ONE LOVE: Vegas starts engines for Grand Prix event

Las Vegas tourism officials have committed US$19.5 million over the next three years to sponsor Formula One races on a course that includes the famous Vegas Strip and which will return street racing to the city after close to 40 years.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority board voted unanimously last week to spend $6.5 million per year to partner with Liberty Dice Inc. on the Las Vegas Grand Prix, while, at the same time, parent company and F1 owner Liberty Media Corp. announced plans to pay $240 million for unspecified property near the Strip for a pit and paddock complex.

Plans were announced March 30 for Las Vegas to join Miami and Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, on the F1 calendar next year. Officials expect tens of thousands of racing fans around the world to travel to Las Vegas for the race.

The Strip event will run at night in November 2023 on a temporary 6.1-km. street course past resorts including the Bellagio, Caesars Palace, and the soon-to-be-completed MSG Sphere.

The 2023 race also is viewed as a dress rehearsal for the Super Bowl in February 2024 at Allegiant Stadium.