By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
Wade Bohn was in Denver Tuesday after travelling to the Mile High City with his girlfriend, who was attending a travel conference.
Bohn, the owner of Jay's Market on East Flamingo Road, which lost millions of dollars in revenues because of the Las Vegas Grand Prix road closures and restrictions, figured he would make a little side trip to the company that owns the Las Vegas Grand Prix while his girlfriend was at the conference.
Bohn spent most of today across the street from Liberty Media Corporation, the billion-dollar Centennial, Colorado-based company that owns Formula 1, which promotes the controversial grand prix event in Las Vegas.
Clark County permitted F1 to use 3.8 miles of public roads, including a big section of the Strip, for the grand prix race course that disrupted business, commerce and transportation like no other event in Las Vegas history.
Formula 1 puts on two other races in the U.S. in Miami and Austin, Texas, but those courses are not in the middle of those markets' business centers.
LVSportsBiz.com has reported extensively on Las Vegas business owners near the Flamingo Road-Koval Lane intersection who argued they lost millions of dollars in revenues because the Las Vegas Grand Prix's barriers and fences limited customers from reaching their businesses.
It was the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, the public tourism agency, that sold the race to Clark County commissioners. The race debut in November resulted in mixed financial impacts, with Las Vegas' biggest hotels cashing in while local smaller businesses were financially hurt.
The LVCVA and F1, with Clark County's blessing, installed this bridge on Flamingo Road, limiting customer access to Bohn's store.
The F1 road work and street closures were brutal in the Strip corridor, causing months of traffic problems before the November race that lasted 90 minutes.
For some reason, Clark County commissioners failed to ask for compensation for handing over public roads to a private race promoter. They looked like they were out of their league in dealing with Formula 1.
Bohn said Tuesday he set up shop in front of Liberty Media with his signs leaning against the Liberty Media Corporation signage bearing the business name.
Bohn said security came out and told him to move, claiming it was private land. So Bohn moved across the street at 12300 Liberty Blvd. in Centennial in Denver's southern suburbs.
Bohn spent from 9:15 AM to 4 PM spreading the word that Liberty Media's grand prix event in Las Vegas hurt the town.
Bohn said he saw workers leaving the Liberty Media HQ.
"Some waved at me with a smile as they left and others did not," Bohn said. "They had a pretty good scowl on their faces."
Las Vegas Grand Prix officials said the impact on interfering with businesses in the Strip will be less this year for the 2024 event in November while rolling out ticket prices that are less costly than those of the debut race in 2023.
Here was a Las Vegas Grand Prix statement in response to Clark County "debriefing report" that was made public March 19 at a county commission meeting.
"As we plan for the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix, we continue to work with all local stakeholders to ensure expanded opportunities for the community. The county has provided helpful feedback and recommendations for a smoother implementation this year, and we have already begun addressing those recommendations.
"This year's race preparations will be significantly streamlined, which will lead to far fewer traffic disruptions in a much shorter timeframe. While addressing the lessons learned of a first-year event, we are also proud of the tremendous success of our inaugural race, with a record of nearly $1.5 billion in economic impact and unmatched global exposure for our destination."
The county instructed the grand prix to submit a traffic plan by May 1, which is tomorrow. LVSportsBiz.com will be checking with Clark County Wednesday to see if the traffic plan is submitted.
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