In my opinion, Las Vegas Paving may be the best road resurfacing company in the world or at least in the US. and I mean that sincerely. They invented a machine that chews up asphalt in front and spits it out as a new surface from behind, and is only one lane wide.

Nevertheless, drivers on or near the Strip, and in Las Vegas generally, are among the WORST I have ever seen. Additionally, construction signage and lane controls around the Strip have always been terrible and create extra-wide bottlenecks typically around any work areas.

I've driven around the Strip, and across it, for over 30 years. This will be a traffic clusterf*ck, but I hope I'm wrong.

Got an e-mail from Wynn.

Think I'll watch on TV.

That's where I'll be, about 10 feet away from my tv.

Why should Clark County taxpayers shell out $74 million for the honor of this privately run event for some Euro trash:

"At this month’s Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority meeting, the agency’s President and CEO Steve Hill noted that F1 requested $37 million to go toward the project.

The exact cost of the needed roadwork hasn’t been publicly announced, but Hill noted the work is “more than double” that of F1’s ask. That would peg the costs to be at least $74 million but likely higher."

Because almost all of the hotels/casinos in the affected area are going to making money hand over fist selling their rooms at obscene prices. All of those casinos are going to be working their employees as much as they can. All of those overworked employees are going to be going to local bars/restaurants/and casinos with much of the excess cash they will be making during that period.

For better or worse, the casinos drive the Las Vegas economy. When they do good, the greater Las Vegas area does good. Having F1 race on the strip will be very good for the Vegas economy.

Besides (1), it is my understanding (and most definitely might be wrong), that much (but not all) of these costs will be one time costs that will last for the life of the F1 contract.

Besides (2), any big event in Vegas costs the LVCVA and other governmental entities money. From police overtime to road closures, things like CES, the NFL draft, EDC, etc cost the authorities something. They pay it because they know their overlords (the casinos) want it to happen.

Even after paying all of that money, the Las Vegas economy will benefit from F1 racing on the strip, so it is done.

They'll have to do street work / repaving every year ahead of the race. Not sure what much that's going to cost though.

I thought the original plan was to close one lane at a time, but this picture would indicate that only one lane was open.

https://twitter.com/VitalVegas/statu...42092631588865

Road work in Vegas being done to minimize inconvenience to drivers?

HAHAHA!

I read that the strip paving (and traffic disruptions) is planned to continue until May 17.

You over estimate the "trickle-down" economics and way under-estimate the disruption this expensive F1 "Big Event" mindset will cause to the bread and butter Las Vegas tourist business.

Las Vegas does not exist on the Euro-trash glitterati that follow F1 around their circuit. It exists on video poker, US sports, and basically low-brow appeal.

Both the preparation and the "Big F1 Event" itself basically sh*t all over the loyal core tourist customers that pay the bills, in my view.

EVERY other Big Las Vegas EVENT is way more democratic, (small d) and is driven by the calendar holidays and US market travelers. NASCAR racing does well because it DOESN'T screw with the Strip experience, and takes place at a track outside town.

Concerts, popular entertainment, Sports/NFL/March Madness, NFR, CES and conventions, New Years Eve, dining, hotels, pools, sex, etc are the drivers of the Las Vegas market and are VERY democratic without disrupting the overall venue.

F1 is the opposite of NASCAR even. It sure as hell is the opposite of the National Finals Rodeo of the WSOP, which each fill the place for 2 weeks BUT are woven into the existing fabric (aside from cow poop at the Thomas & Mack)

(I did legal work related to the F1 related bankruptcy of the race sponsor in Dallas some years back. Las Vegas as a whole will not see a net benefit from hosting and paying for this Event. It is giving up a lot more of its core market business than you might realize, and for what ? Tell me that VERY Expensive stands, built so as to block of sight from the Strip hotels is good marketing idea. They are crapping all over the image of Hotels themselves as the image of Las Vegas. The Strip, accessible gambling, US sports, and the Hotels ARE the stars of Las Vegas.)

Not at all.

This isn't any different than new Year's Eve, the Rock n Roll marathon, or the NFL draft. All of which close down the strip. Or CES or AVN March Madness, or the Super Bowl (which don't close down the strip). Those are the events where the casinos really make their money overcharging for their hotel rooms (and restaurants which are packed).

Sure, Ma and Pa Smith from Kansas that come once a year and drop hundreds (maybe even thousands), but their contribution is very elastic (an economic term relating to supply/demand). What this means is that if Pa Smith from Kansas checks strip hotel room rates for the period F1 is taking place and finds them too expensive, he then checks a few weeks earlier or later and finds rates he can afford. He comes when demand is lower. Ma and Pa Smith's contribution is nice, but it is very elastic and is likely to happen anyway.

The casinos wish that they could have the equivalent of an F1 race every weekend of the year (New Year's, CES, etc). They will do their best to try and find it.

The best way to gauge the Vegas economy at any given point in time is to look look at the median price of a strip hotel room. Restaurants, bars, strip clubs, cabs, shows, convenience stores, etc all flow from that.

Also, remember that other than taking a cab/Uber ride, very few tourists actively drive on the strip.

I'll stand by my comments. All the popular weeks/weekends you reference are already woven into the infrastructure for both hotels and the Strip.

No one is asking for a $74 million handout/"cost sharing" to sponsor New Years Eve. No one is shutting down the Strip for CES or NASCAR or LVMS racing or the NFR (aside from one side for a truck/race car parade).

there is a huge difference with the Strip being literally packed with people and an Event which shunts people to the side, bars access, blocks even the sidewalks and views from the hotels and of the hotels.

