LAS VEGAS — The start of Formula One’s Las Vegas residency last November was a major moment in the 73-year history of the sport.

F1 spent over half a billion dollars to put on one of the most-hyped races in its history, taking over the reins of promoting and organizing the entire grand prix.

Despite a bumpy start — a loose water valve cover canceled first practice and severely delayed FP2 on a lousy opening night — the event was a huge success. On the track, the fight for the win went down to the closing laps as Max Verstappen, Sergio Pérez and Charles Leclerc scrapped back and forth for position. The fast-flowing layout, incorporating a long straight down the Strip, proved a hit with the drivers and made for the most entertaining race of the year.

The grand prix was a money-spinner, even with locals’ frustrations resulting from the disruption of having F1 in town. November is typically the city’s eighth-best month of the year. In 2023, it was the second-best month in its history.

“We knew it would be big, but the attention … frankly, F1 did a fantastic job of building up that race,” said Steve Hill, the CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA). “It was two or three times more marketing value than we would have expected going in. We would have been happy with a third of what we got.

“We were going to be thrilled with what we expected, but what we got was eye-opening.”

As F1 returns for its second shot in Las Vegas, there is a new dynamic. The novelty factor has diminished, but in its place comes experience and, for the organizers, a playbook to work from. There is a bar to try and meet once again.

The spotlight on the race action in Las Vegas has only increased thanks to the closer competitive picture through 2024. By this point last year, Verstappen had already long been crowned champion; now, there is a chance he could clinch his fourth title Saturday night, so long as he finishes ahead of Lando Norris.

The potential of F1 crowning a champion at its glitziest event is appealing for the sport and something the race organizers know would offer a unique chance to put a Las Vegas twist on the celebrations.

“I’m sure that we would be able to pull some ideas out of our hat, maybe pre-arrange some pretty exciting opportunities,” Renee Wilm, CEO of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, said of a potential coronation, noting the high-end hospitality options at the properties along the Strip. “There’s so many opportunities to highlight the drivers, and particularly if we actually do have the benefit of being able to get a champion.”

While the organizers of the race may not be able to influence the sporting spectacle, the success of last year’s Saturday night race was enough reassurance that no changes were needed for 2024. The circuit remains unchanged, but they anticipate heightened fan interest with a late-season championship fight underway.

“In the U.S., we love to see good competition, and it’s less about who the particular team or driver is,” Wilm said. “So to know that there is still so much on the line and that the championship is going to be up for grabs, and the fact you’ve had so many different drivers on the podium is itself creating a lot of excitement and buzz.”

A different approach has been taken to appeal to fans for the second running of the race. In the lead-up to the 2023 grand prix, there was scrutiny of high ticket prices and how unaffordable it would be for people to attend. This year, over 10,000 extra general admission tickets have been made available across three fan zones as part of rejigging the ticket inventory. The hope is to make it a race that can cater to everybody, not just those chasing high-end experiences.

The Las Vegas Grand Prix also changed how it marketed the race, starting the build-up around 100 days out instead of over a year in advance. Wilm said in October that ticket sales had been “pretty consistent with what we did expect” and that she anticipated a surge closer to the race due to Las Vegas’ reputation as a last-minute town. She also believed many fans would wait until after the U.S. presidential election, which may have left some “a little hesitant to know what their November is going to look like.”

According to a statement issued by the race last week, 300,000 attendees are expected “based on calculated data from ticket sales and bookings for race-related programming.”

A more concerted effort has also been made to connect with the local community ahead of the second year. A free fan festival will take place Friday and Saturday, giving attendees a chance to get a flavor of what F1 brings to Las Vegas, with tickets quickly being fully reserved. Hill thought it would help “build both goodwill in the community and an additional fan base in the southwest” of the United States.

Developing goodwill with the community was particularly important after the frustration many locals in Las Vegas felt about the level of disruption last year. The requirements of repaving the sections of the road for the circuit — taking 10 inches off the surface and replacing it with one suitable for F1 cars — led to significant road closures and traffic issues. With so much of the construction work already completed last year, there wasn’t a need to repeat it this year.

