Las Vegas Entertainer: Service Industry Feeling Left Out by F1 Largesse

Watching the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, whether on television or from the grandstands, it’s hard not to be impressed by the sheer spectacle. 

The fastest cars in the world, driven by the best drivers, roaring through arguably the most prestigious, famous, and most spectacular street on the planet. It’s a wonderful sight to see. 

You can argue that Las Vegas was a town built upon spectacle, as a VIP gambler did when we asked him for his F1 perspective. However, it’s the staff and people on the ground who create the experience that built the spectacle, and it’s clear that they are feeling like a lost voice, drowned out by 1.6-litre V6 engines and the cash they generate for commercial partners. 

They speak a tale of heavily impacted personal income and unbearable travel disruption. It’s a story we are hearing everywhere we go in Las Vegas.

“Servers, bartenders, and independent contractors like myself are finding it most challenging,” a musician on the Las Vegas Strip told Casinos.com. 

“I spoke with a few servers at a casino property who said they are required to park off property and take a bus to work three hours earlier than their shift - only to then make little to nothing in tips due to very few people coming out to the casinos. 

“Many are calling out or just not showing up to work. Last year I personally played to an audience of 13 people for three hours for minimal tips and horrible traffic to and from work.

“I’m sure there is a percentage or group profiting from this but it’s not us. Almost everyone grumbles about it and is crossing their fingers that between tanking sales and lawsuits, F1 will be done.”

Profit Marginal

And people most certainly are profiting from it. This week, the last of the 3,600 Bellagio Club hospitality tickets sold. At $12,500 per ticket, that’s a cool $45million in the coffers. Many of those tickets will be comped to high value VIP casino players, but that will only increase the income given the resort spend they bring with them, not lessen it. 

That’s just at one property too. many other Vegas casinos like Caesars Palace, Wynn, Cosmopolitan and Venetian are also understood to be benefiting greatly from F1, allowing advocates of the event to point at a boon in tax income for the city and surrounding areas. 

However, the net good that can produce is only really a theory. Increased tax dollars are supposed to benefit everyone, and what is clear from the ground is that people are feeling that whatever good F1 might do for Las Vegas, it is utterly outweighed by the disruption it causes to everyday life. 

“Vegas locals want F1 gone,” the musician tells us. “Especially locals who work on the Strip. It takes months to build, which causes construction traffic and delays. Then it takes months to take everything back down. So, the three days of racing impact Strip life from September to February. Six months. Six months too long.”

Tourist Unfriendly?

“During the race, businesses suffer. So much so that the race makes it difficult to get to locations on the Strip so many people don’t even bother to come out,” the musician continued. “Hotel prices last year for F1 were enormous. However, attendance wasn’t what they expected so this year’s prices have been drastically cut in order to increase occupancy. But people aren’t booking.”

That is something that tallies with the observations of Jorge Garcia, owner of JMC Transport, a local Limousine company. He told Casinos.com that while the big spenders may be high-rolling their way into town in large numbers, the ordinary tourist is feeling cast aside to the point where they are actively avoiding Las Vegas completely. 

That’s a problem too. Granted, it’s not a problem for the few mega-resorts who have their rooms and suites filled with VIP players, but it certainly is for the rest. For staff, contractors, and businesses on the Strip, it’s the average tourist that provides the water that sustains them. Emptying that pool is going to hurt them, and it is. 

“Last year, the weekend of the race negatively impacted restaurants, bars and stores so much so that many are closing this year for the weekend,” she says. “Some businesses that are located off strip but impacted by the track have sued F1 for interfering with their business and causing significant loss. 

“I have heard there are several more businesses now filing suit, hoping for compensation or, even better, F1 canceling and not coming back.”

(Image: Paul Briden / Alamy)