F1: Ocean Prime to make several $million at Las Vegas GP

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Formula 1 is the premier form of motorsports in the world. With a TV audience of 70 million viewers worldwide per race, it attracts the best drivers, the best engineers, the biggest sponsors and the best businessmen in all of motorsports.

F1 is putting on a race in Las Vegas this November that will be the biggest motorsports event in the world.

Ever.

It’s projected to bring $1.2 billion into the Las Vegas economy annually – double that of the NFL Superbowl also coming to Nevada in 2024.

And Cameron Mitchell, CEO of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants is ready to cash in on the event.

The seafood/steakhouse chain Ocean Prime is opening a new location in Vegas this summer and has rented the place out for several million dollars for the F1 Las Vegas GP weekend, with a rooftop terrace that will overlook the 11th turn reports the Las Vegas Review Journal.

Opening in June ahead of the November race, Cameron Mitchell Restaurants is preparing to unveil the upscale seafood and steakhouse brand in June atop the development known as 63, a four-story complex at CityCenter on Harmon Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard.

“It’s a free-standing restaurant in arguably one of the busiest intersections in the United States, so it warrants the significant capital investment that we’re making into it,” CEO Cameron Mitchell said.

3.8-mile Las Vegas GP Circuit. Race will be 50 laps with top speeds in excess of 210 mph

The 400-plus-seat restaurant will span more than 14,500 square feet, with nearly 2,500 square feet of rooftop terrace seating.

“This is Vegas, right? You’ve gotta be a good restaurant just to compete,” Mitchell said. “This is not for the timid or for the meek, so you gotta do some things that separate you from the pack, that are whimsical. How many places pull a cart up to your table and say, ‘Would you care for a gin and tonic?’ You might not really want one, but you’ll take one when you see it.”

Ocean Prime is already rented out for three days during the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix, taking place Nov. 16-18.

He said the guests paid “millions” to have all-you-can-eat lunch and dinner access to the restaurant. Its rooftop terrace will be cleared out — going as far as removing its four decorative olive trees by crane — to make way for grandstands that can overlook the 11th turn of the racetrack.