Fwiw, you mischaracterize the idea of elasticity. It has more to do with a choice among goods/services here than simply shopping among dates. There are many competing vacation destinations, I suspect your described "tourists" will go somewhere else.

(The comparison to the NFR and CES is instructive, they each bring visitors, who then get the Las Vegas Strip, but neither the NFR or CES sh*t all over the Strip in the process.)

I think the Las Vegas decision to disrupt its loyal tourist market for X weeks is a mistake, a mistake to f**k with the Strip tourist experience to chase some added glory of shelling out $74 million to try for an F1 "rebranding".

Also, compare this F1 "sports" marketing to the NFL, the newly announced MLB efforts, and the placement of entertainment venues, all of which are designed to complement the Strip experience, not disrupt/replace it.

Let's take a different tact.

F1 would not happen on the strip if the casinos did not want it to. If F1 was bad for the casinos do you really think it would happen?

You say it is a mistake, yet every single casino operator on the strip wants it to happen. Every. Single. One.

Do you really think you know what is better for their business than every operator on the strip?

Huh?!?!?

How is that a mischaracterization? Isn't a choice of dates of when to come to Vegas a choice among goods/services?

Sure, for the small percentage of people who can only travel for that very specific time frame, they are going to go elsewhere because the room rates are going to be outrageous during F1, but most people are flexible if given enough time. They will come earlier or later and lose their money.

It blows my mind that anyone thinks that the casinos being able to charge crazy high prices (and getting people to pay those crazy high prices) is somehow a mistake for the casinos.

Serious question:

Do you think it is a mistake for someone to sell their house for twice what it is listed when someone offers it to them?

Let me put it a different way.

I think F1 in Vegas is going to suck for the poker grinders in Vegas. The ones who regularly come to the strip, enjoy their free parking, grinding out a few dollars an hour long term and collect their comps.

It is going to be huge for casinos though and all of the businesses directly reliant on the casinos (clubs, shows, etc). As well as great for the Vegas economy in general. I am guessing there are going to be more than a few cocktail waitresses who will have their best nights ever in tips during F1. They will then dump a large portion of that money into the local economy.

OMC who grinds it out and gives the waitress $1 for every other coffee? Sure they are going to be inconvenienced. Traffic will be terrible, parking will be difficult, waiting lists will be long. There might not be too many low limit games available during that time.

Sorry. It sucks, but that is capitalism. Casinos aren't there to give you coffee and an easily accessible table full of tourists. They are there to make money and they will make a ton during F1. A ton.

Euros don't tip?

They tip less in restaurants because service & gratuity is already included where they come from. I don't think they tip any different with free services like cocktail waitresses.

People should get used to Vegas focussing more on affluent international visitors. With Strip properties keeping to raise their prices and wage gaps increasing in the US it won't take super long until a significant portion of the country is priced out from going outside special occasions. Somebody has to fill those hotel rooms.

I was just joking. I wish the US would pay employees enough that we could do away with tipping in everything.

My bad, sorry. Hard to tell with all the "Euro trash" talk lately.

I always take all the "Euro trash" talk as jokes. Those people are serious?!

Huh?

Worldly, wealthy ones (like the ones at an F1 in Vegas) most certainly do.

Ahh, sorry. Ignore my previous reply.

I semi-sort of agree with you about doing away with tipping, but it is a bit complicated.

Why should Clark County and taxpayers foot this bill ? It is taxpayer money we are discussing here. I think it's a huge mistake to fund basically a one-off event with taxpayer money. Let these "hot-to-trot" wealthy casinos pay for this if they want it sooooo bad. If they want to market to Euro-trash, that expense can come from their bottom lines. How about as a 50% excise tax on room rates over 3x the rates charged that period year ago ? That could be a nice "public-private" partnership deal.

Fwiw, the government incentives and tax breaks given to Stadium construction, football and baseball, dwarf this boondoggle, but those are real, lasting benefits. (My acquaintance with this topic goes back to a study I worked on promoting the Irwindale Raiders financing .... to secure an upfront payment from that town.) Stadium financing is a long term benefit construction package, this F1 nonsense is a "poof, there goes the money grab"

For the record, the term "Euro-trash" does not apply to everyone from Europe, just the teeming billionaires who come to pick Clark County pockets for their own benefit, and like locus, will move on once this circus ends.

I understand how/why things get done in Clark County. I found your "Every.Single.One" rhetoric amusing; as you laud it as an example of benevolent crony capitalism.

Street paving already causing issues for the WSOP: https://twitter.com/WSOP/status/1663939465709252621

https://nypost.com/2023/07/23/f1-thr...lions-sources/

Came here to post that link as well. Yeah, it's hilarious with no context but still an insane dollar figure.

You'd assume F1 tries to shake down some properties in Monaco as well. I'd assume the Fairmont has to pay something back to the organizers in Monaco for example, right?



Obviously not related to F1 but in the US there was a similar drama with the Cubs and "home owners" who setup stands overlooking Wrigley field which were not affiliated with the Cubs. This was 20+ years ago but ultimately the rooftop owners and the Cubs came to some rev-share agreement but not after the Cubs went maybe an entire season with a screen blocking the rooftops. Here's a quick picture of it being setup!



I'd assume some deal with get cut but not at $1500 USD times the fire marshal capacity. And for those wondering, using the fire marshal capacity is a pretty common thing to assess on bars / restaurants especially for pay per view events. If the bar wants to show a UFC fight (legally) they'd have to pay a set PPV fee times their stated capacity.