Las Vegas GP Unrest Shows Dark Underbelly of Sports Boom Town

It’s now been nearly two months since the Las Vegas Grand Prix. But local unrest is still palpable as the fallout from the much-debated Formula 1 event continues.

After months of traffic headaches, construction hassles, and a crashing ticket market, the race itself defied expectations and was ultimately a solid success on TV. But a group of local small businesses wants to recoup millions of dollars alleged to have been lost because of the race. 

A group of nine businesses asked the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority for the establishment of a recovery fund to reimburse for lost revenues from the November race. Those businesses claim to have lost an estimated $23 million in revenue.

“Imagine not changing anything about your product, how you market, your customer service, guest quality, nothing, and yet you watch your business drop 50% or more in a matter of months,” said Lisa Mayo-DeRiso, a business development specialist who represents the nine affected businesses. Those entities claim to have seen car and pedestrian traffic plummet over a six-month period due to various race-related road closures and block entrances. 

The LVCVA has not yet responded to the request. But the issue shows a darker side to what has been months of praise for Las Vegas’s rise as a sports industry boom town. That conflict could resurface next month with the city’s hosting of Super Bowl LVIII.

“How can our Las Vegas leadership allow local businesses to struggle and suffer for a three- or four-day event? Who profited? A few hotels? It doesn’t make sense,” wrote restaurant owner Gino Ferraro, who says he lost more than $2 million in revenue because of the F1 race, in a Las Vegas Review-Journal op-ed.

With construction for the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix set to begin in earnest this spring, the traffic and business issues are expected to quickly swell once again. In addition to the local business concerns, a prior class-action lawsuit in Clark County, Nev., concerning fan access to the Las Vegas Grand Prix practice sessions was recently transferred to federal court.