Who REALLY Made Money From F1 in Las Vegas? 

What did you think about F1's first year in Las Vegas?

The lies being told to convince us that F1 was a benefit is disgusting. Tripling the head count, using health care and education as a cover is sickening. ANY event that causes profit loss and layoffs of any kind should be unacceptable. Thank You Jacob for being a voice of the people and giving us unbiased facts, unlike the city commisioner and casino owners. Jacob should run for city council.

I’m a huge F1 fan and I was in Vegas two weeks after F1 for the yearly AWS event and was not impressed with Vegas as a city as a result. It was a mess getting between convention centers, so much F1 crap left everywhere. So much scaffolding, temporary buildings and construction blocking out so much, and just giving the city just an awful look. I ended up just sticking to the monorail between things, avoiding the main strip and just not going to other places that I normally probably would have gone to. Personally I’d be very happy with F1 not returning.

As a non race fan I think it kept a lot of tourists away

F1 hurt a ton of strip workers who ride the city busses. Many strip workers were forced to walk an extra two miles each way ( 4 miles a day) to work because of bus stops being closed for road work. This is on top of working 8 hour shifts, standing! Also many smaller restaurants and businesses had to layoff employees due to lack of business because of all the road work.

I agree with Z. I was in LV a month before and then a week after F1. If I wanted to see bleachers, I would go to my local high school football stadium. Seems to me, they are going to create a dead zone of time when tourists will avoid Las Vegas. One of my nongaming activities is to ride the Deuce to see what is happening on the strip and also to get downtown. Alot of the bus stops were closed. Many of the elevators and escalators were broke, maybe fix them instead of putting up fences on the bridges to protect the screening film. As to that, why block the view for months to protect F1 profits for one weekend. Doesn't make sense to diminish the LV experience for hundreds of thousands of tourists and inconvenience all the locals for months, just for one weekend.

The F1 obviously as a rich get richer the poor get poorer event. Thus, it hurt the smaller businesses, but helped the largest businesses.

I think the thing that I found most odd as a pretty regular Vegas tourist is that the Bellagio was able to hijack over 1/4 mile of sidewalk and two lanes of the southbound strip for over three months! No other property did that....why were they allowed to? And I assume they will do it for three months every year for the next 10??

I was in Vegas for the APA Nationals (Pool Tournament) in August. The commute was HELLISH due to F1 construction and I personally feel cheated as this was a trip planned ahead for months after qualifying for it. I am used to using city bus in Vegas as it is usually convenient and cheap, and I like that it is mobile integrated for schedules and payment. I waited an hour and a half one night for a bus back to Fremont from the Westgate. I personally don't believe this will ever be a net win for LV when all the other impacts are taken into account.

The entire concept seems beyond insane. The Strip is obviously the biggest draw in Vegas, why compromise that for 3-6 months of the year (or more) for one great weekend? And with the weekend itself being mediocre on the whole, it's just a disaster. As a tourist, I would not visit Vegas during that 3 month window. Even those tax benefits, I don't think they are reporting the opportunity cost of all the visitors that are going to avoid Vegas during the F1 prep periods. Hosting the Superbowl is obviously going to be great, and almost guaranteed to be worth any disruptions for couple weeks. If Vegas can't kick F1 out by next year, it seems like it's going to be bad three year contract (can't imagine that the seven year option is going to be exercised).

I had family come to visit from the Netherlands.. they were touring around America and of course Vegas was on the list. They are fun loving, energetic, and the types that are ready to do whatever as long as it’s fun. One of them had already been to Vegas before and he had a great time every single time before, the other one had never been, but had heard about it so much she couldn’t wait. But the F1 was about 2 weeks away when they visited.. it totally ruined Vegas for them. They said it was a mess, everything was blocked off, the traffic was a total nightmare… and everything was such a hassle that they gave up on exploring and enjoying Vegas because they said it just wasn’t worth the hassle. They ended up feeling very confined, the barriers everywhere were eye sores, and there was just no flow. They basically just finished the visit staying within the casino they stayed at and were so happy when it was time to leave for the next stop. I wasn’t there, but if it made the two most happy, fun loving people I know dislike Vegas it must have been a huge let down to others who were there as well. Plus, that was only during construction.. they weren’t staying for the race. So for all the hassle and the trouble they got, they really got nothing great to remember from a once in a life time trip to Vegas.. All the way from the Netherlands just to feel like a trapped rat.. kind of depressing.

