Donovan McNabb and the State of Football
Las Vegas wants its Formula 1 marriage to last.
The Clark County Commission has granted permission to stage the Las Vegas Grand Prix each year through 2032. F1 will make its first appearance in Sin City for decades this November.
- F1 has a three-year deal to race on the Las Vegas Strip, which ends in 2025.
- Clark County commissioner James Gibson said they “anticipate a lifetime in partnership.”
- The measure seeks to keep the F1 race in the same spot on the calendar, granting use of Las Vegas Boulevard South on “Wednesday to Sunday, the week prior to Thanksgiving.”
F1 is targeting $500 million in revenue for the race weekend. Hotels are also expecting a bonanza, with both race founding partners Wynn and Caesars each offering luxury packages costing at least $1 million.
FIA President Steps Back
The FIA, F1’s governing body, announced that its president Mohammed Ben Sulayem will no longer oversee the organization’s day-to-day operations but will remain in a strategic role.
Ben Sulayem has recently butted heads with many F1 teams over his openness to adding teams, particularly one headed by Andretti Global and Cadillac.
The FIA ruffled feathers with a declaration in December requiring drivers to receive permission to make or display “political, religious, and personal statements or comments” at races. F1 president Stefano Domenicali seemed to moderate that this week, saying F1 “will never put a gag on anyone.”
The FIA said that Ben Sulayem’s role shift has been planned for a long time.
