The Circuit of the Americas relies heavily on
annual payments from the state’s Major Events
Reimbursement Program to cover race expenses
— including an estimated $30 million licensing
fee paid to F1 — and has collected more than
$150 million in public money since 2012. The
fund is typically used to help Texas host events
such as the Super Bowl and the NCAA basketball
Final Four, but the annual U.S. Grand Prix has
been the biggest recipient of cash by far.
Race organizers can still apply for money for
future races. The problem with the 2018 race
came when organizers were late in filing a
mandatory anti-human trafficking plan that
is supposed to help local authorities combat
prostitution around the event. That omission
disqualified the application under law.
Shortly after the race last November, track
President Bobby Epstein made a series of
campaign donations totally nearly $100,000
to Gov. Greg Abbott, whose office runs the
reimbursement program; Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick,
who presides over the state Senate; and several
lawmakers whose districts include or border
the race track.
A group of lawmakers attempted to rewrite
state law to allow the track to re-apply for the
2018 money, but the effort failed before the
Legislature adjourned Monday until 2020.
State Rep. John Frullo, the Republican who led
the effort to help the racetrack, called the race,
“important not only to Austin, but the state
of Texas and the United States.” Critics have
called payments to the Circuit of the Americas
a corporate handout. The Formula One race is
one of the few events specifically designated by
law to be eligible for millions of dollars from the
reimbursement program.
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