Perhaps LL Cool J misspoke, or someone writing his script for his driver introduction ceremony at this month’s Miami Grand Prix had it wrong on his notecard. Because nearly everyone who’s been around the motorsports world beyond the ‘Drive to Survive’ days knows Formula 1’s on-track product isn’t ‘the greatest spectacle in motorsports (or racing).

Priciest spectacle in motorsports? Now we’re talking.

Theoretically, you’d think the more expensive an event is to attend, the higher the value you as a customer would be getting. Reason would say a once-a-year game/event/race (like the Indianapolis 500, for example) might cost more to attend than, say, one of three F1 races in the United States – or one of 23 stops on the series’ calendar that takes the paddock around the globe.

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You’d be wrong. Vibes, priceless bragging rights and backgrounds for just the right Instagram photo cost more than you might think. Because at every price point, tickets to watch ‘the greatest spectacle in racing’, its three-hour race and the famous pomp-and-circumstance before and after is far cheaper than attending F1’s latest stop on the calendar that sits well over an hour’s drive from South Beach.

Heck, no matter what kind of budget you’re working with, if you have the time this month, you could spend all nine days that Indy cars are scheduled to be on-track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and still not spend what you would for a weekend at the Miami Dolphins’ Hard Rock Stadium complex.

Whether you’re simply looking for access to the grounds, eyeing a grandstand seat or find yourself addicted to nothing but the finest things, here’s what you’d pay attending F1’s Miami Grand Prix and IndyCar’s Indianapolis 500:

Miami's GA ticket is triple the price for a fraction of the action

>>Miami: $590

What you’re getting: The Grand Prix’s campus pass for the three-day race weekend is rather simple: for all three days cars are on-track, you get admission onto the grounds, where you can watch the racing action from a variety of vantage points that include viewing platforms at Hard Rock Stadium. You can also trapse the venue’s landlocked pseudo marina (where you can at least see some uber-expensive boats), visit a fan zone that includes racing simulators, check out an area called “The Fountains” that gives fans a view of the post-race podium ceremony or take a peak at the paddock from afar inside the stadium. All around the complex, you can find a variety of traditional, as well as themed and upscale bars, restaurants and concession stands.

>>Indy 500: $185

What you’re getting: Cars are scheduled to be on-track for Indy 500 practice, qualifying or racing over the next two weeks for nearly 45 hours, and this gets you inside IMS for all of it: six hours or more of practice Tuesday-Friday, several hours of qualifying action Saturday and Sunday, two hours of practice the following Monday (May 22), everything that Carb Day offers (a two-hour practice, the pit stop competition and general admission access to the Bryan Adams concert) and 500 race day. For everything but race day, those with GA tickets can watch on-track either from the various infield viewing mounds or select grandstands that will be open to the public. Race day viewing includes just the infield mounds, though fans can roam the grounds between the midway and Pagoda Plaza. Expect your typical concession fare (though, of course, you can bring your own food and drink inside as long as your cooler is the right size).

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IMS's best seat is a steal by comparison

>>Miami: $1,425

What you’re getting: Your run-of-the-mill three-day grandstand ticket at the Miami GP can range from under $1,000 to several thousand dollars, still without any hospitality or suite-type amenities. The above price will get you a seat Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the track’s Turn 1 North grandstand, which has sightlines of the front-stretch that holds the start-finish line, pitlane and one of the two DRS zones that promote what little passing there may be. You’ll also be able to see cars heading into Turns 1 and 2 of the 19-turn road course.

>>Indy 500: $335

What you’re getting: I trimmed attending the general practice days (which run $15 for Tuesday-Friday and the following Monday), though all that on-track action wouldn’t run you much more. But let’s say you just wanted to see all of qualifying, which across two days, could include as much as 10 hours of cars on-track. Though it’s considered GA access, you can sit in a grandstand (even covered, depending on your seat selection) on either side of the front stretch for $20 a day. Similar access to the grounds and aforementioned Carb Day festivities goes for $30. On race day, you can reserve what is almost uniformly considered the best ticket across the 300 acres – E Penthouse – for $265 per side, provided you’ve had these tickets before. You likely need to, too. Many of them are either passed down like family heirlooms or have been held by ticketholders for decades.

