Apparently this opening ceremony isn't live. I'm also impressed with the lighting and presentation on this giant scale. Those drone shots over the event are fantastic.
Our plan in Vegas is to do F1 by night and get all our Xmas shopping done by day. There is a lot of time to kill...
Ticket and hotel prices crashing ahead of the race https://x.com/ArashMarkazi/status/1725201956011118985?s=20 I guess getting the whales to the casinos is really all that mattered anyway..... and I wonder how many of the mega-VIP packages they sold...... Like the $1million package at Wynn..... and I saw the $100k Ferrari team package
The author produced this article - https://themessenger.com/sports/night-in-an-18-hotel-room-las-vegas-grand-prix --To be fair, the rate for my room does increase as the week goes on. It’s $35.28 on Thursday, $170.10 on Friday and $200.10 on race day, Saturday, but those rates are well below normal. For example, the same room last week was going for $251.10 on Thursday, $314.10 on Friday and $314.10 on Saturday, according to the hotel’s website. Ticket prices have also plummeted. Tickets for Thursday’s practice sessions were selling for around $100 on Wednesday night and tickets for Friday’s qualifying were going for around $250 on the secondary market. Both events were selling for around $1,000 originally. A ticket to Saturday’s race is still over $800 but they were over $1,600 just last month.-- --“This race has made our lives a living hell,” said one cocktail server at the Flamingo, who said her normally 25-minute commute to work from Summerlin has been doubled and often tripled since preparations for the race began. “They started road work in April. They’re telling us they might not be completely done with the teardown until just before New Year’s Eve. And then what? Las Vegas is going to be back to normal for a few months before they get ready for the next race? Is this our new reality?” It is for at least the next decade. Earlier this year, F1 and Clark County entered a 10-year partnership for the Las Vegas Grand Prix to take place in and around the Strip during the week before Thanksgiving. “I don’t think I can go through this every year,” said a bartender at The Venetian. “I’m just struggling to get through this week with the street closures and traffic. They’re doing everything to get us to come to work during a time when everyone is saying ‘don't come to the Strip unless you have a ticket to the race.’”--
I don’t think it’s a surprise the Bellagio is effectively sold out and the low rent Las Vegas Blvd east side couldn’t upsell too many of their crappy rooms.
I do feel bad for the locals. Months of construction and inconvenience for one inconsequential sporting weekend. Are they going to tear down the Bellagio grandstands after this weekend and rebuild it again over months every year?
The entire city is a strip of casinos in the middle of the desert to attract the rest of the country for inconsequential weekends. Creating the reason to come visit is what drives that whole economy They just need better traffic access into the track area.... and next year will be a lot less construction as the permanent buildings are already done.
Bellagio has rooms and views available. Not sold out at all. 1600 per night and MGM grand is 440$ per night. Not a sell out. Just looked online.
+1 this is the worst race of the season it just a sh*** show Max is right it has nothing to do with racing
Is the NFL, NBA or the baseball league playing? Those are inconsequential sporting events to me. Not F1.
I have never been to Las Vegas myself, but I have heard from acquaintances who have visited the place there is much more that just gambling to attract people. Apparently there is entertainement, shows, concerts, shopping malls, restaurants, etc ... I had a non-gambling neighbour who spent his annual 2 weeks vacation at Las Vegas for more than 25 years. The quality of service is quite high, I am told, and if one avoids the big event periods, room prices are quite competitive.
All true. Las Vegas is great for what it is. I love vacationing there (without any gambling) and just enjoy all the world class entertainment they have to offer. Now they have added F1 to that long list. Good for them.
The drivers already hate it. They are being paraded around like clowns, literally with Elvis impersonators all manner of bad taste. No major city in the US can just shut down like Monaco can and does. The people in the US have to work and get around in general, Monaco really isn't like that. Just a horrible idea in general for any major US city, and even worse when it's Vegas as they make such a trailer trash spectacle.
Oh yes I agree with that, I lived there 3 years and am not a (big) gambler….. but going there now as a getaway with the wife is a show + dinner + golf My point was more that the whole city originated as a tourist destination. The gambling + all the other entertainment around it. What would Vegas be without the Strip? Probably something more like Albuquerque, NM. Local strip workers complaining about the race would be like someone in Cabo complaining about people coming to the beach. That quote from the Flamingo cocktail waitress… she just sounds like an idiot.
You can't hold the fact that the WDC has been decided against Las Vegas or the organizers. That wasn't really predictable (well maybe it was, but that's beyond the point). And quite frankly I don't really care that much whether the WDC has been sealed or not. It was clear that it was Max from the beginning, whether the mathematical elimination of all others happens here, in Mexico or in Abu Dhabi is somewhat irrelevant.
My daughter works for a marketing company associated with F1, she just told me that interest in the race is not what they expected and you can now get the $27,000 VIP package for $2,750. https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/15/business/f1-race-las-vegas-ticket-prices/index.html#:~:text=This%20week's%20prices%20indicate%20that,last%20year's%20price%20of%20%241%2C085.
The pricing from the start was outrageous, catering to the .1%. The casinos tried to get what they could get and now they are adjusting based on demand. The start time and cold temps probably soured people too. But for sure, the original pricing was way out of whack.
Wow! I was looking at some packages back in the summer.... glad I didn't pull the trigger.... I'd be pissed if I was locked into some expensive thing right now at top dollar
LOL, We are gearing up for practice 1. What jacket, what shoes, should we eat something first? By practice 3 we should know which jacket for the race...
