“Well Over Seven Figures” – NASCAR’s Biggest Event Fell in Front of Formula One’s Debut in Las Vegas

As a result of its globalization efforts, Formula 1 has garnered extreme interest across the pond. The reception that the Las Vegas Grand Prix had serves as a testament to that. Though the event had its fair share of troubles regarding racing and viewing experience, it turned out to be a massive money-churning success. And even if ticket sales weren’t as high as expected, the Grand Prix appears to have punched far above its weight in betting. And falling prey to its massive numbers is our very own NASCAR.

The Las Vegas Grand Prix posts bigger numbers on the sportsbook than even Daytona

F1 champion Max Verstappen ended up winning the Las Vegas GP though he had never-ending complaints over the entire event. He also garnered the biggest bets during the race. Talking in the aftermath of the weekend to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the vice president of trading at Caesars Sportsbook compared the Grand Prix’s numbers with the Daytona 500 and expressed, “It was three times Daytona’s numbers.”

Though exact numbers weren’t revealed, BetMGM and the Westgate SuperBook reported the highest numbers recorded for an F1 race.  The VP at Caesars, Craig Mucklow continued, “It was well over seven figures”. Chuck Esposito, director at Rock Resort Sportsbook, said of the F1 race’s reception, “Whether it’s a big prize fight or UFC fight or the Aces, Raiders, Knights, Rebels or NASCAR, they produce huge handles, and this was no different.”

Though the Grand Prix ended up scoring higher on the betting books than NASCAR’s star event, none from the community held any ill will against their European counterparts. Right from drivers to the president of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, everyone in NASCAR was simply thrilled over the Grand Prix’s success.

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NASCAR puts racing first and expresses its excitement for the Las Vegas Grand Prix

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The words of Cup Series driver Todd Gilliland sum up the views of NASCAR towards the Grand Prix. He said, as reported by Autoweek, “It’s really good for their sport, motorsports in general. And hopefully, we can see a little bit of growth in our own sport because of that. The more motorsports fans in the world, the better for everyone.”

Denny Hamlin, Austin Cindric, Michael McDowell, and the list of Cup drivers who were thrilled about the positive effects that the Grand Prix would have on NASCAR is never-ending. As a driver at Joe Gibbs Racing and a co-owner of 23XI Racing, Denny Hamlin had even engaged in discussions with the icon Lewis Hamilton during the event.

One other person, who was equally excited about the event was Chris Powell, president of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Though the speedway has been operating NASCAR races since 1996, Formula 1 did not approach it for the event. Choosing to run the street instead, they have penned a ten-year agreement with the city. Talking about it, Powell, said, “We want to believe that anything that is good for motorsports in the Las Vegas community is good for our Speedway and it’s good for the city. So in that regard, we’re fully supportive of Formula 1’s presence here in Las Vegas.”

With NASCAR doing its best to promote itself beyond boundaries and generations, the interest that Formula 1 has received will only boost those efforts further. Let’s hope the officials at the Daytona HQ follow the path of F1 outside the lanes of the last 75 years.

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