F1 News: Over-priced Las Vegas F1 room rates cut in half

Over-priced tickets for the Las Vegas F1 Grand Prix are not selling as well this time around, and hotel rates are about half what they were in 2023, according to MGM officials.

“It’s off to a soft start as compared to bookings last year when we had a lot of advance pre-bookings,” MGM Chief Executive Officer Bill Hornbuckle said Wednesday.

“It doesn’t feel soft in gaming, which is the most important piece — or one of the more important pieces. It just does in room rates at the big three, meaning in this case ARIA, Cosmo and Bellagio,” he said. And that could spell a big difference for MGM Resorts International and other Strip hotels when F1 runs its second race this November.

Corey Sanders, Chief Operating Officer for MGM, said, “We’ve heard from other markets. It’s fairly consistent. Year one, there’s a lot of hype for it. This will be a good weekend for us compared to an average normal weekend. Just in comparison to F1 last year, it was so substantial, especially on the rates at the luxury properties.”

“Last year I think we did an amazing job scaring the hell out of people in terms of traffic. During the actual event, it was fascinating. There was no traffic,” Hornbuckle said. The build-up to F1 this year is already mild in comparison.

Update for 2024 Race

Las Vegas Grand Prix officials are expected to provide an update to Clark County officials next week for this year’s race — a necessary step toward getting a special events permit for the November event.

At Tuesday’s Clark County Commission meeting, Grand Prix officials will provide insight into the planning of this year’s race, including some traffic aspects, but the full traffic report isn’t slated to be made publicly available until later in August, according to county spokeswoman Jennifer Cooper. Infrastructure work tied to this year’s race is slated to begin sometime in September.

The item is tied to the Las Vegas Grand Prix and the special events permit they must obtain from the Clark County Public Works Department in order to host the event, Cooper said.

“This is separate from the road work in the lead-up to the race,” Cooper said in an email Wednesday. “It is expected that LVGP will touch on the proposed traffic impacts and how they plan to communicate to the public during Tuesday’s item.”

“The Las Vegas Grand Prix team has been diligently working with Clark County leaders, public safety officials, and resort and tourism partners to plan for the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix,” Lori Nelson-Kraft, senior vice president of corporate affairs for Las Vegas Grand Prix, Inc. said in a statement.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) announced Monday a new partnership between the official marketing organization of Southern Nevada and F1. This is different than the ongoing $19.5 million sponsorship the LVCVA board of directors approved in 2022 to hold annual grand prix races through 2025.

The new deal allows the Las Vegas brand to be advertised on and around the track, internet, hospitality suites, and fan activations of other F1 races around the world. A press release said it will last 18 months – through the end of the 2025 season – for a total of 15 races that will “demonstrate the synergies between the world’s most exhilarating sport and the world’s most electrifying destination.”

In total, LVCVA is paying $12 million, equivalent to $800,000 per race for the partnership. A majority of the 2024 and 2025 F1 calendar show races held outside of the U.S.

Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman doubles as an LVCVA board member, who says business activity in her city was “off by 35%” during the restriction of the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix. She adds that no one alerted her to the new and “major” expenditure, including the authority’s President and CEO Steve Hill.

“I learned it when it was announced,” Goodman said in her Downtown Las Vegas office Wednesday morning. “A price and how they arrived at it is something, again, that we on the general board, at least for me, has not been shared.”

An LVCVA representative explained to 8 News Now Wednesday that the partnership was within the already approved marketing budget, hence the lack of board action. The 2024-2025 budget approved by the board in May lists $13 million in operating expenditures for Formula One without detailing specifically how it would be used.

Mayor and Board Member Goodman believes “any exposure we can get is wonderful” but is at odds with why specificity was not detailed to her.

“I’m not called for my opinion at all, which, to me, surprises me,” Goodman said. “As Mr. Hill has come in, more of the decisions are being made at the executive level and not so much the board level.”

“As a board member, do you approve of that?” 8 News Now Reporter Ryan Matthey asked.
“You know, I’m conflicted on that,” Goodman responded. “You have to believe in your leadership, that’s why you make a leader.”