Clamour for glamour attracts high-rollers to Las Vegas
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The marquee event of November’s Las Vegas F1 GP will surpass even the annual Monaco race in terms of glitz, glamour and money on next year’s sporting calendar.
Although Sin City hosted the Caesars Palace Grands Prix in 1981 and 1982, they crashed and burned. Yet next year will be the first time that F1 will host a race on the iconic Las Vegas Strip.
The world’s fastest drivers will be tested to the limit on a 3.8-mile temporary track, which will showcase numerous landmarks to a massive global audience.
The 50-lap battle is set to take place over a 14-turn circuit that features three straights, a high-speed cornering sequence and a single chicane section.
The Las Vegas GP will be a night race, starting at 10pm local time, with top speeds anticipated to hit 212mph as the elite drivers will try to steer their slick mean machines past the neon lights of such upmarket casino resorts as Bellagio, Caesars Palace, the MSG Sphere and The Venetian Resort.
Interest in the event, which has become the third F1 race in the US due to take place in 2023, has exploded thanks to the gritty behind-the-scenes Netflix docudrama Drive to Survive.
Austin in Texas has played host to the US F1 GP since 2012, Miami and its fake marina will be on the calendar in May, and it sold out within 24 hours, but Las Vegas is the jewel in the crown for the sport.
The clamour for glamour saw seated tickets for Las Vegas swiftly sold out despite their high prices, with casino hotels now cashing in by selling packages as high as US$1 million.
The Wynn Las Vegas, in conjunction with F1, is pulling out the stops for an enviable four-night stay for up to six people in a three-bedroom duplex that includes such luxuries as caviar and Champagne for a cool price tag of US$1m.
Casino hotels rolled the dice initially to make a plethora of purchases of ticket blocks, and repackage them into VIP entertainment experiences. This was always going to be their safe gamble and has already paid high dividends.
The most expensive fan experience on next year’s 24-race calendar ranges from MGM Resorts’ four-day packages from US$100,000, which seem a bargain price that dwarfs in comparison with Wynn’s US$1m.
Admission tickets, which started as low as US$500 for a three-day pass but cost up to US$10,000, were soon snapped up by eager fans and casino resorts.
The skyrocketing prices of Las Vegas Strip hotel rooms for the F1 race is not putting off genuine enthusiasts, while wealthy fans will happily splash the cash and can always win back some – if not all – of their money at the casino.
The Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino has raised its room rates for the race weekend in November from US$100 per night this year to US$566 per night in 2023. A stay at Caesar’s Palace is running US$1,500 a night, while the cheapest room from sister property The Linq is exactly half the price.
Abu Dhabi, Monaco and Singapore have traditionally attracted the high-end F1 fans, but the reintroduction of the Las Vegas race is the real deal as far as high-rollers are concerned.
The major landmark resorts along Las Vegas Boulevard, which appear on the list with high rated online casinos, are banking on wealthy visitors trying their luck during the race weekend.
From Caesars, MGM Resorts to Resorts World and more then the circuit sweeping past famous hotels and casinos in Las Vegas shows all the promise of being a rip-roaring experience.
While the bets are on for who will triumph on the race track at Sin City, what happens in Vegas next November will not just stay in Vegas but be relayed all across the globe.
