‘We are thrilled’: 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix was big economic driver

The economic impact of the second annual Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix was less than its first year but still proved to be a major economic boon for the city, an analysis commissioned by F1 said.

According to an after-event report obtained Tuesday by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the estimated economic impact of the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix was $934 million. The report was created by financial consulting firm Applied Analysis. The aggregated amount includes overall visitor spending, investments made by F1 into infrastructure and event operations during 2024.

Grand prix weekend was the second-best weekend last year in terms of economic benefit, only trailing the Super Bowl’s $1 billion economic impact in February 2024.

The economic impact of the 2023 race was $1.5 billion, which included the $500 million F1’s parent company, Liberty Media, spent buying 39 acres and building its four-level pit building where Grand Prix Plaza stands on the northeast corner of the intersection of Harmon Avenue and Koval Lane.

The 2024 event drew an announced crowd of 306,000, with the race attracting 175,000 unique visitors to Las Vegas, Applied Analysis’ report stated.

“When we looked at all the visitor-related elements, or that number of people that came from out of town because the event was here, those numbers were actually higher than they were before,” said Jeremy Aguero, principal analyst with Applied Analysis.

The Las Vegas Grand Prix is outpacing the two other Formula One races in the U.S. in Miami and Austin, Texas, Aguero said.

Visitor habits

Cheaper room rates and lower ticket prices played a role in the growth in unique visitors for the 2024 race, Aguero said.

“It was a little more affordable to a greater market of people, so we had more folks going to just one day of the event than were attempting to go to three days of the event,” Aguero said. “You’d have one set of tickets where you’d have somebody coming on Friday, somebody would come on Saturday, and those would not be the same people.”

Visitors stayed 3.7 nights on average and spent over $2,400 each on non-race costs, including hotel, food and beverage, shopping, transportation, gambling and entertainment. The total does not include money spent on grand prix tickets, to reflect the direct economic impact of the race.

The room occupancy rate during F1 weekend was 87 percent in 2024, up from 80 percent during the 2023 event, Aguero said. He noted that not all resorts benefit from the race; revenues were lower for resorts that are not located within the 3.8-mile course running on Las Vegas Boulevard, Koval Lane and Harmon and Sands avenues.

Event-specific spending came in at $556 million, including $220 million spent by vendors and employees, with the remaining $378 million tied to spending on event infrastructure, operations and hosting.

“We are thrilled that the 2024 Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix race generated a local economic impact of $934 million, making it the largest recurring mega-event hosted in Southern Nevada,” Emily Prazer, Las Vegas Grand Prix president and CEO, said in a statement. “We sincerely appreciate Clark County, LVMPD, dozens of public and private organizations, and our local community, all of whom helped make race week in Las Vegas a success.”

There were 4,502 jobs tied to the event, 2,790 direct jobs and 1,712 indirect jobs, with $284 million paid out in local salaries and wages tied to the 2024 race.

“The event is obviously important for Las Vegas,” Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority President and CEO Steve Hill said. “The performance last year was higher than I guessed, and I probably didn’t think enough about the spending that Formula One has for the race. It’s one of the biggest events that we have in Las Vegas, and it clearly makes a difference.”

Community benefits

Event-related spending generated $45 million in tax revenues for state and local governments. That includes about $15-16 million for schools across the state, according to Aguero.

“It’s certainly the event that generates the most tax revenue by quite a lot for the ongoing events that we have, by multiples,” Hill said. “That revenue virtually touches every tax revenue source that we have, state government, local government, local entities and including us at the LVCVA and the (Las Vegas) Stadium Authority.”

Race officials donated over 170,000 pounds of food and beverage items to Three Square Food Bank and the Aftermarket. Additional donations were made to the Shine a Light Foundation, Veterans Village and Las Vegas Livestock. F1 also hosted 600 local middle school students during race week, providing a tour of the pit building, giving a real life look at jobs related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The report included economic impacts sourced to the race itself and the year-round development and promotion spending by F1 and the Las Vegas Grand Prix. Background data on race spending was obtained from over 5,000 attendee surveys, which were commissioned by F1 and were completed in the days following race weekend.

New deal

This year’s race will mark the final year of F1’s initial three-year deal with the LVCVA to host the race in Las Vegas. The two sides have had conversations about entering into a longer-term contract, with Hill hoping to have a new deal in place by the end of the year.

“The conversations have been positive, and I think over the next few months we’ll work toward that extension,” Hill said.

A new deal also could lead to further improvements to how the race is staged, as F1 would make infrastructure improvements that would help cut down on the amount of time it takes to set up and tear down the course and surrounding spectator areas.

“It was a much smoother experience in year two than it was in year one,” Hill said. “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. 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.”

F1’s Grand Prix Plaza is set to open to the public on March 29 at 4400 Koval Lane, offering an array of attractions for locals and visitors alike to experience. Having that building open on more of a year-round basis should bode well for further growing interest in the sport and adding another daytime attraction for the city, Hill said.

“It’s going to be fun,” Hill said. “We’ve added a number of daytime things to do over the last few years. The Sphere is at the top of that list, Grand Prix Plaza is going to be a real attraction, and there’s Area 15, where Universal (Studios) is coming. Those help really round out the experience that our visitors can have. … It will keep Formula One top of mind, and I think it will help grow the fan base in the Southwest.”

Having Grand Prix Plaza open outside of just race weekends also will contribute to the economic impact F1 will have on Las Vegas going forward, Aguero said.

“We’re clearly not capturing all of that in these estimates,” he said.

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