Formula One has pumped the brakes on a controversial plan to force Las Vegas clubs and restaurants to cough up tens of millions of dollars in licensing fees by threatening to dam their views of the hotly anticipated Grand Prix race, The Post has learned.
The posh automobile racing league has slashed the value that venues positioned along the November event’s 3.8-mile circuit must pay to around $50,000 each — down sharply from a $1,500-per-head demand that may have resulted in a tab of $3 million for a serious venue with a capability of two,000, because the The Post exclusively reported.
Insiders said F1 — owned by billionaire John Malone’s Liberty Media — has backed down after allegedly threatening to place up barricades, lights and other obstructions in front of companies that refused to pay the licensing fees, which had been based on the utmost capability of venues in line with city fire codes.
“This venue fee is far smarter,” a source near restaurant owners said, adding, “It’s rather more in keeping with what the Super Bowl will charge” when it’s played in Las Vegas next yr.
While Formula One has charged similar fees at other street course locales like Monaco, Las Vegas venues claimed that casinos are on the lookout for high rollers to come back and gamble several times a yr. If customers spend an excessive amount of money on F1 trip, they might delay their next visit, one executive argued.
The most cost-effective ticket packages available for the race begin at $2,000.
Along with an unobstructed view, the $50,000 venue fee will grant restaurants and clubs a direct feed of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, which will probably be held Nov. 19, sources said.
“There may be a certain line they’re crossing [by] telling someone who has spent billions on their property that you just are shutting the Strip down for construction after which asking them to pay for seats,” a source told The Post last month.
A Formula One spokesman declined comment.
Las Vegas has spent tens of millions repaving the famed Strip and other adjoining streets because it prepares for the primary F1 road race in US history.
The three-day spectacle from Nov. 16-18, culminating with the Grand Prix on Saturday night, is anticipated to attract about 300,000 fans.
The league’s other races — in Miami and Austin, Texas — are held on closed tracks. Las Vegas had previously hosted an F1 event on the Caesars Palace grounds within the early Eighties.
