A little more than a week ago, some of the fastest cars in the world sped down the Las Vegas Strip.
The Las Vegas Grand Prix, which locals who worked the Strip had grown to despise, suddenly seemed made for this city.
Held at night, the images of those cars racing 200 mph around the Sphere and the glitter of Las Vegas Boulevard was a made-for-TV spectacle — and a major advertisement for the city.
And we’ll find out soon enough if predictions of $1.2 to $1.7 billion in revenue for Clark County came true. Casino operators have already said it was a major success for their industry.
But some businesses who rely on tourism were hit hard because of the way the course was set up and the eight months of disruptions that went into preparations.
So, in the end, was F1 worth it?
Many local businesses on and near the Strip were affected because of the race course and its construction. One of the oldest establishments on near the Strip is Stage Door Casino and the adjacent Battista's Hole In The Wall Italian restaurant, on the corner of Linq Lane and East Flamingo Road.
Owner Randy Markin said all his businesses took a big hit.
"Our casino bar area is down over a million dollars," said Markin. "Our gift shop liquor store convenience store is down over a million and a half dollars. Batista’s is down over a million and a half dollars. The really tough part about this is between the two businesses, we have a little over 100 employees and most of them are tipped employees. So out of the blue, for the last 6 to 8 months, their tips have gone down 30-40%. All these people have mortgages, car payments and bills; it's just horrible what has happened to them.”
On the intersection of Koval and Flamingo, a bridge was constructed to improve traffic flow, but more importantly to allow the race circuit to go through Koval.
On the days of the race though, traffic on the bridge, below, and on its sides was heavily congested. Access to businesses below was also extremely limited and the amount of cars passing by was significantly lower compared to when the bridge wasn't there.
Wade Bohn is owner and manager of the Shell Gas Station and Convenience Store at that corner, and he said low sales over the months of Formula 1's construction led to layoffs.
"I used to do three to 5,000 gallons a day," said Bohn. "I now 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. If they leave that bridge up there, there's no way I can afford my rent, and we will have to close up."
Did Clark County, Formula 1, and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority expect this type of impact? If they did, did they warn local businesses and residents about this?
Reporter for the Nevada Independent, Jacob Solis, said officials were hasty in their decision to greenlight Formula 1 in Las Vegas.
"Based on discussions that the Clark County Commission had this summer, there was some sense that things happened quite quickly in this first year without a super clear sense of how local businesses were going to get impacted," said Solis. "By the time we got to June and people were already a couple of months into these road closures, there were a lot of concerns that were brought to the county commission."
Solis said things just ultimately carried on.
"By the time we got to the race, there was a sense from some commissioners that this was as good as it was going to get, but that next year they were going to have to really dig into what happened, so that some of these problems can be addressed in year two."
Clark County and Formula 1 are in a tentative partnership to continue the race in Las Vegas for at least three years, and at most, ten.
Author and motorsport history expert and enthusiast, Randall Cannon said even though he wasn't at the race, it still far exceeded his expectations.
"It was a visually stunning spectacle as a television event," said Markin. "Everyone knows the picture postcard view of the Las Vegas resort corridor illuminated at night, but to be able to see the cars speeding down it at 200 miles an hour; it was unlike anything I've ever seen. The first Formula 1 night race I ever saw on TV was the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix about 10 years ago, and I thought it was like watching a video game. The Las Vegas Grand Prix was like watching the best video game ever."
"I think it was worth it," Markin continued. "I went in something of a skeptic, but the numbers will bear themselves out. I think county and state governments will make their adjustments and take better care of the ancillary businesses around the resort quarter."
Markin also said it reminded him of another instance where Formula 1 hosted their races in a city where residents and officials were unsure if it was going to be a worthy investment.
"This reminds me of the start of the Long Beach Grand Prix over 50 years ago," said Markin. "That city had to make gut-wrenching decisions, but the Long Beach Grand Prix has run 50 years since and became a remaking of that downtown."
Guests: Randall Cannon, author; Jacob Solis, reporter, The Nevada Independent
