It’s been over two months and the highly talked about and controversial Las Vegas GP still divides opinion. The race became the most anticipated event on the calendar after its announcement and even during the build-up. However, it was the 9-month long prep for the race and the race weekend itself that divided the opinion with more than 50% of locals excited about the upcoming events but local businesses asking for compensation.

The divide is mainly due to the race affecting these select groups of individuals differently. There were fans whose daily lives were uprooted by the construction on the strip, affecting the daily commute for many. The construction and the race weekend also greatly affected some of the local businesses, setting them back around $25 million combined. However, the overall spectacle of Formula 1 was still appealing to the fans. So let’s look at how the centerpiece of the 2023 season is currently affecting the locals.

Why are local businesses asking for a $25 million compensation because of the Las Vegas GP?

The idea behind the compensation from the local business owners is that the closing off the road in and around the strip where these businesses are located hampered the business severely throughout the Las Vegas GP preparation process. Locals could not access these businesses and some suggest their regular customers also changed preferences because of the extended construction period.

Seven businesses and a condominium complex are meeting with Formula 1 and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) to ask for a combined compensation of $23-25 million.

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“Battistas, Stagedoor about 4 to 5 million, Jay’s Market 4 to 5 million, Ellis Island I think upwards of 9 million, Geno at Ferraro’s restaurant 3 to 4 million,” is the ask from some businesses revealed a community representative Lisa Mayo-DeRiso.

According to Randy Markin, owner of Battista’s Hole in the Wall restaurant, the meetings are going well. He added, “We went through some numbers, some problems. They realize that things went south, and we’re going to try to work together to fix this year and make changes so for the next nine years, we don’t see the same problems.”

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These are the businesses that suffered because they are located on the strip. Whereas some businesses witnessed unparalleled revenues because of the race weekend. Perhaps this is why more than 50% of the locals are excited about future events.

Locals express their excitement for the future races

From an overall perspective, the race was an economic success for the city of Vegas. It attracted fans in hundreds of thousands to the city during a usually quiet weekend of the year. The LVCVA conducted a survey with a sample size of 6000 residents and asked if they would want F1 to return to the city for the next nine years. 52.8% of them voted yes.

A Grand Prix representative also highlighted the massive economic impact because of the race weekend. “Such an extreme economic impact to the valley on a weekend that was historically not as popular for destination here,” said the representative.

They also revealed the race brought 145,000 unique visitors to Vegas, with every fan spending $4,000 on average, 3.6 times more than a typical Vegas tourist.

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Adverse impacts on two different sectors of people. However, keeping in mind the construction time will be reduced from 9 to 3 months for all future events, everyone should be on board with the future races. However, if the affected local businesses do not get their demanded compensation, we might be in for some drama.