Small business owners who claim that the event only hindered sales by millions of dollars, and that the construction from F1 has devastated their businesses. Wade Bond, the owner of a store and gas station adjacent to the temporary bridge built to improve traffic flow from the Formula 1 construction, claims that he is down over $3 million in sales and has had to reduce his employees from 12 to 5. Uber and Lyft driver Dean Leeberg also says that the event wasn't the financial boost he expected, and that it was less than a typical weekend.
Formula 1 officials claimed that the inaugural race brought in more than an estimated $1.2 billion to Las Vegas, but UNLV economics professor Steven Miller says it's still too early to know the full economic impact.
The Clark County spokesperson said that they will be holding after-action meetings to debrief on the event to understand what went well and what might need to change next year. Small business owners like Bond hope the event doesn't stay in their city for the long run.
