Long earlier than Formula One took over the coronary heart of the Strip, NASCAR dominated Las Vegas.
F1’s 3.9-mile circuit for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, which incorporates a greater than 1-mile stretch alongside the Strip, is non permanent exterior of the $500 million Grand Prix Plaza at the nook of Harmon Avenue and Koval Lane and will likely be passed by the holidays.
Miles away from the glitter of the Strip, the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and its 1.5-mile D-shaped oval monitor covers virtually 1,200 acres and contains smaller racing venues. The facility, which is used year-round for particular occasions, was constructed in 1996 by late on line casino homeowners Ralph Engelstad and Bill Bennett simply north of Nellis Air Force Base. It hosted its first NASCAR race in 1998 and now hosts two annual NASCAR Cup Series races.
Las Vegas-based gaming advisor Brendan Bussmann stated F1 and NASCAR serve totally different racing followers and customer segments, however each can co-exist in the desert as a part of the neighborhood’s ever-changing sports panorama.
“They can attract, in some cases, the same customer who just loves racing,” Bussmann stated.
Had Engelstand and Bennett “not taken a bet on NASCAR,” Bussmann stated it could be unlikely for Las Vegas to host its third F1 race this weekend, with others lined up over the subsequent decade.
“The NASCAR customer that we saw just a few weeks ago is completely different than what will be coming in for F1,” Bussmann stated. “But that is the beauty of Las Vegas. We can host it all.”
In addition to NASCAR races and different racing packages, the motor speedway attracts different occasions massive and small — from company gatherings to the three-day Electric Daisy Carnival, higher often called EDC, and that pulls greater than 100,000 attendees.
New speedway General Manager Patrick Lindsey was employed in March following the retirement of Chris Powell, who spent 26 years in the position.
He stated that for the location to succeed in the new sports ecosystem in Las Vegas, it needs to be extra than simply a racing venue.
“We don’t like to kind of pigeonhole ourselves into just being a motor sports complex,” stated Lindsey, who beforehand spent twenty years in sports administration, together with 9 years as govt director of Las Vegas’ PGA Tour occasion, the Shriners Children’s Open.
“We are an entertainment complex, and we are actually the largest entertainment complex in the city,” he stated.
The motor speedway is the third-oldest sports venue in Las Vegas, constructed after the 18,000-seat Thomas and Mack Center at UNLV in 1983 and the 19,000-seat MGM Grand Garden in 1993.
Since then, eight different sports and leisure venues of assorted sizes have arrived on the Las Vegas scene — from the 4,600-seat equestrian middle at the South Point Hotel and Casino to the 60,000-seat Allegiant Stadium. A ninth venue, a 33,000-fan capability Major League Baseball stadium on the Strip, is anticipated to open in April 2028.
Is it overkill?
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority CEO Steve Hill says no — the speedway hosts a whole lot of occasions and is a draw for conferences and company conferences, past NASCAR and EDC.
During massive commerce reveals and conventions akin to the Consumer Electronics Show, exhibitors and firms host prospects and staff for actions akin to taking “hot laps” round the monitor with a skilled driver at the wheel.
“A lot of groups coming to Las Vegas for meetings look for something fun to do, especially during trade shows and conferences,” Hill stated. “Given the breadth of venues and the different locations, they are a real benefit and complementary to everything we’re doing in Las Vegas. They’re part of the draw.”
Racing on the fringe of city
Engelstad and Bennett — each racing followers — received collectively and spent $72 million to remodel a dusty racetrack simply north of Nellis Air Force Base alongside Interstate 15 into a appropriate motorsports venue.
In 1998, the facility’s first NASCAR race drew 120,000 spectators and the consideration of North Carolina-based Speedway Motorsports Group, which paid Engelstad and Bennett $215 million to accumulate the facility.
A 2006 renovation decreased capability however upgraded the facility with improved parking and introduced new fan-friendly sights distinctive to NASCAR in Las Vegas, together with the interactive Neon Garage added to the infield behind pit row that gives spectators with an up-close view of the race vehicles and racing groups.
The speedway yearly hosts two nationally televised NASCAR races: the South Point 400, which Florida-native Denny Hamlin received final month, and the Pennzoil 400 in March. Each attracts greater than 60,000 followers to the grandstands and luxurious suites, in addition to a number of thousand inventory automobile racing fanatics who camp out in the infield.
Lindsey stated the National Hot Rod Association attracted 15,000 followers whereas the Bullring, a 3/8-mile paved oval monitor with seating for five,400, provides numerous racing varieties, together with inventory automobile occasions for locals. The speedway has additionally hosted every little thing from monster truck occasions and motocross to drifting races, the place drivers deliberately skid their vehicles sideways via a course.
“After three decades, we are still kind of on the edge of town. But the state has done an incredible job with our roadways, so we’re pretty easy to get to,” Lindsey stated. “Even our neighbors from the north. It’s very easy for Utah to come down here.”
Motor speedway management didn’t have an financial impression assertion for the 2024 races, although the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority stated the 2022 fall NASCAR race introduced in an estimated $138 million to the neighborhood.