My spouse is a bartender at the Linq and made less money (about half) during the F1 than an average "busy" day. She made just more than a standard weekend in the summer.

unless you were a tourist there specifically for F1, all the tourists hated this shit too. the construction is such an eyesore and an inconvenience for everyone else. worse for locals, but sucks for all tourists too.

You rock brother, thanks for the info.

Was looking forward to this video. If F1 was great, the companies would be screaming from the roof tops how successful F1 was to our community. The front house staff at MGM isn't happy.

Very informative & you nailed each every point! Love it! Thanks a lot!

The beginning of the video states the exact problem, and it isn't an F1 weekend thing, but this has been the pattern in Vegas for a while now. The dealer making an average income and the tourist making an average income is not who these big corporations (MGM, Ceasars, F1) care about. This weekend was about glitz and glamour, catering to the elite. It started with hockey, now the Raiders, F1 and the Superbowl...as we see basketball and baseball teams enter Vegas this pattern will continue. Listen to the resorts that did well, those that suffered, and the smaller businesses that have been sacrificed. It is quite clear which customer is being targeted by the corporations.

All excellent info thanx. Fantastic job as always

Very good analysis and commentary Jacob. We can reduce this all to the greed of the huge corporations that run the Strip and have nothing more than that in mind. Beyond that, I enjoyed speaking to you at the new Peter Luger Steak House a couple of weeks ago and have watched several of your videos since. Keep up the good work with your honest and clear assesments of sin city.

Great intelligent commentary that examines all sides.

Yet another very informative video. Thanks again for doing what you do.

love your in depth content , keep up the good works

One other impacted group that you did not mention, the tourists that were here pre and post race. We stayed on the strip in late September. The Sh__ show we dealt with navigating the strip every day of our vacation, was frustrating at best. This may sound petty, but it sucked and it had a negative impact on our vacation.

As a San Diego resident, I visit Vegas several times a year. I purposely stayed away from Vegas because of this event. One of the worst decisions Vegas has ever made since going 6/5 on blackjack.

Been waiting for this video from you... Thanks Jacob

Saludos Jacob! Gracias por la buena información que nos das, como siempre nos buena y mucha información gracias Jacob, happy holidays,,

I picked what I thought was the perfect weekend, Weekened of December 2nd, what it had going for it was: No Raiders Home game, no UFC/Boxing, no big concerts that I gather, and F1 was 2 weeks prior... not expecting F1 to make things a mess for months... for this and other reasons, I canceled. The sportsbook experience during an NFL weekend was a big "must do" for me so I didn't want to go any other time than the fall, but now this is going to be happening every freaking fall.

I had the West Harmon seats for 3 days. When they were selling tickets, they said drinks and food included. There was no mention of no alcoholic drinks being excluded. Plus they never responded to emails. The food sucked. No ketchup for a hot dog. Ramen was cold. I paid $1700 per ticket, (2), and about $200 per day in booze with $40 tips. We also went to the F1 hub store. 3 hour wait. There was no entertainment in our zone. Maybe I did it too cheap. Maybe the other zones were better? I am not crazy on coming back for it next year.

I enjoyed this video very much. Thank you sir for the good work.

Great video Jacob! Love you looking out for the local businesses losses on this event.

Love the vid . Great info esp about the small businesses that were hurt from F1. About your questioning on counting the people for the entire weekend. EDC is always counted like that. 100k people ish on average but they say 300k tickets sold for the 3 day event.

Solid informational video. No fluff filler stock videos or shoulder shrugging ect. No super long empty intro just to prolong total video. Every sentence, phrase, paragraph are substantial non fluff. Thanks for saving us wasted useless video time.

Great video. I definitely enjoyed it

As a driver i didn't appreciate f1

Jacob-GREAT report! You are getting better with every video.

There are so many reasons locals do not want F-1 but for me, 5+ hours a day traveling to and from work (unpaid) to make less than an average busy weekend is the deal breaker for myself and soooooo many locals. Tourist are here for a week, we have dealt with this intrusion on our families and lives for upwards of 6 months and running. The arrogance of F-1 is the infuriating aspect of it. Other large groups appreciate us, F-1 seems to think we should simply be grateful to breath the same air they do. My guess is, aLOT of locals will be taking their vacations during F-1 next year or calling in sick. They gave it a shot this first year but they aren't likely to give it another go.

Thank you for your update.

The MOB benefited. I mean the construction companies in charge of the setup

Good Job Jacob!

Casinos on the Strip won $714,481,804 -- a good result, but not even in the Top 10. Road work and construction disruptions related to F1 might have dented the Strip's October showing.

As a tourist, I hold the viewpoint that the entire thing was a disaster

Jacob - Came for just Saturday & my goodness was it a night and day difference between Horseshoe, Cromwell, Linq, Flamingo and Harrahs (all were pretty empty) and Caesars Palace which was packed. The Piano Bar at Harrahs at 6:06 PM on Saturday November 18th, 2023 had 2 customers; The Lobby Bar at Harrahs had a few. Watched at Ellis Island Casino, which had a great crowd for the race & I felt was a good value for the buck with unlimited non-alcoholic drinks, free food, and pretty good views at Turn 4. Tickets on the day of ended up around $1200 for cheapest grandstand with lowest prices about 3 weeks out. After the race went over to Stage Door Casino (fairly crowded but last weekend for NFR was significantly more packed), Montecristo at Paris (had about 8 people and closed around 1 AM) then headed over to Montecristo at Caesars, which was standing room only. As for the visitor count, I personally came for just Saturday so I'm one of the 315,000, however, I'm going to guess most attended all 3 days so if even if it was a 50/50 split per day (one day vs 3 day) so I'd say 157,500 plus 52,500 or 210,000 total. Lastly, as for F1 - they already invested $250 million+ alone at The Paddock with Liberty Media so they'd be hard pressed to leave after year one, year two, etc. I think overall the track has to be moved off the strip - and more down Koval, around the Sphere, etc. and minimize delays on the strip which will piss off MGM, Mirage, Venetian, but solves some issues.

@JacobslifeinVegas I have been following you since the pandemic as you are true to your reports of what is going on. I was there in Oct to see U2 and to say some of the sidewalks and side streets closed because of this was a headache. I am for the Locals as they live there and have to be inconvenienced by this!

We are regulars at Cosmopolitan and it was such a hassle just to go across the street! I couldn't even imagine driving in it. We personally will not visit during f1.

I’ll say this as a Wynn employee it was even split around the casino cause me as a bellman it was more foot traffic then anything and only a few of our bellman actually ended doing well, and the ones I heard that did well where all tower suites so our normal resort tower guys didn’t see any of it and even being one of my worse weekends I’ve had since I started working here (started in September)

F1 always reports attendance that way. They'll say 400,000 attended but yes race day maybe 50k. I agree its misleading

best break down of the F1 ive seen thanks for the info

As a local board member, I would have had local business's in mind when agreeing to the F1 race, and all it's intricacies. I would have demanded for my vote that there be a $10,000,000 or more fund for small business's that become affected by the F1 setup. This obviously did not happen which says a lot about the representatives there. I'm sure there will be a lot of law suits flying, but they could have made this event more business friendly by offering replacement of lost revenue to these business's negating the need to sue! 👍😎✌🗽

I work at Bellagio and from what I’ve been told, dealers and servers did pretty well overall but Super Bowl week is better. I’m just an engineer though so I didn’t see a lot of benefit myself. Our hotel was pretty much full so I was super busy with repairs and maintenance which made my shift go by quickly though.

We were there that weekend. Had no idea the race was even going on when we booked it. Just happened to be the same weekend as the wife's birthday. We didn't care about the race at all. What sucked for us was the cost of cab fares were threw the roof. Couldn't find a decent table to play at as every table felt like you were gonna have to mortgage your house to play. I mean its Vegas so we still had a good time. However, we will be looking to see what events maybe going on in the future before we book. And when talking to the the locals, no one seemed happy about the race. One of the race fans wasn't either. Said Vegas should be ashamed of themselves for not preparing the roads correctly for such a prestigious race. No idea where he was from. His voice suggested outside of the US though. Thanks for the video and update.

I drove worker’s on the strip in a paratransit bus. ( disabled persons ) for F1. It was a nightmare. One example, I picked up a maid from the Flamingo Hotel. She told me she only made 3 dollars in tips after cleaning 20 rooms one that had throw up in the middle of the bed. I was nearly an hour late to pick her up. Plus she had to go to work two hours early uncompensated. I drove for 14 hours that night because of traffic and my schedule shift was for10. I called out the next day because I was exhausted. I will make sure to schedule my vacation for the next one. I will not work that again.

Great video Jacob, planning our first visit from Europe since Covid and now I feel I can only visit spring time as end of Q3 and start of Q4 will be in someway ruined by F1 buildup and take down. Be interested to see hotel revenues pre and post race next year.

great video. great point on ROI for all parties, dont forget about the broadcast arm of the race and its performance (im not sure how it did but i know its a big part of the decision making)

Excellent analysis, Jacob Orth. I think you covered all the high points. I sometimes enjoy motorsports and F1 is the best of it all. But as a local who loves Las Vegas, to see our beautiful resort corridor torn up for months on end was heartbreaking. I believe some things will take years to come back. Similar to things some of your commentors said, friends of mine who visited last summer had their experiences ruined by the traffic nightmares due to construction. On the whole, I'd rather see F1 go away. We have a Las Vegas Motor Speedway that offers some great events. I suspect that Superbowl will be an unqualified success. It will be very interesting to compare the experiences.

Great video Jak, are u gonna do the same video for the Super Bowl? Since it will be Vegas 1st Super Bowl ever! thanks

Local people get excited for the REALLY big events that return every year because a down-the-line benefit exists for most, be it a content making opportunity, attendance opportunity, or money making opportunity. None of these things existed in this circumstance except for a very small handful of people who probably didn't need it to begin with. For everyone else it was a headache - more like a migrane. I don't think it will last.

I went to LV 3 times between January and June this year, and then stayed away to avoid all of the F1 preparations... I just didn't want to deal with any of that!

Jacob Superb video as always ol mate I Just subscribed to your channel mate ! a you tube viewer from Australia 🌏🦘I look forward to more fantastic videos of las vegas ❤as I have never been there have a lot of close friends that have been to all the casinos and tourist attractions over there in the states ! Merry Christmas 🎄🎁 and have a safe and wonderful new 2024 year❤🎇🍹🍸🥂🍾🍻 🥃🎊🎉❤🎉🎊🎆❤👍🇺🇲👍🌎❤️🌏🤙🇭🇲🤙

Thanks Jacob

For the disruption costs you have to divide them in two types: The construction that should be split over 7 to 10 years (depending on how many races will be organized in the future) and the yearly setup that will happen every year.

As an F1 fan I thought it was good on TV after they got the track fixed (post Sainz)

Love your videos. I'm one of your fans NOT living in Vegas (yet 😊). I was wondering what kind of activities there are for Christmas. Maybe a video to show us some? Thanks.

I'd never watched F1, but decided to subscribe for a month to watch the Vegas race. I really enjoyed it. Watching the live high definition video feeds from the perspective of the drivers was unlike anything I'd experienced. Quite the adrenaline rush.

I love finding movie filming locations. I'm going to be in town tomorrow and I'm going to have a cocktail at the little metal table and chair you did this video from. I was in town the week before the race and thought it was a nightmare. I'm hoping most of it is cleared out tomorrow.

My only ever visit (so far) to Las Vegas was recently, In the weeks running up too F1. And the sidewalks were crowded, because sections were closed for the race. Leading to awful congestion, very NYC esq with the amount of people per foot. I will never come visit during the run up again, especially if they go through with the 10 year plan.

Excellent video Jacob. Finally someone independent discects this event. Keep up the good work. Regarding tax revenues going to schools. Look what happened with marijuana. The money was supposed to go to schools but very little did.

As usual Jacob a good balanced summary of the event. The only thing I will point out is your comment about the number of people that attended the event….that total figure they quoted is how they do the numbers for all the races. A bit of sleight of hand from the F1 but it is their normal reporting of numbers for the weekend. Always love your work keep it up.

There, the week before F1 at the SEMA show and I hated how bad the city streets were wrapped up. We couldn't use ubers because it was faster to walk. The local people were stressed. Didn't get to see a lot of sites because of it. Thank God SEMA was amazing.

There is one other HUGE factor in regards to not having folks loiter on the bridges and escalators - safety. Bad for the image if, God forbid) a bridge were to collapse because of too many people on it, and the same with the escalators. Also, if the bridges and/or escalators are jammed pack, it can cause safety issues for those trying to get off the escalators where they dump out onto the bridges. And lastly, you know a few idiots will start brawling, which is also a safety issue. Personal note, I arrived in Las Vegas the Wednesday after the race, and it seemed like most or all of the UP escalators were not in service. Also, it was interesting to see the grandstands, lighting stanchions, temporary car bridges, A personal observation - the first year is the hardest. In successive years it will take less time to set up and take down. Plus, the major road work is done, now it is just maintenance and a quick retopping. Also, a friend of mine lives in Europe and they and their friends there thought the race on TV was simply amazing.

Good analysis Jacob. However, you did forget one thing, the tax money being brought in from the gambling. If everyone is saying that the strip casinos did very good, then I’m sure the tax money from the tables and slots increased for sure. However, I’m in the group that feel that F1 was great for the corporate casinos and horrible for everyone else. I did enjoy the race, but the sacrifices the locals went through is definitely not worth it. Maybe Liberty Media should buy out the small businesses that were heavily affected AT A FAIR PRICE? (Just a suggestion.)

The race is 50 laps at any point watching a car race by at 130 mph 50 times is not what I’d call a worthwhile event.

Worst traffic jams ever !!! As a couple who visited several times a year, we will never return 3 months before or after.

Well thought out presentation, Jacob. Congrats on a job well done. I am really curios to see how much impact preparations for next year will have on locals and local business. And as you credited the tweet, how many hours were lost to traffic and construction, multiplied by median wage of hospitality workers and have that number taken tom County Commissioners as they pontificate about the $360M in wages. And i would love to see how that number was summed up. For example, if you are paying a construction worker $22.50 to construct/deconstruct the course, over a work year of 2080 hours, that would add up. Bt as you briefly mentioned, how many of those jobs were merely temporary? A lot of questions and accounting needs to be done to see if F1 was/is a "benefit".

3 Months to prepare for it and a month to dismantle. That's a 1/3 of the year this is impacting the city.

Two quick reactions to the (really good) video. (1) Jacob, your "tourist perspective" focused almost entirely on the satisfaction of the visitors who attended the actual 3-day event. You neglected to factor in the dissatisfaction of those of us whose vacations were significantly negatively impacted by the months-long prep. (2) Great point that F1 will have its own (mostly financial) perspective on the event, but does anyone know: How did F1 DO on this whole thing?

I was there!! The town was a ghost town! IMHO no one was there!!

Hey Jacob, are you going to do a show on Super Bowl parties/venues for the locals?

also one of the big talking points in F1 circles is the race needs to start earlier and the track needs to be open to the cars for a longer period of time, instead of quickly transforming back to city streets.

Namely is the most expensive hotel the safest hotel and also best hotel for pets. Looking to book our first vegas trip. Thanks You have been awesome for providing info for our planning.

Dedicated F1 follower here. Hardly missed a race since 1977. Trust Vegas to fuck it up.

Jacob have you ever considered running for a local office, city or county? You should you are on top of the pulse of your city. Great detailed report.

I would like to know where they are storing everything after taking it down and to reset it next year

I’m a local. If F1 never happens again I’d be happy. FU, F1. No thanks!

I spend most of October in Vegas each year for the G2E gambling expo as I work in the Australian gambling industry and I could not believe the disruption to the strip. Most years I could go from one side of the strip to the other as I always have meetings and events at many different casinos, this year was a nightmare. At one stage I was standing on one side of the strip needing to head across to the Mirage for a lunch meeting and I turned to my wife and said how the hell do I get across the street. Getting off the strip to head out to meetings at the offices of the companies I deal with was impossible, the Uber drivers knowing I knew Vegas well would drop me just off the main strip. But ultimately I feel sorry for all the workers who are working hard to prove of their family and how disrupted their life was because of this, those many many hours stuck in traffic or at road works, is time they will never get back with their family.

Be nice if they could discuss a potential re-layout of the track

I do believe there were a lot of lessons learned. I think it will be a lot smoother next year. Not great, exactly, but definitely less existing construction and traffic issues. Also things are less than half the price, or they are absolute idiots. We shall see.

I talked to a local that volunteered. He had a great time and said he got to see so much cool stuff.

I don't think you can comprehend how many tourist they pissed off . I was there 10 days after the race. Traffic was still fucked up, From temporary bridge to timing of street lights, cranes removing items ,sidewalks closed, and being forced to watch the bellagio fountains from the backside You could not even tell what song was playing. I have never seen so many angry faces at a bellagio Fountain show.

The benefit an event like this has for the everyday Las Vegan will be like any tourism advert would have on them. It’s an event that keeps the town relevant in the minds of many around the world as being an aspirational location. Vegas needs to remain a bucket list location and that’s what this event will contribute to, but yeah no question the average local will endure the inconvenience for a benefit that can’t be quantified.

Miles of water filled barricades dumped into the gutter after race day. But I can’t water my lawn

I went to Vegas the day after F1 ended and was surprised it wasn’t as crowded as I expected it to be. I go to Vegas on average once a month and I stayed far away from the strip during a lot of those months because of the congestion and traffic. Going after F1 I couldn’t even tell there had been a large event.

Lets gooooo jacob !!!

Took my daughter to Vegas for her 25th birthday at the end of October and the construction kept us from doing so much we had planned. Was supposed to go to a conference in October 2024 and have already pulled out because it was such a bad experience. I even did my research before we went and it still surprised us by how much was closed or blocked off. Nope. It’s a no for me.

I was in Vegas at the end of September and the strip was a cluster f with everything being built. Couldn’t see some attractions, had to constantly walk around construction. A bit of a fun sucker.

F1 racing in Vegas,is just for the show. F1 has been adding too much street circuits. But on the otherhand I think that next years you guy will have it way easyer with the set up and construction. There are other street races and people dont seem to complain about it, I think it was first year to do all the work and then next year just set up barriares and lights and is mostly done

Quite a few of us stagehands were given the weekend off, a few have quit house gigs because of the traffic.

17:41 this is how F1 has counted Fans for every race, not just Vegas, I agree it is weird.

After being in Vegas in August, it was an annoying disruptive time while they were setting up with sidewalks closed, road woeks and foot paths closed. Las Vegas is a great place and did not need F1. I would say the there are some big egos at play here and F1 would need Vegas more than Vegas needs F1. If I was a tax/rate paying resident working along the strip, I would feel a bit pissed off.

Great analysis. F1 has always counted their attendance numbers that way. While the majority of the people are usually the same across all 3 days, there are different people that often attend on Fridays and Saturdays as compared to Sundays.

As an F1 fan and frequent attendee of F1 races, the Las Vegas GP was the best race of the 8 we attended in the past 2 years. The racing action was terrific and the views iconic. But there is room for improvement. 1. All attendees on Thursday should receive a full refund 2. Grandstand seats prices need to come down. There also need to be a much larger number of general admission and lower priced tickets for Nevadans. 3. There need to be big screen TVs mounted on top of the main grandstand. No one in the paddock club could see any TVs which meant there was little awareness of what was going on in the race for the highest paying attendees. 4. The F1 Paddock was virtually pitch dark. It needs much more lighting. 5. The prep time needs to be reduced but I believe it will be based on other F1 street races. This event definitely caused way too much disruption to the local community but as street races go on the organizers get better at setting them up and taking them down faster.