The F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix takes place this coming Saturday, Nov. 18, at 10 p.m. local time, 1 a.m. ET. The event should be a curiosity with the race taking place right in the city and part of the track taking over the Las Vegas Strip.
Watching how the drivers navigate the track should be even more of a spectacle live than on television. Yet interest in the Grand Prix appears to be mild, judging from dropping ticket prices for the event. Prices have been reduced by nearly 60%.
Single-day seats available through the race’s official site via Ticketmaster are priced at $1169 (before fees) for the grandstand, with standing room tickets at $970. That’s down considerably from the $1645 that was the cheapest price one month ago, according to CNN.
Other resale ticket services feature even lower prices (before fees). At TickPick, the least expensive seats begin at $898. StubHub has tickets priced at $831. And the cheapest seats available at SeatGeek are listed at $805.
Started from the bottom, now we're here 🏗️🙌 #LasVegasGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/hbTYyESGJq
— F1 Las Vegas (@F1LasVegas) November 15, 2023
Tickets for qualifying sessions on Thursday and Friday, in addition to 3-day passes for the event have seen similar drops in prices. For example, the official site has Thursday tickets priced beginning at $200. SeatGeek lists tickets at $143. At StubHub, the price is $164. And TickPick has its lowest tickets priced at $196.
Why have prices dropped? General demand was overestimated, especially for an event starting at 10 p.m. Las Vegas residents have viewed the track construction as an inconvenience. Visitors also likely prefer a weekend when the Strip won’t be occupied by an F1 racetrack and stadium seating taking up precious real estate nearby the Bellagio fountain and other destination features.
Perhaps most importantly. the race won’t affect the end-of-season results. Max Verstappen won the F1 world championship after finishing second in the Qatar Grand Prix sprint race nearly six weeks ago. For the ticket prices and travel involved, a sporting event has to matter on some level beyond its result.
