This morning, local business owners launched a petition to stop the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix, citing a loss upwards of $30 million due to a bridge built on Flamingo and Koval and the extensive road closures in the many months leading up to the 2023 Grand Prix.
“To date, F1 has not held a public meeting or even sat in a room with all of us together who lost millions in 2023,” said Gino Ferraro, Owner of Ferraro’s Ristorante. “F1 is selling tickets and moving ahead as if these issues do not exist, as if we do not exist. My family restaurant has been here for 39-years, we matter.”
The petition asks the Clark County Commissioners, who still have to approve the 2024 Special Use Permit, to not approve that permit until the issues from 2023 have been settled. This includes a reimbursement of the losses incurred by local small business owners. The 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix is scheduled to take place November 21-23, 2024.
The reasons for the petition include the adverse affects on small businesses, strip employees and transportation companies who faced large revenues losses, traffic congestion and disruption, and a lack of meaningful consultation with residents and stakeholders.
“We know many more people were negatively impacted by the F1 race in 2023,” said Randy Markin, Owner of Battista’s Restaurant and Stage Door Casino. “Uber drivers, casino employees, and other business owners up and down the Las Vegas Strip were negatively impacted. We firmly believe that we need public input on this event that proved to be devastating to my business and others.”
Madgy Amer, who lost all of his small businesses, including the restaurant Tex Mex Tequila on Las Vegas Boulevard added, “I do not want to see anyone else suffer like we did during the F1 race, and we ultimately could not take the revenue losses and had to close. F1 needs to be held accountable and the 2024 race will have the same result unless something is done to not impact the Las Vegas Strip; its employees, visitors and businesses.”
To sign the petition and learn more about how you can get involved, visit https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-las-vegas-grand-prix-f1. Additionally, the petitioners encourage supporters to spread the word on social media.