Mind-blowing numbers behind inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix emerge in new F1 report

The numbers behind the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix have been released, and it's safe to say Formula 1 will be returning to the Vegas Strip for years to come.

There was a fair bit of controversy surrounding the introduction of the Vegas Grand Prix, with many fans feeling that a third race in the US was simply overkill.

Locals were also not majorly impressed either with the race completely shutting down huge areas of the city including the iconic strip at antisocial hours in order for the race to be held at night while still catering for European fans.

The fans didn't even get the best of starts to their Vegas experience after FP1 (Free Practice 1) was canceled early due to Carlos Sainz hitting a drain cover, and fans weren't even allowed into the track for FP2.

Despite these early hiccups, the overall weekend was an overall success. Despite many expecting the race to be a snooze fest, it was actually one of the most entertaining of the year with Charles Leclerc taking the fight to Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.

While it was obviously a huge bonus to get an entertaining race, the reality of modern-day F1 is that the event was primarily used as an economic tool for sport. And with a reported visitor spending of $884 million, it certainly did that.

Las Vegas GP

This mind-blowing statistic has come from a comprehensive 40-page report analysing the economic impact of the race last year that has recently been released by Las Vegas. Here are the key highlights from the report:

• The total economic impact has been measured at $1.5 billion, including visitor spending of $884 million.

• The race generated $77 million in tax revenue — more than any other event in Las Vegas history.

• F1 spent $88 million on public infrastructure improvements (not including land acquisition, etc.).

• Race visitors spent 3.6x more than the typical Las Vegas traveler, staying 4.1 nights and spending over $4,100 on average.

• Local workers earned $52 million in wages

• The event created 7,300 jobs, including 2,200 for race-related construction projects and 5,100 for event operations.

• The Las Vegas Airport was the second busiest airport in the country the day after the race, with 2,200 operations.

Topics: Formula 1

Tom Jenkins

Tom Jenkins is a Social Editor and Journalist for SPORTBible. Specialises in Football and F1 but has experience covering a variety of sports such as MMA, Boxing and Cricket. Suffers weekly as an Evertonian.

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