A half-billion dollars — and more than eight months of road closures, construction and pavings — later, the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix has come and gone.
The November 16-18 races brought some 300,000 people to the Strip. Official numbers aren’t yet available, and estimates have been varied. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority said the three-day event could generate $1.2 billion.
But in the shadow of the super-powered cars, screaming fans and flashing lights are local businesses within the race imprint that encountered financial headwinds through the preparation and execution of the races. During Saturday’s main-event race, and for three days after, I took the Las Vegas Monorail and strolled in and around the Strip to places where F1 construction impacted local businesses the most.
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My first stop: 40-plus-year-old Battista’s Hole in The Wall Italian restaurant, located on the corner of Linq Lane and East Flamingo Road. Owner Randy Markin also owns the adjacent Stage Door casino, which features a bar and a convenience store. All his businesses took a big hit, according to Markin.
He says, “Our casino bar area is down over a million dollars. Our gift shop liquor store convenience store is down over a million and a half dollars. And Battista’s is down over a million and a half dollars. And the really tough part about this is, between the two businesses, we have a little over 100 employees. Most of them are tipped employees. So out of the blue … for the last 678 months, their tips have gone down 30-40 percent. All these people, they've got mortgages and car payments and bills. And it's just horrible what has happened to all our employees.”
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I continued east on Flamingo Road towards Koval Lane, where a new bridge allows the race circuit to go through the intersection.
President of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Steve Hill said earlier this month that traffic has improved because of the bridge, and it should be made permanent.
However, on the day of the race, congestion frequently stalled movement on and below the bridge, and access to businesses below was heavily restricted.
Shell gas station owner Wade Bohn resorted to layoffs because of low sales. Bohn says, “I used to do three-5,000 gallons a day. I barely hit 1,000 gallons, probably four times a month and everything else is under 1,000 gallons. In-store sales are down roughly 80%. I had 12 employees; I now have five.”
As you can imagine, Bohn is no fan of the bridge.
He says, “If they leave that bridge up there, there's no way I can afford my rent, and we will have to close up. There's nobody that will be able to operate this, if that bridge is there, when all the traffic bypasses my store, other stores.”
Catty-corner to the Shell station is Las Vegas Souvenirs & Gifts. Acting Manager Hoshang Raj said their sales are 70% lower than usual for the year, and when I asked him how Formula 1 compared to other big Vegas events like New Year’s, he said he thinks Formula 1 is the worst of them all.
Raj says,” Last time I checked, we didn't have to go through construction for New Year's, or the NFL, or when they were doing drafts. Now the NFL is going to come here next year. I don't think we have to do major construction because we already have a stadium. But here we have to build a whole track, block out the roads. And let's just say not treat the local business as well.”
Unlike local businesses, casino properties are singing a brighter tune when it comes to the financial impact of Formula 1. Some have reported no hotel vacancies during the event, and that visitation equaled a typical New Year’s weekend.
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The bridge affected other businesses on East Flamingo, which was often closed due to construction for the event. Jjanga Sushi and Oyster Bar manager Mike Shoro says revenue fluctuated for months ahead of the event.
Shoro says, “Right as they were installing the bridge, it was kind of fascinating. We actually saw a brief bump in business for a week or so while they were building that bridge, because people had nowhere else to go.”
A lot of this business fluctuation was due to access. Jjanga’s employees and customers had significant trouble getting to and from the restaurant at one point, Shoro says. “The initial construction project did not have a lane for us, for anyone to get into our parking lot. They had to do a little bit of maneuvering, like literally open up a lane on Flamingo, just to get to and from our plaza. Mind you this was about one day or so you know.”
But what about the businesses that normally rely on foot traffic? Did they have it much easier? Not really. Carolyn, who declined to give her last name, is a manager at a non-casino bar on the Strip that she asked us not to name. She said the bar saw slower business, and her employees experienced cut hours and longer commutes — for months.
Carolyn says, “Most people are giving themselves a little bit of extra time, some two, three hours extra. So that takes away from family time. As far as staffing, yes, it's been very slow. So, unfortunately, we've had to cut back on staff, which impacts their livelihoods and family time.”
She wasn’t the only one with this experience. Joana, another bar worker in the immediate area, who preferred not to give her last name, saw the same negative effects of the monthslong project.
Joana says, “Sales-wise, it's just fewer customers, because there's a lot of blocked up areas, so people don't know where to go. Or sometimes they don't even know that some stores are open. And then when it comes to traffic, it definitely added about 20 minutes to my commute. I know some of my coworkers have to leave an hour earlier even when it would [normally] take like 15-20 minutes.”
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At this point, you might ask: Have Clark County, Formula 1 and/or the LVCVA addressed the concerns of affected local businesses?
Greg Maffei, President, and CEO of F1’s parent company, Liberty Media, has publicly apologized, though he also claimed the event would ultimately bring $1.7 billion of revenue to the area, and that things would be less challenging in future editions.
The LVCVA’s Steve Hill also has said things should go better next year. And Clark County, which has jurisdiction over the race footprint and affected areas, did not respond to media queries before our deadline.
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The Clark County Commission and Formula 1 have entered into a tentative partnership to extend the Grand Prix in Las Vegas for at least three years, and up to 10 at most.
So, you can say Las Vegas is potentially taking a bet on F1.
And so are the hundreds of thousands of visitors coming for the event — like John Epstein, from New Jersey, who had enough interest in F1 to justify the trip.
Epstein says, “Don't know if I can afford to do it every year, but I could definitely see coming back for the race. It's been a good time.”
I asked John to step into the shoes of locals who have aired their grievances with F1 and local government officials for months.
Does he empathize with them?
Epstein says, “It’s always a difficult thing. I mean, I come from New Jersey, where there's a ton of traffic and everything's a nightmare getting from point A to point B. So, I do sympathize. I mean, I guess the hope is that short-term pain for long term gain, but I know traffic and construction is a nightmare. But hopefully it'll be worth it in the end for them.”
As for the locals themselves? Their feelings on the future of the race in Las Vegas run the gamut.
Shoro says, “Yeah, we’ll see if it lasts 10 years. I guess we’ll find out right? You ask anybody in town, I don’t think anyone really knew what to expect. Just ’cause this was an entirely new thing for us, an entirely new thing for the United States.”
“I’m optimistic, maybe next year it’ll be okay. Maybe … we’ll see, we’ll see,” Joana says.
Bohn says, “Vegas doesn’t need F1; F1 needs Vegas. The best case scenario is to build a track outside the resort corridor.”
Markin adds, “We all got fooled. But F1 has to get more involved with the community. If we would have seen that type of attitude, that they realized things went a little haywire and they cared about the community, that would have meant a lot.”