“This year, the community knows more about what to expect, and what we’re doing is not building the circuit,” Hill said. “We really didn’t start any kind of lane disruption until the first week of October, where last year, that started in the middle of April. It just wears you out after a while.”

Wilm said they were “just light years ahead of where we were October of last year, in terms of local sentiment. This is the Las Vegas Grand Prix. It’s also Liberty and Formula One’s grand prix. So it is so important to us that everyone embraces this event as much as we do.”

Communication with locals is one area the organizers of the race felt there was room for improvement. “We communicated, but we didn’t communicate with the level of sophistication that this race demands,” Terry Miller, the general manager who oversees the track construction, told The Athletic. In 2024, the race improved a bespoke, interactive website to provide all the information about road closures and any possible disruption. It introduced a texting program, giving locals a “week ahead” view, and met with over 900 stakeholders to ensure no surprises.

Another surprise from 2023 that F1 will be keen to avoid is the disruption caused by the loose water valve cover Thursday night that destroyed Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari, caused FP1 to be canceled after eight minutes and delayed FP2 so long that police asked fans to leave the track by that point. While it was hardly the first time a utility cover had come up at an F1 street track, it was by far the most infamous incident.

Miller explained that new protocols are in place for this year. “Due to what occurred last year, we do have, in fact, a protocol and a process that we’ve gone through over the last five months to secure the lids, even to the point where we will do three or four visual checks of what’s going on in the roadway before and after a race event,” he said, confirming there were extra checks after what happened last year.

“You can never guarantee that nothing is going to happen,” he said. “But you can certainly have the mitigating efforts in place to reduce the risk, and that’s what we’ve done.”

Even with the frustration felt by some in Las Vegas, the commercial success of the race was significant. A report by Clark County estimated the total economic impact of the grand prix to be $1.5 billion, $884 million of which came through visitor spending. It raised $77 million in tax revenue and turned what is normally the second-worst weekend of the year into “one of the best weekends we’ve ever had,” according to Hill, surpassing all expectations.

Matching that in 2024 is going to be a big ask, nor is there an expectation it can be repeated in quite such spectacular fashion. “We’re not probably going to be able to compete with year one numbers again, and (we) don’t need to in order for it to be successful,” Hill said. “If the numbers were half that, it would still be a game changer.”

It means a successful second running of the Las Vegas Grand Prix is more about sustainability — putting on another spectacular show with fewer issues or frustrations. Not everything will be to everyone’s liking. The start time of 10 p.m. PT Saturday remains unchanged, and it will inevitably bother drivers and their team personnel; a fresh dose of time zone confusion to kick off a tripleheader that continues with two weeks in the Middle East to see out the season.

While there is a desire to reduce the demands placed on drivers for the “spectacle” around the grand prix, the show versus sport debate will also likely reignite when they get to the paddock Wednesday.

But now it’s about reaching what Hill thought was “an equilibrium point” between excitement over something new and the uncertainty or concern it could cause locally, proving this can be an event for the long term.

“That kind of sustainability matters a lot,” Hill said. “It’s a tough race to put on, it’s down one of the busiest streets in the world and putting that on is not an easy thing to do. But it’s going to be a fantastic week.”

(Top photo: Bob Kupbens / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Republican leaders from Congress expressed “serious concern” with the Mountain West Conference about transgender women participating in women’s sports.

Thirteen officials signed a letter to Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez, urging the conference to prohibit transgender athletes from playing against biological women.

“We write with serious concerns about the safety and fair competition standards for female athletes participating in the Mountain West Conference,” the letter, signed by members of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate, says.

The letter was sent amid controversy at San Jose State University, where Blaire Fleming, a transgender woman, plays for the women’s volleyball team.

Several teams have forfeited games against the Spartans this season.

“Title IX was established over 50 years ago to even the playing field for women. Since its implementation, women have participated in safer and fairer competition — but recent events have shown this is at risk,” the letter states. 

“Recently, members of your conference have forfeited games, risking their competitive standings to ensure the safety of their female athletes. The Mountain West Conference’s failure to prohibit biological males from competing in women’s sports is unfair to the women and girls who have worked tirelessly to compete at the collegiate level. We applaud the bravery of these female athletes and the universities in our home states for taking a stand to preserve Title IX when the Mountain West Conference would not.