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Inside the velvet ropes for $10,000 less

>>Miami: $13,999

What you’re getting: This package gives a ticketholder three days of access to Miami’s newly-constructed Paddock Club rooftop deck suites above the team garages. While in this swanky space, your food and drink is already taken care of (and was said to have been elevated in quality after a disappointing spread in 2022). You also get the chance to walk pitlane during public access times all three days cars are on-track, as well as one day of VIP paddock access, which means you can rub shoulders with the drivers, team principals and their celebrity guests inside Hard Rock Stadium. Post-race, you can have a spot to stand up relatively close to the Victory Podium to watch the top-three drivers receive their trophies and soak each other in champagne.

You, of course, can spend much, much more in Miami if your heart desires. For those looking for experiences where you could easily not watch a second of cars on-track, you could recline in the velvet couches of Casa Tua, party on the deck of an actual yacht, recline in various cabana spaces or dip your toes in the pool at the Beach Club.

Overall, the average ticket to Miami will run you $4,600. That, of course, is nearly half of this year’s debut Las Vegas race, where four-day access to the main grandstand will run $7,000 and your standard hospitality space (The Skybox) will run $10,000 a person. If your bank account allows, you can even book various packages that run into the millions, including a $1 million option from Wynn for six people that includes a four-night stay in the Encore three-bedroom duplex, unlimited Dom Perignon and caviar, meals at Delilah restaurant, spa treatments and – if you forgot – track access.

For $5 million, Caesars’ Emperor Package gets 12 guests five nights in their Nobu Sky Villa – 140 feet above the strip – with a terrace for 75 guests, meals prepared by celebrity chef Nobu Matsuhisa, 12 paddock club tickets, a Rolls-Royce with a personal driver, spa treatments and admission into Adele’s sold-out ‘Weekends with Adele’ show.

>>Indy 500: $3,775

What you’re getting: Though there are other suite and hospitality options across IMS (including the Gasoline Alley Suites, Tower Terrace Suites and the Turn 2 VIP Suites), the Hulman Terrace Club is the only hospitality area where any fan can purchase individual access without “knowing someone” during the month of May. The track’s other suites involve annual passes that include the Brickyard weekend and IMSA’s event in September, where the buyer – whether it be a team, sponsor or high-roller – can host various numbers of guests inside with a certain number of parking passes, pit and garage passes and guest passes they can rotate around as they so choose.

One can even purchase single-day access to the Hulman Terrace Club (practices will run you $75 per day, with admission for each qualifying day $125), but only those who purchase a full-month pass typically get access on race day. For $1,750, a fan gets access to this suite-style enclosed area just past Turn 4 on the outside of IMS’s front-stretch with options for stadium seating or standing room inside a climate-controlled club. Various bars offer food and drink options all month for purchase, ranging from $12 biscuits and gravy or a $10 breakfast sandwich in the morning and a $23 carving station or $14 for a heaping plate of nachos. Fans can also buy various snacks for $5-7 each or an Italian sausage or grilled chicken sandwich for $13 each. The price above assumes a generous $125 per person spent on food and drink all 11 days cars are on-track in May (including the GMR Grand Prix weekend).

HTC access holders also get a parking pass for the month as well as admission to the pits and garages for each on-track day, except for 500 race day. Those passes are an additional $350 (which is included in the above final price). And last but not least? You can pay $300 (included above) for admission into the Victory Celebration the Monday after the race for a night of food and drinks and a presentation honoring all 33 drivers, as well as various speeches.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indy 500: Attending Greatest Spectacle in Racing a steal compared to F1