Las Vegas’s Ellis Island Casino, Hotel & Brewery may have an uphill battle in its lawsuit against the Las Vegas Grand Prix and Clark County, but it is still in the fight.
Last week, Judge Joanna Kishner told the plaintiff that she needed more information to decide whether there was enough for the case to continue.
The casino’s owner filed a lawsuit in April, claiming that the construction leading up to and during the Formula 1 race – held in November 2023 – blocked access to the property for both employees and customers, causing Ellis Island to lose business.
The casino is located on Koval Lane, behind the Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino.
Agnes Hanley, attorney for Clark County, acknowledged that construction may have created problems for Ellis Island but that “they’re not compensable under our constitution.”
Judge Kishner told Ellis Island’s attorneys that they must clarify the extent of the obstruction.
They claim that the blockage was intentional, but the law says that what would make it illegal is a “total obstruction,” something that they have not technically claimed.
Key Highlights
- Ellis Island claims construction for the race blocked customer access to its property
- The casino’s lawyer says damages are in the millions and will grow with every race
- The Las Vegas Grand Prix’s 3.8-mile racecourse went through the heart of Las Vegas
- Other local businesses have also complained that they were hurt financially
Bright Lights Shined on the Racecourse
An economic analysis did estimate, however, that the Las Vegas Grand Prix created $1.5 billion in economic impact, including $77 million in county and state taxes.
In May 2024, Ellis Island lawyer J. Randall Jones told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that “damages to date are already in the millions” and considering the plan is to hold the Las Vegas Grand Prix for at least a decade, the same problem will occur year after year.
In addition, the lawsuit claims that event organizers never had to file for a special use permit to get the racecourse approved.
The race was a spectacle, but that wow factor was the result of the 3.8-mile circuit winding through mostly public streets in the heart of Las Vegas.
The main stretch went right down Las Vegas Boulevard, past the towering, glitzy casinos.
Two other straightaways used Koval Lane – the Formula One Paddock Building was just south of Ellis Island – and E. Harmon Avenue.
Clark County generated $3.8 million direct fees, permits, and licenses for the race, but ended up with a net loss of $462,865 because county staff racked up $4.3 million in wages for work related to the event.
An economic analysis did estimate, however, that the Las Vegas Grand Prix created $1.5 billion in economic impact, including $77 million in county and state taxes.
Ellis Island Has Plenty of Company
What they did was they came in, tore everything up, ran the race, and got the hell out of dodge… If this (the business loss) happens again next year I will be out of business one hundred percent.
– Wade Bohn, Las Vegas business owner
But Ellis Island certainly does not care about that economic impact, and it is not alone.
In January, nine local businesses banded together to request $23 million from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) for revenue they allegedly lost because of construction.
“Imagine not changing anything about your product, how you market, your customer service, guest quality, nothing, and yet you watch your business drop 50% or more in a matter of months,” community activist Lisa Mayo-DeRiso said.
Gino Ferraro, co-owner of Ferraro’s Ristorante, told the Review-Journal that he lost $2 million in business, adding, “How can our Las Vegas leadership allow local businesses to struggle and suffer for a three- or four-day event? Who profited? A few hotels? It doesn’t make sense.”
Jay’s Market owner Wade Bohn told LVSportsBiz.com that the Las Vegas Grand Prix caused his business’s revenue to plunge from $8.5 million in 2022 to $4.2-$4.3 million in 2023.
“We believe the county is responsible,” Bohn said. “They’re using taxpayer dollars to bring F1 into town.
When F1 went before the county, they promised they would not be a hindrance and that they would be a part of the community.
What they did was they came in, tore everything up, ran the race, and got the hell out of dodge. . . If this (the business loss) happens again next year I will be out of business one hundred percent.”
Sources
https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/casinos-gaming/court-hears-ellis-islands-case-seeking-damages-against-f1-3163853
https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/motor-sports/formula-1/las-vegas-grand-prix-damages-in-millions-ellis-island-attorney-claims-3054774/
https://frontofficesports.com/las-vegas-gp-unrest-shows-dark-underbelly-of-sports-boom-town/#
https://lvsportsbiz.com/2024/01/03/business-owner-on-formula-1-race-impact-on-las-vegas-we-as-a-community-got-bamboozled-we-got-fooled-businesses-ask-clark-county-lvcva-f1-for-compensation-for-revenue-losses/