“Permitting biological men to play in women’s sports is not equitable; it is an injustice. Under these guidelines, it is only fair that biological males play men’s sports and biological females play women’s sports. Clearly, the Mountain West Conference has dropped the ball.

Blaire Fleming of the San Jose State Spartans reacts during the second set against the Air Force Falcons at Falcon Court at East Gym Oct. 19, 2024, in Colorado Springs, Colo.  (Andrew Wevers/Getty Images)

“Life isn’t fair, but sports should be. We urge you to address these inequities in women’s sports in the Mountain West Conference immediately, and we look forward to working with you to support women in collegiate sports.”

Fleming has been one of the top players in the conference and an offensive anchor for San Jose State this season, even amid the controversy. Fleming is third in the conference in average kills per serve with 3.86 and amassed 297 total kills on the year despite playing seven fewer games than expected due to forfeits. It’s helped give San Jose State the third best hitting percentage in the Mountain West. 

Fleming’s teammate, Brooke Slusser, is a part of the lawsuit against the NCAA, and she filed another suit alongside other Mountain West players against the conference over the alleged presence of her transgender teammate. Slusser has alleged the school deliberately hid Fleming’s natural birth sex from her and other players on the team and around the conference. 

San Jose State has repeatedly defended the presence of Fleming on the team. 

Blaire Fleming, a redshirt senior at San Jose State University, plays as an outside and right-side hitter on the women’s volleyball team. (San Jose State University)

“Our athletes all comply with NCAA and Mountain West Conference policies and are eligible to play under the rules of those organizations. Our volleyball team members have earned the right to compete, and we are deeply disappointed for them and with them that they are being denied those opportunities through cancellations and forfeits. We are also proud of how they have persevered through these challenges on the court,” a statement provided to Fox News Digital by a university spokesperson said.

Fox News’ Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.

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When Comcast swallowed NBC and Universal Studios 14 years ago, the sibling cable channels USA Network, Bravo and CNBC were considered diamonds in the rough.

USA Network had gained traction with its “Blue Skies” programming strategy: sunny and upbeat TV programs infused with a buoyant energy and natural light. The cable channels were NBCUniversal’s equivalent of blue skies, routinely delivering three-quarters of the company’s profit. In 2012, cable networks threw off a robust $3.3 billion in cash flow.

Times have changed.

Comcast this week announced its plans to jettison all but one cable channel into a separate, stand-alone publicly traded company that will take shape over the next year.

“This is a reminder that the cable television network business is yesterday’s news,” analyst Craig Moffett said Wednesday in an interview. “If it feels like Comcast is shedding itself of an albatross — that’s because it is.”

For now, Comcast’s cable channels remain a viable business by generating $7 billion in annual revenue. But you have only to look at the properties the Philadelphia cable giant is keeping to see how the top brass has picked future winners and losers in a fast-changing media landscape.

Comcast will hold on to the NBC broadcast network, with its NBC News and NBC Sports units, along with its prolific Los Angeles-based Universal film and television studios, Universal Studios theme parks, local TV stations, including KNBC-TV in Los Angeles, and streaming service Peacock, which now has 36 million subscribers.

The lone cable outlet set to remain within NBCUniversal is Bravo, which has a bold brand, cultural cachet and the “Real Housewives” franchises. Company executives reviewed data that showed NBC and Bravo shows had strong viewership on Peacock, insiders said.

The spinoff company will be composed of the remainder of the cable channels, including MSNBC, CNBC, USA, Oxygen, Syfy, E! and the Golf Channel as well as digital properties, including Rotten Tomatoes, Fandango and SportsEngine.

Comcast’s move is the strongest sign yet of alarm reverberating throughout Hollywood’s traditional companies. Cable channels have long been a key economic pillar by generating billions of dollars in cable distribution fees that more than covered up the misses when big-budget movies flopped or during advertising recessions.

No more. Rampant cord-cutting has roiled the television business and linear cable channels — once a mighty draw for couch-potato viewing — have become endangered species.

Industry executives privately acknowledge that they unintentionally contributed to the erosion by making cable channels less appealing — stuffed with endless sitcom reruns, dated movies and extended commercial breaks, contributing to the rise of on-demand streaming services.

