No commitment made
Commissioner Tick Segerblom has said that Clark County “never signed a contract” with Formula One for its November race in Las Vegas.
we never committed to three years, to my knowledge”
Speaking Thursday with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Segerblom said: “It turns out we never signed a contract — that was all with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA). So everybody keeps saying that we’ve got three years. We never committed to three years, to my knowledge.”
Segerblom had intended to bring the issue up at a Tuesday meeting with the Board of Clark County Commissioners, but a Clark County spokeswoman has said it will be heard at a future meeting.
Each year until 2025, the LVCVA pays $6.5m to put on the F1 race with Liberty Media, the parent company of the F1. Notably, while Clark County approved the racing event for at least ten years, officials didn’t contractually agree for it to take place each year.
Lack of communication?
For the first race to go ahead, Formula One asked Clark County to pay half of the $80m to get the 3.8-mile race track ready.
F1 will have to take on the full brunt of the cost
However, it remains to be seen whether the county will pay the $40m. F1 has already paid the money for the infrastructure work, so if Clark County doesn’t pony up the rest, F1 will have to take on the full brunt of the cost.
Speaking on the matter, Segerblom said: “We haven’t agreed to anything.”
Even though they had to approve many of the plans, county commissioners feel as though they’ve been the last to find out what’s going on. Yet, according to Betsy Fretwell, Chief Operating Officer for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, they have worked closely with county officials as they work toward the 2024 race.
Lost revenue
The November race will continue to remain a hot topic for all concerned. The main concern for local businesses is the potential loss of millions of dollars, similar to what they say happened in 2023. Last year, a group of nine businesses approached the LVCVA seeking reimbursement of an estimated $23m it claims to have lost in revenue.
The nine companies want the LVCVA to establish the recovery fund over claims that vehicular and foot traffic nosedived over six months because of multiple road closures and entrance blockages.
With businesses allegedly seeing a decline of over 50% in their usual revenue during the 2023 race, companies could continue to feel skeptical about the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix.