A group of Las Vegas business owners is seeking compensation from Formula 1 for losses they incurred during the preparations for last November’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.
The business owners claim that the construction work and road closures associated with the event caused significant disruption to their businesses, leading to a drop in revenue.
They also allege that Formula 1 and the Clark County government failed to adequately address their concerns.
As its own promoter of the event, Formula 1 invested an estimated $500 million in its Las Vegas GP project which it has committed to support for at least ten years.
Although the race weekend suffered a troubled start on Thursday, with the cancellation of FP1 in the wake of a water valve cover incident involving Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari and an FP2 session that took place behind closed gates, race day was a resounding success.
Nevertheless, a group of Vegas constituents has stepped forward and vented their grievances towards F1.
"We don't need the F1, the F1 needs us," said Wade Bohn, one of the business owners who denounced the situation.
"We want to be compensated for the losses that occurred due to everything F1, the county, and the LVCVA did."
Bohn's business, which is located near the Las Vegas Strip, suffered a drop in revenue from $8.5 million in 2022 to just over $4 million in 2023, attributing the decline to the F1's construction work, which made it difficult for customers to access his store.
“We believe the county is responsible,” Bohn added. “They’re using taxpayer dollars to bring F1 into town.
“When F1 went before the county, they promised they would not be a hindrance, that they would be a part of the community.
“What they did was they came in, tore everything up, ran the race and got the hell out of dodge. . . If this (the business loss) happens again next year I will be out of business one hundred percent.”
Other business owners involved in the conflict share Bohn's concerns. They say that Formula 1 and the Clark County government promised to mitigate the impact of the construction work, but these promises were not kept.
"We as a community got bamboozled," said Randy Markin, another business owner involved in the lawsuit. "We got fooled. This has not ever happened before. It just steamrolled out of control."
According to LVSportsBiz.com, several businesses appeared last Tuesday in front of the Clark County Commission to state their case seeking a financial compensation.
Formula 1 has defended its actions, saying that it worked closely with the Clark County government to minimize the impact of the construction work. The company also said that the Grand Prix had a positive economic impact on the Las Vegas area.
"We believe the event to have generated an economic benefit of US$1.2 billion to the state of Nevada," said a spokesperson for Formula 1.
However, the business owners remain skeptical. They say that the economic benefits of the Grand Prix were outweighed by the negative impact on their businesses.
"The Grand Prix itself was an entertaining affair," said Bohn. "But it didn't do anything for us."
Formula 1 is committed to staying in Las Vegas long term, but it will likely need to do more to address the concerns of the local community if it wants to avoid further resentment.
The sport needs to ensure that the positives of its presence in Sin City outweigh the negatives, for the benefit of both Formula 1 and the city of Las Vegas.
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