Millions of consumers have switched to streaming platforms that offer fewer commercials, or none at all, and lower subscription prices. In the first six months of the year, an additional 4 million customer homes dropped pay-TV, according to a recent MoffettNathanson report.

That’s a 30% decline since 2012, when there were more than 100 million pay-TV homes in the U.S.

Consumers also can cancel streaming services with a click of a button — without haggling with a customer service representative at a pay-TV company call center.

The toll has been enormous. Thousands of entertainment company workers have been laid off in the last four years in seemingly endless waves of restructuring. Traditional media companies have struggled to shore up their slumping stock prices.

In August, Warner Bros. Discovery took a $9-billion write-down on the value of its basic cable portfolio, which includes CNN, TBS, TNT and Cartoon Network. That same month, Paramount Global wrote down $6 billion in value for its cable channels, including MTV, Nickelodeon, VH-1 and Comedy Central.

Pay-TV channel blackouts have become more common. And pioneering satellite TV company DirecTV two months ago announced its plan to buy competing Dish Networks for $1. That merger is expected to face regulators’ scrutiny.

More separations and roll-ups may be coming.

Warner Bros. Discovery Chief Executive David Zaslav has telegraphed his desire to wheel or deal assets now that President-elect Donald Trump is preparing to take office. Zaslav’s company is desperate to pay down debt taken on two years ago when the smaller Discovery merged with WarnerMedia, relieving AT&T of its entertainment headache.

Although Comcast’s move is bold, the reckoning began seven years ago after Netflix had become the go-to destination for younger viewers. That’s also when Rupert Murdoch, the now 93-year-old media baron, decided to sell much of 21st Century Fox to Walt Disney Co. Some investors and analysts believe the $71-billion price for the Fox assets was wildly overvalued.

Since then, Disney has taken steps to de-emphasize cable distribution, and the Burbank powerhouse is planning to launch ESPN directly to consumers next year — a move that many in the industry believe will mark the tipping point for the cable channel business.

“Comcast is accelerating this pressure [in the cable business] with its success with Peacock, which makes the legacy pay-TV model with multi-channel bundling of cable networks a much more difficult prospect going forward,” Raymond James analyst Frank G. Louthan wrote in a note Wednesday.

Comcast executives say they are not entirely pulling the plug on their cable channel business, noting that the new company will have resources to buy additional channels or other properties to build scale..

“The company will have significant cash flow, a strong balance sheet, and the financial flexibility to pursue growth opportunities, both organically and potentially through acquisitions,” Comcast President Mike Cavanagh said in a note to employees.

The spinoff company, which doesn’t yet have a name, will continued to be controlled by Brian Roberts, chair of Comcast.

Mark Lazarus, who currently serves as chair of NBCUniversal Media Group, will shift to the new company as its chief executive.

Comcast shareholders will receive stock in the new company in tax-free transactions.

Moffett, the analyst, said the cable channel company will face considerable challenges maintaining the channels’ position in the pay-TV and advertising markets.

“This [spinoff] is good news for investors but it’s not a guaranteed success,” Moffett said. “We’ve seen this movie before with Viacom and CBS. Separating the broadcast network from the cable channels could leave the cable channels adrift.”

In 2006, the late mogul Sumner Redstone split his media empire consisting of the cable channels and the Paramount film studio. CBS forged forward with its broadcast network, television studio, Showtime and a book publishing house.

Five years ago, Redstone’s daughter, Shari, reunified the company. In July, she decided to unload the entire enterprise, now called Paramount Global, to the Larry Ellison family. That transaction also faces a regulatory review.

Moffett and other analysts say the spinoff company could struggle to maintain the size of distribution fees that Comcast was able to wrangle from pay-TV operators, thanks to the muscle of NBC and its marquee program, “Sunday Night Football.”

Some analysts wonder whether Comcast is preparing the cable channels to be absorbed by another company or a private equity firm.

“It looks like this is set up for [another] transaction,” Moffett said of the Comcast spin.

Wall Street seemed to endorse the spinoff news. Comcast shares gained 1.6% Wednesday to close at $42.99.