The 2024 Miami GP has been getting the limelight for not the best reasons. Its exorbitant food menu and prices are going viral on social media. Now, even NASCAR driver Ryan Ellis has highlighted the same on his Twitter (now X) account. Ellis posted a picture of the ‘Bites’ menu that shows food items like ‘Lobster Rolls’ at a price of $280!
The Chevrolet driver captioned his tweet, “F1 is a little more expensive than NASCAR”. Many fans tweeted about these overpriced food items as well.
Besides that, the Yellowfin Tuna Poke is priced at $170, while the U-5 Chilled Prawn is for a price of $290. In fact, a plate of Fruit refresher is for a whopping $190. Fans have complained about the exorbitant ticket prices of the Miami GP and other races in the USA for the past two years.
This food menu pricing is fueling that sentiment even more. Ellis’s comparison of the F1 menu to NASCAR is also quite valid. Fans would often get comfort food and beer at NASCAR races for much cheaper prices.
However, given the kind of pricing the newer races like Miami and Las Vegas have had for their tickets, it is not a surprise that they have set such food menu prices. Besides, the Miami GP is one of the race weekends where there is also immense celebrity presence.
Thus, the pricing is bound to be at the premium end of the affordability spectrum. However, the attendance this weekend so far is not looking good from the pictures doing the rounds on social media.
Is the Miami GP too expensive to attend?
The Miami GP was one of the hyped races by F1 when it first took place in 2022. This year being the third running of the weekend, F1 would have expected the attendance to improve year on year. Although the official attendance figures are not yet released, according to @f1gossippofficial’s Instagram story, there were many visible empty seats in the pit straight Grandstand on Friday.
Given how the 2024 Miami GP is a sprint race weekend, it is shocking to see empty seats at the track with Friday having the sprint qualifying and just one practice. Regardless, as the weekend progresses to the Grand Prix on Sunday, the attendance will most likely increase.
One reason for these empty Grandstand seats could be the exorbitant ticket prices. According to NBC Miami, the Grandstand tickets at the Miami International Autodrome range from $600 to $1,225.
Meanwhile, the Miami GP organizers had also introduced a three-day Campus pass earlier this year priced at $435. However, given how this campus pass doesn’t grant an assigned seat in the Grandstands, it makes sense how it has not helped to increase track attendance.
