Regarding the supposed failure of F1 in the United States, you might note that each of the races you listed as failures was held on a temporary street course. That is not insignificant, as while the initial cost of putting on the race (versus holding one at a permanent facility) is lower, the long-term cost of setting up and tearing down fencing, bleachers, pit areas, etc make the event much, much harder to sustain.
You did not place a value judgment on the Indianapolis races, and I see why. From an attendance standpoint those races were all very successful. Despite multiple major problems at the venue, F1 raced there for 8 years, and usually enjoyed the largest crowds on the F1 season, including the biggest ever F1 crowd. The 2000 USGP crowd of 220,000+ people was by all accounts I can find the largest crowd in F1 history. The 2001 USGP was held about 3 weeks after 9/11. It was the first major sporting event post-9/11, so this affected attendance, as you can well imagine. It was still the largest crowd in F1 that year at 175,000. Indy had some things besides 9/11 working against it, too. The F1 crowd likes to party and spend money. In that regard, no offense to Indianapolis, but it isn't exactly Vegas...or Austin. There was also the half road-course, half oval (roval) Indy track, which allowed few passing opportunities and made for slow, tedious road racing compared to most tracks. But worst of all, in 2005 there was the Michelin Tire mess, when cars using those tires were kept from racing due to safety concerns when Tony George had portions of the track diamond-cut *after* the tire suppliers had tested and formulated tire compounds & construction for the previous, smoother surface. The big drop in attendance came after this incident. Yet the USGP in Indy never drew less than 100,000 and was on the upswing the last couple of years.
There have been 49 F1 GPs held in the U.S. in 53 years. There have been many years when the U.S. hosted 2 GPs, and the U.S. is the only country to have ever hosted 3 GPs in a single season ('82 & '83). In different cities, there have been a 20-year run (Watkins Glen, which I notice you left out for some reason), two 8-year runs, and a 5-year run.
After single years at Sebring and Riverside, F1 raced at Watkins Glen for 20 years before leaving when the technology of the cars outgrew the outdated safety features of the track. 20 years is a failure? What, then, would qualify as a success? The only city which hosted the USGP and drew poor crowds was Phoenix, despite all of these cities minus Watkins Glen and Austin, being saddled with very bad street circuits or Indy's terribly laid out course.
In 2010 and 2011, the Canadian GP at Montreal (not in the U.S., but only about 40 miles away) has easily drawn 300,000+ over 3 days with a capacity race-day crowd of over 140,000. Long Beach ('76-'83), Las Vegas ('81-'82), Dallas ('84), and Detroit ('82-'86) weren't USGPs. They were additional American F1 GPs in the years they ran. Long Beach enjoyed a great run with F1 and immediately sought to continue their GP after losing F1. They have done so brilliantly with the IndyCar Series, and have now held GPs for 37 consecutive years ('75-'11).
Dallas. Okay, they created a temporary street course in Fair Park in mid-July that disintegrated in the 100+ degree heat. It's still considered the bumpiest course ever raced in F1 history. The track had torn apart in practice and qualifying the days before so badly that emergency repairs had to be undertaken, leading to rumors of cancellation. Still, despite the rumors and despite the heat and poor racing conditions, 100,000 fans paid and showed up to see the race. At the end of the race, some drivers had to be helped from their cars due to heat exhaustion.
The mistakes made in Dallas won't be repeated here. This will be a permanent facility and the F1 race will be held no later than early June or in the Fall. F1 never returned to Texas, but it wasn't because Dallas didn't want them back and it wasn't because F1 didn't like Dallas. The drivers and FOM love Texas. It was more because there really was no way to get good racing there in that venue that was safe for the drivers while putting on a good show for the fans. We won't have the problems and continued expenses that come with hosting races on a temporary road course.
Las Vegas? Seriously? It was run in Ceasar's parking lot, and it was called the Las Vegas Grand Prix. It was one of 3 U.S. Grands Prix in 1981 & 1982. Detroit was a horribly bumpy street course that the local promoters actually routed over a railroad crossing. It still enjoyed good attendance.
Twitter
Myspace
Digg
Del.icio.us
Reddit
Slashdot
Furl
Yahoo
Technorati
Newsvine
Facebook