Off-Strip Casino Sues F1 Over Las Vegas Grand Prix
- 18 May 2024
- Gambling News
The owners of Ellis Island Casino are suing Formula One (F1), claiming they were wrongfully damaged financially at the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix last year.
The lawsuit, which was filed last month but was first made public by the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Friday, lists Clark County and the State of Nevada as defendants in addition to requesting more than $50,000 in damages.
Ellis Island, which is situated on Koval Lane directly next to the $500 million permanent paddock complex for Formula One, asserts that the race, as well as the six months of setup and takedown on either side of it, made it difficult for both staff and customers to access the property.
The lawsuit states that "plaintiffs’ graveyard shift team was informed by F1 or its agents that no one [was] allowed to come or go" for three hours the night before the first practice round.
In addition, F1 is accused of misleading the public about last year's race before the county conducted a debriefing on it, and the lawsuit blames the county for classifying the race as a special event without requiring F1 to apply for a special use permit.
As a sponsor of the Grand Prix, Ellis Island built a grandstand with 1,000 seats in its parking lot for spectators to watch the race. It is said that Ellis Island paid a large, yet secret amount to have this privilege, and three-day passes cost $1,500.
“We saw the value of Formula One and having the facility right next door, we knew we wanted to find a way to get involved,” Ellis Island VP of Development Christina Ellis told the Nevada Independent last September. “We got into conversations pretty early on how we could be good neighbors.”
Not the Founder
This is the second lawsuit about the race that F1 has faced. A class action lawsuit was brought by 35,000 spectators in November of last year after they were asked to leave the grandstand due to a postponed practice round that they had paid hundreds of dollars apiece to watch.
That lawsuit's verdict was never made public.
More than a dozen nearby companies threatened to sue Formula One in February, claiming they lost $30 million because race preparations kept them away from their regular clientele.
As of yet, no lawsuit has been brought on their behalf. Nevertheless, a Change.org petition was submitted by six of the companies urging the Clark County Commission to refuse a special use permit that would have allowed the streets to be closed for the upcoming Las Vegas Grand Prix, which is set for November 21–23.
