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The Las Vegas Grand Prix is officially part of the Formula One schedule until the 2037 season.
With more than US$500 million spent on establishing the event since it debuted in 2023, and with Formula One taking on promotional duties itself, the extension was a mere formality for the sport’s most commercially successful Grand Prix.
Organisers already had a deal to shut the city’s iconic strip until 2032 and Caesars Entertainment extended its contract as a founding partner until 2030 last year, even though the race was only officially on the calendar until 2027.
Even so, this ten-year extension is the longest commitment yet between Formula One and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) and shows the level of confidence that organisers now have in a race weekend which proved so controversial with fans, drivers and media in its inaugural year.
But growing pains were to be expected for an event of this scale taking place on the streets of Las Vegas. And, organisers have admitted that the hospitality-first mindset that informed the strategy for the first race was a misstep.
Now, with the foundation secure, Formula One wants the event to be the centrepiece of its global footprint.
Why Monaco is the inspiration
Comparisons between Las Vegas and Monaco are inevitable, so the principality was the natural choice to announce the extension. Both share a passion for glamour, extravagance and building street circuits that really shouldn’t work.
What became clear during the announcement was that Monaco is the blueprint for how Las Vegas wants to establish itself.
“Think about Monaco and Formula One and how the things have evolved together,” says Stefano Domenicali, president and chief executive of Formula One, tells journalists at a press event attended by SportsPro in Monte Carlo.
“That’s our wish, to have the same feeling with the Vegas community to embrace what we’re doing for the sport… but also the culture of Vegas and the culture of the American fans.”
Monaco has history on its side, though. The locals are accustomed to the Formula One circus descending on the streets of Monte Carlo. It will take time for the same sentiments to be shared by Las Vegas residents.
“You come to Monaco and marvel at what they do here,” says Steve Hill, president and chief executive of the LVCVA.
“We thought it was hard to put a race on the streets of Las Vegas – wow, this is something. And they’ve learned that over the years, they’ve been able to invest in that over the years. We want to follow that model.”
Domenicali, Prazer and Hill were interviewed by F1 TV presenter Lawrence Barretto at the announcement event (Image credit: Las Vegas Grand Prix)
A unique model for a unique race
The Las Vegas Grand Prix is unique in that Formula One itself acts as the promoter, a huge strength for the race and indicative of the belief that the series has in the concept.
But it has taken plenty of trial and error to reach a point where Las Vegas can cast aspirational glances towards Monaco.
“Formula One came in not knowing what they didn’t know, in a very consolidated timeline, trying to do things that other racetracks hadn’t done before,” says Emily Prazer, president and chief executive of the Las Vegas Grand Prix and chief commercial officer of Formula One.
“We hadn’t been promoters, and there was an expectation that it was just going to happen and it didn’t just happen. It was a case of learning and I was relieved because I really believe in it.”
She adds: “We always knew the extension would happen, it’s just the reassurance that they actually now understand what we’re trying to do, because we’ve proven it. But the benefit of the relationships we have, they really push us to do better. Even [Clark] County, they’re teaching us as we go and I really respect that relationship.”
The naivety from the beginning is now gone, which now gives organisers the best chance to take advantage of the event’s burgeoning potential.
As for whether the model could be replicated elsewhere, Domenicali says “the answer is no”.
The ultimate destination racetrack
This is partly because the race is so different to anything else on the calendar. Whereas other races are confined to the track and the paddock, teams and partners take over every part of Vegas.
“One of the things I love about the Vegas race is that the entire destination feels like the racetrack,” Prazer explains. “So, whereas Austin or Miami you go to the track and then you go back to, say, South Beach for dinner, in Vegas you’re where the track is at all times.”
The volume and variety of activations possible at the race is why it has become so central to the sponsorship and marketing budgets of anyone associated with Formula One. Having seen how Vegas hosted the Super Bowl in 2024, the sport wants race week to be a landmark event comprising multiple elements.
“Last year we introduced the business summit, we had a golf tournament… we have the benefit of having incredible venues inside our track, the Sphere has its show during the day, you [can] go to [Las Vegas] Raiders games, we partner with VGK [Vegas Golden Knights] to do stuff around the hockey games,” outlines Prazer.
“At all times, there’s stuff going on, which I think is very unique. Even [in Monaco], you don’t have as much real estate for those partners to play with, so everybody’s out on yachts and it’s not as accessible. Vegas is so accessible to everyone which means those partnership dollars just keep coming.”
‘From an economic standpoint it’s the top week of the year’
Of course, finances are at the heart of this extension. Formula One is already the largest annual event in the city, with an economic impact of US$934 million in its second year. While this figure is lower than first year estimates of US$1.5 billion, it still represents a huge financial contribution.
Figures for the third race are yet to be released, but Hill expects the returns to bounce back.
“It really is just a dip, we’re down about seven per cent visitation [numbers] last year,” he explains. “I’m old enough to remember when they used to be business cycles – now we just have crises, and then we recover from crises and we have another crisis.”
Scheduling is also a factor. The race takes place during what used to be one of the slowest weeks of the year for the city.
“From an economic standpoint it’s probably the top week of the year,” Hill reveals. “When you have a Super Bowl in town, the Super Bowl is going to give it a run for its money. We have another marquee event or two that comes to town every year, and that week might give it a run for its money, but that’s where it is.”
Las Vegas hosted the National Football League’s (NFL) Super Bowl in 2024, and will do so again in 2029 (Image credit: Getty Images)
A year-round Formula One destination
But the sheer scale of Formula One’s investment means its ambitions extend beyond race week. Grand Prix Plaza, located within the 39-acre, multi-use complex that houses the pit building, is a year-round entertainment destination comprising karting, exhibitions, retail outlets and private event spaces. All of these generate revenue throughout the year and reinforce the idea of Las Vegas as a Formula One destination.
“It’s a significant [financial] contributor,” says Prazer. “We’re having a lot of success in the private event space. Vegas is built for conventions and we’re seeing the benefit of that.”
The next step is to maximise the capabilities of what is a sizeable area of land.
“We’ve got a blessing from Stefano [Domenicali] and Liberty to start thinking about what else we do on that piece of land year-round, there’s no immediate plan,” says Prazer.
“We’re still working through what all that looks like but, taking what we’ve done, do we want to start putting on Formula One festivals year-round? Do we want to do something around food? We don’t know the answer, but we have the opportunity to continue to grow.”
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