Another Florida car race?
The city of Miami wants Formula 1 auto racing beginning in 2019. The executives who run Formula 1 racing want Miami and promise that the race will bring in $700 million for Miami in economic impact. The race, both sides claim will expose Miami to a global market, even though Miami has a lot of global exposure. So it appears that the two sides are closing in on a deal. But Americans don’t support Formula One races. There is just one Formula One race in the United States in Austin, Texas. Attempts to stage a second Formula One race somewhere within the United States have failed but the racing series is now owned by an American company, Liberty Media, and getting a second American race is a top priority.
Liberty Media owns the Atlanta Braves Major League Baseball franchise along with three minor league teams in Gwinnett, Georgia, Rome, Georgia and Pearl, Mississippi. Liberty Media is awfully good at extracting money from communities to help build baseball parks and that probably is a plus for getting a race in Miami. F-1 racing was a financial disaster in the United States and the racing group stop holding American events in 2007, Formula One races were held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway between 2000 and 2007. There were no races between 2008 and 2011. In 2012, Austin’s raceway opened and six races have been held in the Texas capital. Attempts to stage races in New York City, northern New Jersey, Las Vegas and Chicago failed. While Liberty Media and Miami officials seem to think the Miami project is a good idea, local residents are fighting the thought. Miami’s Formula One race would be on the streets not in a racetrack and local residents are saying they don’t want the event. The deadline for a Miami event in 2019 is near.
F-1 owners hope they can generate interest in their series in AMerica.