The newer F1 race has made a greater splash. The Las Vegas Grand Prix arrives Thursday for 3 days of occasions, culminating with Saturday night time’s race with 50 laps, or almost 193 miles, round the circuit. Last 12 months’s occasion drew 175,000 guests to Las Vegas, lots of whom attended high-priced occasions round the Strip, and generated $934 million in Southern Nevada financial exercise, in keeping with monetary consulting agency Applied Analysis.
F1 proprietor Liberty Media developed the 300,000-square-foot Grand Prix Plaza to ascertain Las Vegas as the house of F1 in America. It opened to the common public between May and September with a number of race-themed interactive choices, together with a go-kart racing circuit alongside a portion of pit row and via the garages.
“We wanted to introduce the facility to all the major chambers [of commerce] and the various groups that come into town,” stated Lori Nelson Kraft, Las Vegas Grand Prix senior vice chairman of company affairs.
F1 and Speedway construct relationships with resorts
With a few exceptions, F1 and NASCAR have largely attracted totally different segments of racing followers.
Ellis Island Hotel & Casino, situated simply north of the Grand Prix’s fourth flip onto the Koval Lane straightaway, provided grandstand seating throughout the 2023 inaugural race. The property took 2024 off because it underwent a renovation and growth.
This week, the off-Strip on line casino is promoting tickets to a Grand Prix viewing get together inside the property’s Front Yard restaurant that features free entry to a new rooftop viewing platform.
Las Vegas neighborhood casinos have proven the telecast of the F1 race alongside school soccer video games in their sportsbooks.
However, the Strip’s high-end resort firms are by far the largest F1 race beneficiaries.
“You can look at our published room rates for the event and see that we are once again pricing at a significant premium to the market,” Wynn Resorts CEO Craig Billings stated on the firm’s third-quarter earnings name on Nov. 6. Wynn Las Vegas and Encore President Brian Gullbrants stated a three-night minimal throughout the race weekend is required and the firm purchased three further ticket blocks for purchasers.
“I think [the race] continues to pay dividends for not just us, but for the market,” Gullbrants stated.
For the third 12 months, MGM Resorts constructed the multilevel Bellagio Fountain Club alongside the Strip and in entrance of the resort’s fountains. Guests pay almost $9,400 to look at the race whereas eating on meals ready by Michelin-starred cooks. An upper-deck nightclub-like setting provides further views of the Strip.
Other on line casino firms view F1 and NASCAR otherwise.
Boyd Gaming CEO Keith Smith stated a year ago that F1 didn’t present any monetary profit to its properties. During an interview following the firm’s quarterly earnings in October, he stated that NASCAR is a higher match for the firm’s buyer base. Boyd’s Aliante Casino in North Las Vegas is 10 miles from the motor speedway.
“[F1 and NASCAR] are two completely different types of events. I think NASCAR appeals more to Middle America, which I think is far more our variety of customers,” Smith stated.
South Point General Manager Ryan Growney stated the resort’s relationship with the motor speedway extends past the multiyear race sponsorship settlement. Property proprietor Michael Gaughan’s son Brendan is a former NASCAR driver.
South Point signage is discovered round the oval and in different areas of the monitor. South Point additionally purchases NASCAR packages for purchasers and offers round-trip transportation to and from the speedway.
“Our property is committed to professional sports and the events that come to town. It just made sense for us to partner with the speedway,” Growney stated.
Sports venues develop in Las Vegas
Before the speedway opened, Las Vegas had simply two venues: Thomas & Mack and MGM Grand Garden. Both are nonetheless in use — Thomas & Mack is house to the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels basketball crew, and the MGM Grand Garden has hosted scores of sporting and different occasions.
After the motor speedway arrived, competitors for Las Vegas sports and leisure venues heated up. Mandalay Bay’s 12,000-seat Michelob Ultra Arena opened in 1999, together with the Strip resort. The 9,500-seat Orleans Arena opened at the off-Strip Orleans Hotel & Casino in 2003.
South Point added a 4,600-seat equestrian middle in 2005, whereas the 20,000-seat T-Mobile Arena opened in 2016. Howard Hughes Corp. constructed the 10,000-seat Las Vegas Ballpark in 2019. Foley Entertainment Group constructed the 5,600-seat Lee’s Family Forum in 2022.
The $1.9 billion Allegiant Stadium opened in 2020 throughout the pandemic and hosted its first Las Vegas Raiders video games with followers in attendance in 2021. The venue, partially supported by public financing in the type of a resort room tax, was additionally the host of Super Bowl LVIII in 2024 and is lined as much as host the championship recreation in 2029.
Along with the Grand Garden, two of the venues operated by MGM Resorts International have full-time tenants — the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces at Michelob Ultra and the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena.
MGM Executive Vice President of Entertainment Chris Baldizan stated vital variations in the three arenas’ capacities enchantment to promoters. “We’re able to host artists and events of all ranges.”
Athletics President Marc Badian, who oversaw the growth of Allegiant and is now in cost of constructing the baseball crew’s $2 billion stadium on the former Tropicana website, stated issues that newer venues would take away enterprise from different areas in Las Vegas have been unfounded.
“The opposite has happened. Concert promoters have brought more events to Las Vegas,” Badain stated. “This market had a lot more demand than the existing infrastructure could support. Instead of bypassing Las Vegas, it was much more economical for promoters to add shows here.”