Las Vegas Extends F1 Contract Through 2027 Race

• F1 will return to the Vegas Strip at least three more times after extending its contract with the LVCVA through 2027
• While beneficial to some Strip hotels like Venetian and the Wynn, the race can be costly for other local businesses and for workers who have to deal with delays and detours while heading to their jobs

The F1 Grand Prix will complete at least three more annual laps around the Las Vegas Strip. Officials with the race confirmed an extension covering 2026 and 2027 in a story broken by the New York Times on Saturday. They also announced the dates of next year’s race as Nov. 19-21, 2026.

Though Clark County granted approval for the race to convert major sections of the Las Vegas Strip into its private racetrack for 10 years, F1’s initial contract with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) ran for only three years. This year’s race – taking place November 20-25 — will be the last of that initial agreement.

Las Vegas Grand Prix president Emily Prazer broke the news to The Times during a media panel on the future of the Las Vegas Grand Prix in Montreal on Saturday.

We’ve agreed collectively that we’re going to do a two-year extension for 2026 and ’27,” Prazer said during the panel. “We want to make sure that we’re continuing to evolve what we’re doing. But the intent is a much longer-term arrangement.

“As we all know, the race has had its challenges, but we’re coming out the other side. So we want to make sure that it continues to work for both sides.”

The big winners of the F1 races are really Liberty Media, F1’s Colorado-based owner, as well as the higher-end casino resorts surrounding the racetrack, such as The Wynn and Venetian. That where most of the $1.5 billion in revenue claimed by the LVCVA goes.

The big losers were the owners of almost all off-Strip and downtown casinos, and the local businesses who claim to have lost millions of dollars by being cut off from their normal foot traffic.

The race also severely disrupts Las Vegas show attendance. And let’s not forget the casino employees, who are robbed of work time when construction delays double or triple their commuting time.

Even Clark County itself is a loser. Commissioners said that the first race cost taxpayers nearly half a million dollars. Though the race generated $3.8 million in tax revenue for the county, its staff members spent more than 17K hours performing race-related work. The bill for this cost $4.4 million, leaving the taxpayers $463K in the red.