Formula 1 roars back into Austin with Taylor Swift, Usher
AUSTIN – Mega concerts, opulent after-hours parties and the scent of burnt rubber wafting through the Central Texas air.
It must be Formula One time again.
The U.S. Grand Prix returns to Austin this weekend for its fifth year. This time, local organizers hope a beefed-up musical lineup led by Taylor Swift and Usher and sunnier weather draw more attendees and reverse a four-year trend of declining ticket sales. The event begins Friday and Saturday with practice and qualifying rounds and culminates Sunday with the race.
“We want people to know this is the greatest sports and entertainment weekend they can have,” Bobby Epstein, chairman of Circuit of the Americas, the track and viewing grounds located about 15 miles southeast of Austin, told USA TODAY Sports.
The race is viewed by some 96 million people around the world, according to Forbes, and is the sole U.S. venue for the Formula One World Championship, a series of 21 events around the world where drivers compete on specialized courses at speeds exceeding 200 mph.
Lewis Hamilton embraces celebrity lifestyle, 'Call of Duty' role
Race enthusiasts will be watching closely to see if three-time individual champion Lewis Hamilton could carve into the lead of Nico Rosberg, the current leader and Hamilton's teammate. Both are on the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 team but are fierce competitors on the track for the individual championship. Hamilton won the Austin race last year, clinching his third title, as torrential rains plummeted the area. This time, he trails Rosberg by 33 points. Sunny skies are forecast for the weekend.
But F1, with its vast globlal following, has yet to gain the same fan appeal in the USA. Indianapolis hosted Formula One for 11 seasons but dropped it due to contract disputes, and recent efforts to bring the race to the New York City area stalled. In Austin, attendance has been trending the wrong way: From 265,499 in 2012, its inaugural year, to 224,011 last year, according to track statistics.
F1 in America may get a boost when the circuit is sold to Liberty Media, a Colorado-based group that has proposed to buy it from majority owner Bernie Ecclestone, said Jon Noble, F1 editor at U.S.-based Motorsport.com. Expect more F1 races on America's west and east coasts, in addition to the Austin race, if the sale to Liberty Media is finalized, he said.
"Formula One views the American Grand Prix as an event that has to succeed," Noble told USA TODAY Sports.
Hamilton, who owns a house in Colorado and visits the U.S. frequently, said that more races in other U.S. cities would help grow the sport here. "This is a huge market for Formula One," he said in an interview with USA TODAY Sports. "It's a huge opportunity that’s not being utilized."
For now, event organizers will try to woo fans with fast cars -- and music stars. Twenty bands will perform on eight stages throughout the sprawling grounds, culminating with Swift on Saturday night and Usher and The Roots on Sunday night.
Outside the grounds, Austin’s hotels and restaurants are bracing for another onslaught of visitors that descend onto the area for the three-day event. The race generates about $600 million a year in direct and indirect economic impact to the region – nearly double the impact of other large Austin gatherings, such as SXSW or the ACL Music Festival, according to impact reports commissioned by organizers.
Haas F1 Team hoping for homecoming atmosphere in Austin
The event also draws “social impacts” that are harder to measure, said Angeline Close Scheinbaum, an associate professor of advertising and public relations at the University of Texas at Austin who has studied the economic impacts of large sporting events.
For example, area high school STEM students have been given access to the track on race day to study the practical applications of engineering, and UT students have volunteered at the event to gain hands-on experience in sports management, she said.
“When you get a young person out there seeing how all that knowledge is put to use, it can really change people’s lives for the better,” Scheinbaum told USA TODAY Sports.
But questions recently arose as to how long the race will remain in Texas after Gov. Greg Abbott’s office last year reduced state subsidies to the track by 20%. The track had received about $25 million a year since opening in 2012 as part of an agreement in which the state reimburses the track taxes it generates from out-of-state visitors.
Abbott’s office reconfigured the formula and lowered the reimbursable amount to around $19.5 million, Epstein said. Without the full refund, organizers will have a hard time putting on the event each year, he said. The two sides are currently in talks over the issue.
“There isn’t a Formula One event in the world that doesn’t rely on local governments,” Epstein said. “Formula One is not a profitable event.”
Meanwhile, local businesses are readying for the global spotlight about to be shined on the Texas capital. Rooms at the South Congress Hotel have been booked for this weekend for about a year, snatched up by racing execs and aficionados shortly after last year's race, said Angela Ashley, head concierge at the hotel. Once the weekend starts, she's busy finding tables at area restaurants for parties of 25 or more, she said.
"It’s a really great time to showcase Austin in a new light," Ashley said. "It's an exciting time in Austin."
Follow Jervis on Twitter @MrRJervis