As Chief Commercial Officer of Formula 1 and President & CEO of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Emily Prazer explains how Las Vegas has evolved from a new race into a strategic platform shaping the future of fan experience, partnerships and destination-led promotion across the championship.
At a time when Formula 1 is redefining what a modern Grand Prix can represent beyond the race itself, the Las Vegas project continues to stand out as one of the sport’s most closely watched modern ventures. Conceived not only as a sporting spectacle but also as a strategic extension of Formula 1’s wider commercial vision, the event has quickly developed into a case study in destination-led promotion, fan engagement and year-round activation.
Paddock Magazine had the opportunity to speak with Emily Prazer about how Las Vegas is evolving beyond race weekend – not simply as another stop on the calendar, but as a platform helping shape how Formula 1 may continue to grow globally.
The Las Vegas Grand Prix has quickly established itself as one of Formula 1’s most distinctive modern events. From your perspective, what were the most important strategic priorities in shaping its identity beyond simply creating another race on the calendar?
Our goal has always been to create an event that redefines what a race weekend can be and to build an experience that adds value to the sport and most importantly, our fans.
Doing things differently in Las Vegas has been key to establishing our identity. From moving our post-race interviews to the Bellagio Fountains and putting the top three finishers into a pink Lego cooldown car, to creating commercial opportunities for partners to activate in new, meaningful ways, and curating experiences within our fan zones and across the Strip, these initiatives expand the fan experience well beyond the track.
Another big priority of ours is to establish Las Vegas as a year-round F1 destination, not just a once-a-year event. Opening Grand Prix Plaza to the public outside of race week, with attractions like F1 DRIVE, F1 X, and the F1 HUB, provides fans with ongoing touchpoints with the sport. It’s now the world’s largest collection of Formula 1 attractions, further cementing Las Vegas as the home for F1.
Las Vegas naturally operates at the intersection of sport, entertainment, hospitality and global business. How important is it today for a Grand Prix to succeed simultaneously in all of those dimensions?
One of the things that makes Formula 1 so special is that every Grand Prix reflects the personality of its host city. In Las Vegas, that means fully embracing everything that makes this destination unlike anywhere else in the world. It’s truly the ideal home for an F1 race because it already operates at the intersection of sport, entertainment, hospitality and global business.
The race is one part of the experience. In Las Vegas, it naturally becomes a multi-day, only-in-Vegas event. Fans get three days of on-track action, plus the hospitality, nightlife, concerts, chef-driven experiences and business networking opportunities that Las Vegas is known for, all happening just steps from the circuit. The entire resort corridor becomes an extension of the event footprint; it’s an incredible time to visit Las Vegas and entirely new way to experience Formula 1.
How do you define long-term success for Las Vegas Grand Prix?
Long-term success means cementing Las Vegas Grand Prix as the can’t-miss sporting event of the year. We’ve built incredible momentum over our first three years, and success to me is sustaining that energy, continuing to elevate the fan experience, and ensuring this race remains synonymous with innovation, spectacle and world-class racing for years to come.
In your role, how much has the Las Vegas project influenced wider thinking about what future race promotion can look like?
The Las Vegas Grand Prix is the first and only race promoted by Formula 1, and it was intentionally designed as a test bed for the sport. It’s allowed F1 to learn more about their business and experiment with new approaches to partnerships, fan experience and race promotion. Several concepts that began in Las Vegas, such as the F1 HUB retail experience, debuted in Las Vegas and have expanded to other races. What we learn in Las Vegas helps shape how Formula 1 thinks about the future of partnerships and fan engagement globally.
What have been the biggest lessons from balancing Formula 1’s global identity with the very specific character and expectations of Las Vegas as a host city?
Las Vegas Grand Prix has proven there’s really no ceiling on creativity or scale, and that pushes Formula 1 to think differently about how we show up globally. The city’s energy sparks exciting ideas, whether it’s showing live race flags on the Exosphere or putting Mickey Mouse on the Fountains of Bellagio for a post-race fountain show. In many ways, Las Vegas encourages us to stretch the boundaries of what a race weekend can offer, and that mindset is influencing how F1 supports promoters and builds global initiatives.
Looking ahead, where do you still see the greatest growth potential for the Las Vegas Grand Prix: commercially, experientially, or culturally?
All three areas hold significant potential and are important, but I believe experiential growth will continue to drive everything cultural and commercial growth for the Las Vegas Grand Prix. As we head into year four, there’s a much deeper understanding of what the Las Vegas Grand Prix represents and that confidence allows us to keep refining and expanding the experience in meaningful ways. Strengthening the experience naturally reinforces the race’s cultural relevance as a can’t-miss event for fans, and commercial growth follows from that as we integrate our partners, licensing deals and ancillary programming in meaningful ways.
Formula 1 has entered a period where promoter expectations are evolving rapidly. What do you believe will define the next generation of successful Grands Prix?
I think the next generation of successful Grands Prix will be the ones that really understand what makes their destination unique and build the race experience around that.
Legacy circuits such as Monaco and Silverstone will always have a special place in the sport and nothing can replace the history and tradition they bring. But as F1 continues to grow globally, especially in markets like North America and Asia, I think new races need to offer something different that resonates with fans in those markets and beyond.
Leadership in projects of this scale often involves constant adaptation. What has personally been the most demanding aspect of guiding a project as visible and ambitious as Las Vegas?
One of the biggest challenges is the expectation of “what will they do next?”
As we head into year four, it’s important to me that we never get comfortable with where we are.
The Las Vegas Grand Prix has a very clear identity, and my job is to ensure we continue pushing the event forward, innovating, evolving our partnerships, and raising the bar, while staying true to what fans have come to love about this race.
From a broader Formula 1 perspective, how do you see fan expectations continuing to reshape the way race weekends are designed?
As our fan base grows and evolves, our job is to evolve with our fans and find new, meaningful ways for them to feel closer to the sport – wherever and however they choose to experience it. We now have an entirely new generation of fans, many of whom were introduced to Formula 1 through Drive to Survive and social media. While they engage in completely new ways, we still have a long-time fanbase who still expect the traditions and moments they’ve always loved. Striking that balance is important to the sport’s continued growth.
Understanding who our fans are and what they care about is key, which is why we work so closely with partners like Salesforce and Globant. Their insights help us better understand what fans are interested in, how they’re interacting with the sport and where we can create new opportunities to keep them engaged, whether that’s through content, technology or how we design the at-track experience.
It’s clear to us that fans want more consistent touchpoints with the sport beyond just race weekend. That’s driving us to think about accessibility and engagement year-round through digital content, social platforms, new attractions and experiences like Grand Prix Plaza in Las Vegas, which provides fans with an F1 touchpoint outside of race week.
If you look five years ahead, what would make you feel that Las Vegas has fully achieved what it was intended to become within Formula 1?
The big picture goal is to have Las Vegas be a mainstay on the Formula 1 calendar. We are currently signed through 2027, but the goal is to race in Las Vegas well into the future. Coming into our fourth year, we’re confident and proud of the progress we’ve made year after year. We’ve listened to our feedback from both race attendees and locals to continue to build and grow this race. Las Vegas Grand Prix has developed its identity and space within the broader Formula 1 ecosystem, and we’d like to continue this momentum into the future.