Grand Prix topples attendance record second year in a row

Another Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach is in the books — and this year’s event, the 49th annual, set another record for attendance.

The Grand Prix, a three-day racing spectacle that took over Downtown Long Beach from Friday, April 19 to Sunday, April 21, drew in about 194,000 attendees.

That’s up around 2,000 people from the last year’s event according to Grand Prix Association of Long Beach President and CEO Jim Michaelian, when the Grand Prix welcomed a record 192,000 visitors.

“It continues to trend of increases since the (COVID-19) situation,” Michaelian said in a Monday, April 22 interview. “But also, it that gives us a significant amount of momentum going into the planning process for our our 50th anniversary — so all in all, we are very satisfied.”

Aside from topping its own attendance record, reserved grandstand seats for the 2024 Grand Prix were sold out by early Saturday — for the second consecutive year — further underscoring increased interest in the event.

Though the first two days of the Grand Prix had plenty to offer casual fans and veteran race lovers alike, the event’s biggest draw was the titular NTT IndyCar race on Sunday.

New Zealander Scott Dixon, one of the most-accomplished IndyCar Series competitors, won the 49th iteration of the Grand Prix of Long Beach in thrilling fashion — having to conserve fuel for about the final 30 laps while those behind him made strong pushes to overtake him.

A despite gloomy starts to days one and two of the event, the sun was out and shining early Sunday morning.

“The sun came out at eight o’clock on Sunday morning and stayed out all day with a very little breeze,” Michaelian said. “If you wanted to order race day weather — (it would be that).”

The Grand Prix also had plenty more to offer on the track — including two Historic IndyCar Challenges, an IMSA Sportscar race, Randy Gordon’s Super Trucks, Formula Drift, and more.

The Historic IndyCar Challenge, a new addition to this year’s Grand Prix offerings, proved to be a big draw for both younger and veteran racing fans at this year’s event.

The intent of including a historic element in the Grand Prix of Long Beach, Michaelian said, is to inspire a new generation of racing fans while reigniting the memories of those who’ve been watching for years — which is just what those vintage IndyCars helped accomplish.

“That’s something that we’ve tried to do with that historic component of the weekend year after year, and will continue to do,” Michaelian said. “I think it’s really important that remains a part of the menu that we have available to our customers.”

The Grand Prix also had tons to offer off the track, as it always does.

The lifestyle expo, for example, offers more than 100 retailers featuring automotive, home, recreation, travel and entertainment products.

The expo, for example, featured was also a city-run sensory trailer for those who get overwhelmed by the excitement and new high-end racing simulation — which lets you compete in a tournament by driving around Long Beach’s iconic downtown street course.

And, of course, there were plenty of food and drink options — including the popular food truck row — for anyone became famished or thirsty.

The Grand Prix also hosted its Fiesta Friday and annual Saturday evening concert — this year featuring an all-star lineup of country musicians — during the three-day event.

And of course, the Grand Prix unofficially kicked off with Thunder Thursday, a free sampling of what the Grand Prix has to offer, for the Long Beach community.

“We are committed to making sure every year that there are additional attractions included in our overall weekends activities,” Michaelian said. “And as long as we keep freshening up our product, with events that people find attractive, then I think that that bodes well for us.”

But the Grand Prix’s success isn’t just good for the event’s organizers — it’s good for Long Beach, and Southern California generally.

The event provides a major boost for the local and regional economy, as those hundreds of thousands of visitors spend money on hotels, dining, local businesses, and more.

A previous economic impact study conducted by the GPALB found that the Grand Prix had a regional economic impact of around $60 million, with about $30 million of that generated in Long Beach specifically.

But those numbers, Michaelian said Monday, are based on a study from nearly six years ago — and don’t reflect how the Grand Prix has grown since.

Michaelian and the GPALB, he said, have commissioned a new economic impact study — which will be based on the results of the 2024 event — which is expected to be completed and released in the coming months.

The Grand Prix also helps boost the local economy aside from just encouraging additional consumer spending, according to Visit Long Beach president and CEO Steve Goodling.

Nearly every hotel in the Downtown Long Beach was sold out in the days leading up to the 2024 Grand Prix, Goodling said in a Monday interview.

“The Grand Prix is a great showcase for Long Beach because it brings in people both nationally and regionally,” Goodling said in a Monday interview. “It’s a chance to show showcase all these new businesses and all these new developments.”

The Grand Prix, Goodling said, allows potential event hosts — ranging from conventions to concerts — to get a taste of what Long Beach is like, and more importantly, what it’s like to do business there.

Goodling and Meet Long Beach, an arm of the city’s Convention and Visitor’s Bureau aimed at marketing and brining new attractions to the city, welcomed more than 100 potential new clients during the Grand Prix — representing more than $60 million in potential new business.

Clients, during several events aimed at wooing new businesses to the city, were introduced to several local elected officials, city department heads, and other key players in the tourism and hospitality industries.

“They were amazed at how well everyone works together to make success for their programs,” Goodling said. “It just underscores how well everyone works together to make things happen to grow the economy.”

That cooperation, Michaelian said, between the GPALB, the city, various sponsors and other stakeholders, is what’s critical to the Grand Prix’s continuing success.

“It’s a very wide net that we use in terms of bringing all of these various elements together,” Michaelian said. “The level of satisfaction that our patrons realized at the event itself is the most significant factor in terms of determining our success — and on that basis, I think our event would have to be described as being very successful this past weekend.”

And after a through review of this year’s event, Michaelian said, planning for next year’s very special one — the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach’s 50th anniversary — will begin in earnest.

“We’re going to build off the momentum we have out of this race,” Michaelian said, “to make the 2025 race even more spectacular.”

The dates are already set. On Friday, April 11 to Sunday, April 13, 2025 — Southern California’s 200 mph-beach party will kick off for three-days of high-speed thrills once again.