, while Stefano Domenicali, F1’s CEO, was confident they could benefit each other.
“I don’t see any kind of cannibalization,” said Domenicali. “Everyone is different; everything is different, events are different. I don’t see any problem there.”
Renee Wilm, the CEO of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, added there were regular discussions with officials in both Miami and Austin about how to work collaboratively.
“We’re talking about sharing resources. We’re talking about how we can leverage each other’s activations in terms of what’s working and what’s not,” said Wilm.
“We do believe that rising water raises all ships. That’s the intention, not to galvanize or cannibalize someone else to build something in Vegas.”