The announcement on Wednesday that a support race would be added to the Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend schedule is just the latest step in the evolution of Formula 1’s newest race.
If you followed F1 a year ago and didn’t know there was a race in Las Vegas at the end of the year, you had to be living under a rock. F1 has invested directly in the event and it’s been a huge success on all fronts, using its own platform and other races to promote what’s coming in a way that few others have.
This year, we’re taking a low-key approach that’s not typical of Las Vegas.
“Last year, we definitely had a launch party a year in advance, if not more than a year in advance,” explains Emily Fraser, chief commercial officer for F1 and Las Vegas Grand Prix, Inc. “And we did a thorough job of marketing it and letting everyone know what it was all about, because it was a first-year event.
“We spent a lot of money last year on marketing, hyping things up and getting everything going, and I think it served its purpose. But when we did the post-race analysis, we realized that most of the activity happened after 100 days.
“So we didn’t really do much at the beginning of the year. We also wanted to give a little bit more airtime to other races. We’re F1, and we felt like we were sucking a little bit of the life out of the US market with everything we were doing. So strategically we said, ‘Let’s stop talking about this on January 1st and start being much more thoughtful and strategic and leveraging the lessons we’ve learned and the data we’ve learned.’
“So we’re only 100 days into actually starting marketing. We’ve had some announcements that we’re incredibly excited about, and there’s more to come, so we’ll see pickup.
“We did a lot of renewals in the first half of the year. The US market is used to that mindset of smiling and making a lot of phone calls to rebook tickets. So we locked all that down. Then a new generation of business comes in between the 100 days and the race.”
Fraser points out that a lot of the ticket sales in the Las Vegas entertainment space happen at the last minute, because people don’t want to buy too early in case there are other options. That’s partly because the market is based in California and Arizona, and organizers were a bit surprised to find that the audience was 84 percent American and there were very few foreign attendees.
But there was a reason for the very reckless, Vegas-esque approach in Year 1, and Fraser admits it was partly a fear of the unknown.
“We took the feedback. It’s a destination that commands entertainment, but we wanted the entertainment to be as good as the racing,” she says. “The first year, none of us knew what racing would be like, so it was a complete [experience].
“It’s very hard to look at the simulator and say, ‘Oh, it’s going to be a good race’ until you see those cars on the track and see what’s really going on. We had confidence, but when it came down to it, obviously everyone wanted it to be Vegas-centric. Our partners in Vegas, too. They ultimately drive our mindset a lot. MGM, Wynns, Caesars… they’re incredible partners, but you’ve seen how they market the destination.
“And we said, ‘Okay, let’s take it up 15 levels,’ which I think we did in year one. But the intention was to scale back a bit. And we felt like we had done too much.”
For some events that Las Vegas organizers felt were too big, the issue was not just the cost or the effort required, but also an acknowledgement that some projects were not effective enough in directly targeting the local community.
Last year’s inaugural race saw LVGP’s emphasis on extravagance turn off many of its regular fans, but changes are being made to ensure the 2024 event has something for everyone. Simon Galloway/Motorsport Images
“Wednesday night “It was a one-time thing. I’ll never spend that kind of money on a 30-minute show again,” says Prazer. “We got nominated for an Emmy, but other than that… it was a project in itself.
“The Netflix Cup was great, but it didn’t feel like it was for us… Until we focused on this fan festival to help solve some of the local issues – and this is very well documented, so it’s not a secret – our priorities were very much Formula 1-centric, not the local community.
“So we had to change our approach. Same with ticketing, when we first thought, ‘Okay, this is a big, sexy new event. We’re going to have a huge reception.’ We learned that lesson. Now we have more accessible tickets, a GA section, and something for everyone, not just the high-end.
“Hotel room rates are now much, much cheaper and everyone has settled in. Our pre-grid shows and things like that are going to be exceptional. But at the same time, [we’re] We’ve been really focused on solving a lot of the problems we’ve had, but we’re definitely very proud of what we’ve delivered for our first year event.”
Although it has not hesitated to market itself as a luxury brand, the Las Vegas Race has received a lot of criticism in its first year for focusing on hospitality and lucrative packages. Prazer says it is worth the money (for example, she emphasizes that the expensive options include all food and drinks to cut concession costs), but the Race says it has not been afraid to listen and respond to that feedback.
“Compared to last year, Cobalt Straight was all hospitality suites. This year, it’s Grandstand and GA zones, because that’s what people are looking for,” she says. “So we’re working hard to find that balance.
“We may have to rebuild some of our hospitality services next year, but again, it was feedback, so it would be naive not to take that and really try to fix what we felt was the problem.”
Prazer worked for F1’s promoter team before joining Vegas, and admits the company as a whole is “much more sympathetic” to what promoters have to deal with. But the position offers an advantage for the Las Vegas property, as plans are underway to transform the pit and paddock complex into a year-round destination.
But even with the concerted effort to scale back certain aspects of the race weekend and focus more on the core racing product, it’s still Las Vegas, so there are some very unique products that will be part of the event.
“I was in F1 before I went to Las Vegas, and I was on the promoter team, so I’ve always had a little bit more exposure than other people,” she says. “We have a much greater understanding of the challenges of live events than we’ve ever had, and obviously the costs associated with it and how to market the sport in different territories. Of course, it’s one thing to be a global business, but it’s really about engaging directly and understanding how to communicate differently.
“So there are a lot of lessons learned, and we talk about Las Vegas within Formula 1 as our little incubator, where we can try different things and push the boundaries a little bit more, because it’s Las Vegas.
“So this year we’re putting an ice rink on the roof of the Paddock Cub in Vegas. You’ll never see it anywhere else. But the idea is, ‘How can we create more of an entertainment offering?’
“There is no clear connection to Formula 1, but Vegas [NHL team] Golden Knights. We’re doing a really fun merchandise collaboration with the Golden Knights.
“But honestly, looking at the scale of the Paddock Club and really activating all the spaces was one of those questions of, ‘What are we going to do?’ It’s been really fun.”
