Will F1’s Las Vegas Grand Prix continue past 2025?

Las Vegas Grand Prix’s top executive expressed confidence that a new deal will be struck to continue staging the race in Sin City past 2025.

This year marks the final year of the three-year deal signed between Formula One and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority to host the race each year the weekend before Thanksgiving.

Emily Prazer, CEO and president of the grand prix, said officials like where they sit after the first two years of the race and are eyeing a long relationship with Southern Nevada.

“We feel really comfortable. We know there’s opinions, but the operations and the delivery of the event is one of the best on the calendar,” Prazer said. “We’re also continuing to innovate and take feedback and listen and learn. Any new event takes time to establish itself. I think going into year three our confidence is a lot higher.”

Renewal talks started

In post-race reports compiled by analytics firm Applied Analysis and commissioned by F1, the positive economic impacts were estimated to be $1.5 billion in 2023 and $934 million in 2024. With the race turning one of historically slowest weekends of the year into one of the most lucrative, there is strong interest among all sides in continuing the event.

F1 also already begun preliminary talks with the LVCVA, in addition to leaders in the resort corridor, for what a new deal will look like, Prazer said.

“We’ve talked to each of the casinos and that’s been positive,” Prazer said. “Everybody is wanting to make it work, so I think we’ve turned a little bit of a corner, but I don’t want to get too ahead of myself and say it’s done, because it’s certainly not. But we’re feeling comfortable.”

LVCVA President and CEO Steve Hill has echoed similar sentiments, saying he hopes to have a longer-term deal in place, closer to 10 years, by the end of this year.

Race officials are continuing efforts to make navigating the setup, race weekend and teardown as smooth as possible on the Strip and surrounding areas. The race takes place on a 3.8-mile street circuit, mainly on public roads consisting of Las Vegas Boulevard, Koval Lane and Harmon and Sands avenues.

If a new deal is struck, that could lead to improvements in the staging of the race, Hill said. A longer-term relationship could result in F1 further investing in infrastructure that would reduce the time it takes to set up and take down race-related elements.

“There are ways that it can improve as we move forward, looking for ways to shorten the amount of time that setup and teardown takes,” Hill said. “When we can get to a longer-term deal, Formula One could do some things that are long-term investments that you can’t really do when you’re on a year-to-year basis. Some of the improvements that we can make going forward will be tied to making sure that we get to a longer-term deal.”

Learning experience

With two years of experience hosting the race in Las Vegas, grand prix officials have been fine-tuning various aspects, including improving the setup and teardown of the event’s infrastructure, lowering ticket prices and increasing their presence in the community, Prazer indicated.

“We’ve continued to reiterate that we’re very committed to the project,” she said. “We want to stay in Las Vegas for a long time and it’s just about ironing out some of the finer details.”

Improving local relations

F1 has hopes the addition of the Grand Prix Plaza, set to debut at the end of March, will bring more interest in the sport, both locally and with visitors.

“On the community side I think we’re making tons of progress,” Prazer said, noting the year-round plaza, “where we can actually give back on a daily basis, rather than just a three-day event.”

“We’re trying really hard to immerse ourselves in the community as much as possible and we think this gives us an amazing opportunity to do it,” she said.

Grand Prix Plaza includes the F1 pit building and surrounding area, located on the northeast corner of Harmon and Koval, and will feature interactive attractions, with both virtual racing and kart racing, food and beverage options and a retail store.

This year’s race, slated for Nov. 20-22, will start two hours earlier each night than it did in the previous two years. The new 8 p.m. start time, along with cheaper ticket options, is a result of race officials continuing to adjust operations to feedback, insights and experiences from prior races.

“Obviously what we were trying to appeal to was the biggest, broadest audience from a television perspective outside of the race destination,” Prazer said. “Actually, what we found is that the health and the safety of the guests and the drivers and teams is at the full front of our minds. … The reality is it’s all a big learning curve and hopefully it works and that it is more enjoyable for everyone and people can go back into the resorts quickly after the race and start enjoying everything Las Vegas has to offer.”

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.