The organisers of the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix have revealed their plans to recapture the event’s lost magic, following a 2024 race aimed at staying out of the spotlight.
One of F1’s flagship events, the Las Vegas GP represents one of the sport’s significant investments, with a heavy focus on commercial returns and dazzling the viewing public.
The inaugural event in 2023 faced issues despite a flashy launch event on Thursday, with track homologation only approved the week before and FP1 abandoned due to a loose drain cover.
While the race went off without a hitch, organisers chose to have a somewhat subdued 2024 race after the controversy, opting to prioritise operational standards over glamour.
However, Las Vegas Grand Prix president and CEO Emily Prazer has confirmed plans to bring back the show factor for 2025, revealing the weekend is close to a sellout.
We’re making a splash again,” she is quoted by Racer. “I think what we felt really good about after the second year was the operational delivery of the event.
“I think everyone knows – it’s quite well documented – that this year we had repositioned ourselves around our ticketing proposition, and we’re pacing really, really well for a sell-out.”
A focus on ‘production value’
Prazer revealed cheaper tickets form part of the new strategy, following criticism of inflated prices in 2023 and 2024, while teasing plans for support events and for post-race surprises.
“Obviously, Vegas typically is a much more of a last-minute market just around every ticket. People land and they go, ‘Oh, what’s on this weekend?’
“But we have kind of proofed out what we needed to do there with the cheaper tickets for the locals and making sure that we make it really accessible.
“And then it was about rebuilding some of the programming and making sure that we continue on the production value.
“We talk about it a lot, but Miami, you really know where you are. [Austin], you definitely know you’re in Texas. Vegas, we’re kind of known for the entertainment and the production side, so I think you’ll find that the Saturday night is going to be quite epic and a few different surprises around what we’re doing for the post-race show.”
“We’ve got the Business Summit happening, which we felt was almost part of how do we make Vegas feel like a Super Bowl week?
“There was a lot of conversation about what can we bring, and it’s not just about the evening entertainment, but we’re all there.
“And so we’ve built this Business Summit that we hope that everybody can come to and enjoy, and then we can continue to build that out.
Outlining the entertainment on offer, Prazer reaffirmed her vision for fans to see value from the event in Sin City, explaining her hopes for the 2025 race scheduled for the end of November.
“We’re going to be doing some stuff during the day. We’ve partnered again with The Sphere so that you can all go and see The Wizard of Oz.
“We’ve got the Raiders games… It’s like the most unbelievable week.
“There’s a Raiders game on the Monday and on the Sunday, and there’s a VGK [Vegas Golden Knights] game on the Tuesday.
“So we have Raiders either side, and then Wednesday has become our golf tournament again, which we’ve done the last few years – a golf tournament at the Wynn, which is called The Grid. Thursday is Liberty Investor Day, actually, followed by the Business Summit, and then free practise.
“Friday we’ve partnered with the amfAR Gala to make sure that all of their celebrities can come over to the paddock.
“So it feels like there’s just stuff happening 24/7, and obviously with the earlier start time and with F1 Academy, I think what we’ll find is that it feels a lot more compressed, but there’s just entertainment going on from the minute everyone wakes up all the way through to post-race parties and official parties and stuff like that.
“So it feels like we’ve gained some confidence in the programming around the event and making sure that you get real value for money.”
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