Las Vegas Grand Prix could dwarf Super Bowl and huge Mike Tyson fights as ‘biggest event in city’s history’

The biggest game on the American sporting calendar is set to be upstaged by Lewis Hamilton and Co.

Formula 1 rolls into Las Vegas from November 15 – 17, three months earlier than the Super Bowl at the Allegiant Stadium.

That 2024 date will see the best the NFL has to offer and there will be a Hollywood level audience at the Raiders’ home – perhaps bigger and better than anything before – particularly if Taylor Swift’s Kansas City Chiefs make it.

However, research has shown that F1’s return to Nevada will have more than twice as big an impact, at least economically.

Motorsport’s premier series will hit the Vegas strip for the first time ever, and race in the state for the first time since the 1982 Caeser’s Palace Grand Prix.

Unlike that ill-fated 80’s event, this edition is set to take F1 to a whole new level stateside, with a night race spectacle past the Bellagio water fountain like nothing seen before.

The extraordinary work going into the event is already well underway, and the resources being pumped into the Grand Prix are set to reap massive rewards.

Research from financial experts Applied Analysis projects that the 2023 event will have an economic impact of £1.05billion on the local area, more than twice what Super Bowl LVIII provide with a figure of £486m.

That’s due to the scale of the 6.2kilometre event, with an estimated £807m expected in visitor spending, and £256m in event costs.

On top of that, they Applied Analysis estimate that the race will create around 7,700 jobs for local people and who will be rewarded with around £293m in wages.

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Tickets for the race weekend are already by far the most expensive of the season, and range all the way up to a staggering $11,000 for a special track side seat at the Bellagio Hotel.

That coincides with hotel rooms selling at between three and six times the average price, while the MGM Grand say it will be an ‘“’all-time record casino event.’

The report further emphasises that all Las Vegas hotels will be sold out ahead of the weekend, during a usually very quiet Thanksgiving period for the city.

Principal analyst Jeremy Aguero then concludes: “I have every expectation that Las Vegas will once again defy the critics and the can’t-do crowd.”

As well as the NFL, Vegas was once known as the ‘Fight capital of the world’ having hosted boxing’s biggest fights.

The first Mike Tyson vs Evander Holyfield fight in 1996 was there as was the rematch between Lennox Lewis and Holyfield in 1999.

“F1 will put on a race that will captivate the world; Las Vegas will report the best November in its history and will further solidify itself as the world’s premier host city for major events; and our community will reap the benefits economically, fiscally and socially.”

Challenge set, Swifties…