What does Grand Prix CEO think of slower start to 2024 tickets sales?
Ticket sales and room bookings ahead of the 2024 Formula One Grand Prix are off to a slower start compared with last year’s interest, but a key race official isn’t worried.
With tickets for last year’s inaugural race going on sale six months earlier than this year, Las Vegas Grand Prix CEO Renee Wilm said the initial slower purchase pace was anticipated.
“There was obviously a significantly greater amount of time for people to look out and book those rooms,” Wilm said Tuesday, following a presentation to the Clark County Commission. “There’s always a lot of excitement around year one. As soon as we announced we had an incredible influx of interest and very early ticket sales. What we’re seeing this year is what we’d expect to see for years two, three, four, which is that later in the calendar races will ramp up once you get past the summer break.”
Wynn Resorts CEO Craig Billings echoed Wilm’s statement, saying they aren’t worried about current hotel room bookings for this year’s race week, pegged for Nov. 21-23.
“F1, they’re really top-notch operators and unlike last year when they heavily marketed throughout the year, they just started their big marketing push for the race this month,” Billings said Tuesday, during Wynn’s earnings call. “I’m sure the race will be well-executed. Our experience during last year’s F1 and more recently during the Super Bowl, tells us we will be the place to see and be seen during the race. We’re confident that we’ll do just fine.”
Wynn Resorts is offering F1 weekend room packages starting at $5,045, taxes and fees included, for a room for two guests with a king-size bed for three nights, beginning with the Nov. 21, the first night of grand prix events. The deal does not include tickets to the race, with 93 of the rooms being booked in the past two days, according to Wynn’s website.
A room package, featuring a room for three nights with two queen beds, with two grandstand seats to race weekend included, starts at $9,100, before taxes and fees.
Some concern about slow pre-bookings
Billing’s outlook is a contrast to MGM Resorts chief executive Bill Hornbuckle’s comments last week during an earnings call on how the city’s largest gaming company is feeling thus far about prospects for the 2024 race weekend.
Hornbuckle noted this year’s race is lacking pre-bookings, with the interest in rooms feeling soft compared with interest at the same point last year.
“It doesn’t feel soft in gaming, which is the most important piece,” Hornbuckle said. “It just does in room rates at the ‘Big Three,’ meaning in this case Aria, Cosmo and Bellagio.”
MGM Resorts plans for its high-end Bellagio Fountain Club hospitality area, located in front of the Fountains at Bellagio, to return for this year’s race. Prices for the spectator zone start at $13,015 per person, before taxes and fees, but buyers must purchase two of the hospitality tickets and an at least two-night room stay at a MGM Resort property to be able to secure tickets to the Bellagio zone.
The total price for two tickets to the Bellagio Fountain Club and a two-night stay in a two queen bed room at the Bellagio is $27,579, according to MGM Resorts booking page.
This year’s race will take place on the same 3.8-mile circuit, mainly running on public roads, including Las Vegas Boulevard, Koval Lane and Harmon and Sands avenues. Infrastructure work tied to the race is slated to begin Sept. 1.
Lower-priced ticket options
With 10,000 new general admission tickets available this year, hopes are the increase in cheaper-priced tickets also draws new fans to the event, who might have skipped it last year because of the high price points. The lowest-priced ticket for race weekend was a $150, fees and taxes not included, for the Flamingo GA zone for Nov. 21, the first night of practice. The cheapest three-day ticket in that section runs $600, before fees and taxes.
“We eliminated the high-end hospitality structures on Koval … which include grandstand seats, not assigned, so you can ebb and flow,” Wilm said. “We also have the new Flamingo Zone and have additional capacity at the Sphere Zone.”
Race officials are also planning to host a free watch party in the Las Vegas Valley, but those details weren’t yet available as of Tuesday’s commission meeting.
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.