As F1 thrives in Las Vegas, some local businesses still feel the financial strain

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As F1 thrives in Las Vegas, some local businesses still feel the financial strain

LAS VEGAS — Jay’s Market On Flamingo is a corner gas station like so many others in and around Las Vegas, offering a little bit of everything. That it happens to be situated at the intersection of two of Las Vegas’ busiest roads makes it a convenient stop for out-of-towners needing supplies as they head in or out of the city.

However, in the past two Novembers, that convenience has been interrupted by the construction of the Las Vegas Grand Prix Formula One circuit incorporating 3.8 miles of city streets, necessitating traffic restrictions and outright road closures that create significant gridlock throughout the city. For Wade Bohn, the owner of Jay’s Market, located where Flamingo Road and Koval Lane cross, the congestion isn’t just a traffic nightmare but also a financial nightmare. His store is along the straightaway between Turns 4 and 5.

“When I have no control over my business, succeeding or failing, yeah, I’m frustrated,” Bohn said. “I have no control. Literally, no control. For 13 years, I’ve had control of my business, been very profitable, made a great living for me and my employees. F1 comes to town, literally no business. It’s unbelievable and frustrating.

“I can’t sleep at night.”

As Bohn spoke, his anger was conveyed with his words, a quivering top lip and piercing blue eyes. He explained how the Las Vegas Grand Prix threatens his livelihood.

In November 2022, the last time F1 didn’t race here, Jay’s Market had $628,000 in ****** sales, Bohn said. The following year, however, sales in November fell considerably. As of this writing, he’s at $144,000 for this month. Overall, taking into account all the construction, road closures, snarled traffic and the closing of a sub shop that rented space inside the store at $4,000 a month, Bohn says he lost $3.4 million year-to-year from 2022 to 2023. And this year will be even worse.

Four lawsuits have been filed against Clark County by local business owners seeking financial damages, claiming the race has negatively impacted their businesses.(Clive Mason/Getty Images)

The culprit is mostly due to a race that Bohn and many other business owners in the area do not want to continue beyond this year, arguing that doing so will likely push them beyond their economic means. Already, Bohn has had to reduce his workforce by half and has started looking for a second job to help supplement his income.

“If there’s a fourth year (of the Las Vegas Grand Prix in 2026) I will bank on it that I will go into bankruptcy and lose my business,” Bohn said. “I am currently looking for work right now. Me, the owner, I need a job. I need to make money. I’m not making any money. It’s terrible.”

Four lawsuits have been filed against Clark County by local business owners, including Bohn, seeking financial damages for negatively impacting their businesses. The Las Vegas Grand Prix declined comment related to any ongoing litigation.

“We’re not like New York City where most everybody kind of lives in New York and where you can walk to work,” Lisa Mayo-DeRiso, a spokesperson for one group of business owners suing the county, told The Athletic. “Here, we have to drive to work or take the bus to work. People are having an hour to two hours to three hours a day extra to get to work and to get home. And F1 is not compensating anybody for those extra hours, babysitting time, time in your car, lost hours, lost time. They’re not compensating anybody for anything. They don’t believe that they should have to.

“Our businesses have lost money.”

A view of the bridge installed next to Jay’s Market on Flamingo. (Jordan Bianchi / The Athletic)

Race organizers and Clark County have made considerable efforts to lessen the burden on local businesses, Lori Nelson-Kraft, senior vice president of corporate affairs for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, told The Athletic. Construction of the circuit for this year’s race was shorter than a year ago by 65 percent. And as much as possible, construction was done overnight to minimize disruption during busier hours. Representatives for the race have also met with local business owners, including Bohn, and they say they’re receptive to ideas that would further help the community.

“We have adjusted plans based on that feedback,” Nelson-Kraft said. “So any of those businesses that participate have been able to have those forums to share that information and they are always included.”

One idea conceived to help ease traffic congestion was reducing the temporary bridge on Flamingo Road over Koval Lane from the four lanes it was last year to two. That bridge went up in October.

“A lot of improvements have been made, and I will say that the restaurants that are in and around the circuit, specifically in that corridor, I have personally eaten at since the vehicular bridge has gone in,” Nelson-Kraft said. “And, anecdotally, while eating in that area there with my husband, I had conversations with their staff where they have shared with me, just as a guest of their venues, that they have seen remarkable improvements over last year.”

According to Bohn, though, the bridge has yet to help. Instead, it effectively placed a wall around his store. Traffic flow is further backed to where even regular customers are deterred from stopping.

At another small business in the area, a clerk (who asked not to be identified) took off his glasses and rubbed his temple when asked about the bridge. He followed by letting out an exasperated sigh, dropping an f-***** and saying he didn’t have a comment other than to refer to the bridge by the derisive nickname used by some locals: “The Bridge to Bankruptcy.”

“F1 tells me this is going to help me, but it looks like a three-story prison that’s covered in ****** tarp,” Bohn said. “There’s no access to my property from Koval, it’s completely shut off. I sit on a corner that has two access points when F1 is not here. I only have one when they’re here. When they’re here, it’s bad.”

Said Mayo-DeRiso: “They put up that ******* bridge that cuts traffic. It absolutely impedes the flow of traffic.”

Race organizers and Clark County have made considerable efforts to lessen the burden on local businesses, but many still resent F1’s presence. (Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images)

Ideally, critics of the race would prefer the Las Vegas Grand Prix shift outside the city so that throughways no longer require being shut down. But the likelihood that Formula One would be willing to run on a circuit other than one that sees drivers speed down the Strip is a longshot, at best. The city and F1 have a 10-year contract.

According to Nelson-Kraft, last year’s inaugural grand prix had a $1.5 billion economic impact on the city. That figure outperformed expectations and the Super Bowl Las Vegas hosted in February, which generated $1 billion. Tax revenue from the race brought in $77 million, the most in Las Vegas history.

Revenue projections for this year’s grand prix are lower than the 2023 edition, though they’re expected to remain robust. What that exact figure is won’t be known until weeks and months after Saturday night’s race. Three hundred thousand attendees are expected to turn through the gates across the three-day race weekend.

“We are a tourism-driven economy, we are dependent on 150,000 plus hotel rooms filling up,” Nelson-Kraft said. “Special events are one of the big ways that we do it. And nobody hosts big events better than Las Vegas.”

Standing in front of a drink cooler inside his store, Bohn wonders where all that money is going. None of it is being directed towards him, he said, while his bills continue to pile up due to an event he views as an unnecessary burden.

“The s— pile keeps building up,” Bohn said. “I need this to go away. This nightmare goes away, I will sleep better.”

(Top photo of Jay’s Market owner Wade Bohn: K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

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