F1 ‘feeling very comfortable’ entering final year of Vegas contract

Formula 1 is “feeling very comfortable” about the future of the Las Vegas Grand Prix despite entering the final year of the race’s initial contract, says new president Emily Prazer. Prazer has taken over the lead running of the event from CEO Renee Wilm, who is shifting focus to her role as chief legal and administrative officer for Liberty Media. As the Las Vegas GP announces a reduction in ticket prices to target greater fan access in 2025 – with single-day tickets as low as $50 – Prazer says the fact that the original three-year race-hosting deal has yet to be extended is not a concern of the organizers. “As everything, contracts come to an end,” Prazer said. “However, with all of the different stakeholders in Vegas, we are currently going through a renewal process, so we’re feeling very comfortable that the race will continue. Obviously, everybody is very dedicated to this. The results this week have shown that the destination again appreciates what we’re doing. “So all roads are leading to long-term relationships with the casinos and with the LVCVA (Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority). I think Steve from the LVCVA came out and said we’re working on that at the moment, and we are. But we’re very comfortable and confident that that will continue. There doesn’t seem to be any signs to say it won’t. “As always, the devil is in the detail, but all of it is just a negotiation at the end of the day. But I think we’ve now proven our worth, proven ourselves, proven that we can deliver operationally. “One thing I think we do genuinely take quite a lot of pride in is how operationally successful the race has been. You’ve all experienced it now, and you’ve seen the improvements we’ve made from year one to year two, and we’ll continue to keep doing that to make it as easy on the locals on the road closure side, but as an actual grand prix, I think delivery has been really good. And now it’s just about making these tweaks for longevity.” The tickets for this year’s race will go on public sale on April 9, with three-day prices starting at $400 and additional grandstands being added at Turn 3. Prazer says the new pricing approach is designed to try and encourage early sales, with Las Vegas going for its lowest offerings immediately and promising it won’t be reducing tickets further closer to the race. The intention to find the sweet spot for fans in the United States comes as she admits the country remains the F1 priority in terms of a growth region, as the Las Vegas Grand Prix company becomes a fully integrated arm of F1 itself. “One of the things we take quite a lot of pride in from the Vegas race is how we’ve effectively served as this test bed for the wider business to be a little bit more risky, and come up with some new ideas that you’ll see and have seen are now transferring into the global business,” said Prazer. “I think a great example of that was the confidence to produce F1 75 Live, which, if you think about it, based on the complexity of the production in Vegas and how we pulled off the opening ceremony and stuff in year one, meant that we felt that we were ready to take on such a mammoth task. “It just is kind of obvious from our perspective, from an efficiency standpoint, that we make that change . Obviously, having dual roles in two different places, people doing the same job, just didn’t make sense. So I now report into Stefano across the global business and LVGP. It just ultimately streamlines everything, makes it really straightforward to be able to make decisions really quickly. “I’m based in the U.S., and the reason being is that we still believe that it’s our biggest growth opportunity across sponsorship, licensing and commercial revenue, and hence why building all of this together, the LVGP team now have the opportunity to input on the global business and vice versa, to grow the numbers, basically.”