Las Vegas hotel room bookings, sales ‘feel soft’ for 2024 F1 race

Room rates at select Las Vegas Strip casino hotels are down ahead of November’s Formula One race compared to last year, according to industry executives.

During an earnings call Wednesday, MGM Resorts International President and CEO Bill Hornbuckle said 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix ticket sales were lagging and that some of MGM’s properties were charging up to 50 percent less for hotel rooms compared with the inaugural race in 2023.

“I think the real issue with Formula One is it’s off to a soft start as compared to last year where we had a lot of advanced pre-bookings,” Hornbuckle said. “The actual event itself feels soft.”

But, he said, MGM’s core business was not feeling the pinch.

“It doesn’t feel soft in gaming, which is the most important piece,” he said. “It just does in room rates at the ‘Big Three,’ meaning in this case Aria, Cosmo and Bellagio.”

Hornbuckle said that while he’s confident room rates will tick back up as the race draws nearer, the current returns are “worthy enough and we’re concerned enough to make a point of distinction between this year versus last year.”

Hornbuckle estimated the difference for MGM’s hotel room revenue was in the “$30 million-ish, plus or minus” range.

The 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix will take place Nov. 21-23.

Corey Sanders, MGM’s chief operating officer, said other cities that have brought in F1 races had similar experiences to Las Vegas.

“It’s fairly consistent. Year one, there’s a lot of hype for it,” he said Wednesday. “This will be a good weekend for us compared to an average normal weekend. Just in comparison to F1 last year, it was so substantial, especially on the rates at the luxury properties.”

The Las Vegas Grand Prix is in the second year of a three-year deal between the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and Formula One. The authority is paying F1 $6.5 million per year to sponsor the race.

According to the LVCVA, the 2023 Grand Prix was the largest sporting event in the city’s history, drawing over 315,000 attendees over the course of four days. The LVCVA estimated the 2023 race’s economic impact to be $1.5 billion.

The 2023 LV Grand Prix received mixed local reactions.

Select Strip casino operators — most notably MGM, which erected viewing grandstands in front of the Bellagio casino-hotel along the race’s main drag — touted its success, particularly in its ability to attract international visitors.

Preparation for the 2023 event spanned the better part of the year, disrupting traffic and visitor movement along The Strip. Several local businesses in the area said they lost significant revenue during the nine months of construction and road paving, while Strip casino employees struggled with their daily commutes.

The economic boost also missed many of the downtown casino operators. This year, downtown Las Vegas will host the Neon City Festival, a free event with live music, food and entertainment, during the Formula One race.

David Danzis can be contacted at ddanzis@reviewjournal.com. Follow him on X at AC_Danzis.