News - December 10, 2025 - by Ray Hagar

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The overall economic impact of the 2025 Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix should be greater than last year's impact, Steve Hill, CEO and president of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, said this week on Nevada Newsmakers.

"Last year's economic impact was $934 million," Hill told host Sam Shad. "Frankly, I'll be surprised if it doesn't beat that number this year.

"They sold more tickets," Hill continued. "The attendance was somewhat higher this year than it was last year. Room rates were stable and moving up as we got closer to the race, which was different than what we saw in Year Two."

Official numbers are expected in a few months but other indicators also point to a more robust economic impact. Consider:

* The race shattered betting records for a Formula One race at BetMGM and STN Sports, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. It also surpassed the number of tickets and money wagered on last year’s race at Caesars Sportsbook.

* TV viewership on ESPN was up 70 percent from 2024, helped by an earlier start time. This year's race had a viewership of 1.5 million viewers -- up from 905,000 in 2024. The first Las Vegas Formula One race attracted 1.3 million viewers in 2023.

"It was the best race we've had," Hill said.

The experienced earned from the first two Formula One races in Las Vegas, made the third one more efficient,  Hill said.

"Everybody involved in this race learned from the first two and it really matured this year," Hill said. "The economic impact might not be what it was completely in Year One (about $1.5 billion), because the demand for the first year's race is going to be higher than any other subsequent race."

At first, some might have thought that the Formula One race, with its international, high-roller appeal, would overwhelm the city. That, however, has not been the case, Hill said.

During race week, Las Vegas absorbed thousands of visitors in town for various major events not related to the Formula One race.

"What we learned is it (race) doesn't (overwhelm)," Hill said. "It fills about half the (city's 150,000 hotel) rooms. It is a great event around the circuit. But you need alternative programing. You need everything that Las Vegas has to offer  -- in addition to Formula One -- for Las Vegas to be Las Vegas."

The Las Vegas professional and college sports calendars were packed during race week, attracting almost 180,000 fans to four big games.

* The Raiders started race week off with a Monday Night Football game at Allegiant against the Dallas Cowboys. It attracted a crowd of 62,625.

* Tuesday, the Golden Knights hockey team hosted the New York Rangers. More than 18,000 watched at T-Moble Arena.

* Friday before the race, a crowd of 37,000 watched UNLV's football team defeat Hawaii at Allegiant.

* The Raiders were back at Allegiant the Sunday after the race, playing the Cleveland Browns before a crowd of 62,244.

"We had a Monday Night game that week and a Sunday game that week," Hill said. "The Knights played that week. UNLV played Hawaii that week. We had the Neon City Festival. We had all of those different offerings, which really elevated the entire week for everybody in the destination."

Big events after F1

From Dec. 4 to Dec. 13, the National Finals Rodeo is in Las Vegas. The NFR is a major event that fills a time in the year that used to be slow in terms of visitorship, Hill said.

"This is the 40th year that the NFR has been here," Hill said. "It's not only a tradition for Las Vegas, but it's just hugely important to the city. It is at a time of year that without the NFR here, we'd be slow. And that change makes a huge difference for the city."

After the New Year, the huge Consumer Electronics Show comes to Las Vegas, Jan. 6-9. It is billed as the "Most Powerful Tech Event in the World," with some of the emphasis of the week on Artificial Intelligence, according to reports.

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