The posh car racing league has slashed the price that venues located along the November event’s 3.8-mile circuit must pay to around $50,000 each — down sharply from a $1,500-per-head demand that would have resulted in a tab of $3 million for a major venue with a capacity of 2,000.
Insiders said F1 — owned by billionaire John Malone’s Liberty Media — has backed down after allegedly threatening not to protect venues from having barricades, lights and other obstructions placed in front of businesses that refused to pay the licensing fees, which had been based on the maximum capacity of venues according to city fire codes.
“This venue fee is much smarter,” a source close to restaurant owners said, adding, “It’s much more in line with what the Super Bowl will charge” when it is played in Las Vegas next year.
While Formula One has charged similar fees at other street course locales like Monaco, Las Vegas venues claimed that casinos are looking for high rollers to come and gamble several times a year. If customers spend too much cash on F1 trip, they may delay their next visit, one executive argued.
In addition to an unobstructed view, the $50,000 venue fee will grant restaurants and clubs a direct feed of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, which will be held Nov. 18.
“There is a certain line they are crossing by telling someone who has spent billions on their property that you are shutting the Strip down for construction and then asking them to pay for seats.”
A Formula One spokesman declined comment.
Las Vegas has spent millions repaving the famed Strip and other adjacent streets as it prepares for the F1 road race.
