I had my math wrong, so I had to repost 
Does Baku and Monte Carlo have permanent circuits within the city? Do you have better numbers for cost of street circuits?
Right, I know you are pulling a leg. Or at least it feels like it. But let me tell you this;
If a permanent racing facility is hosting a race, for instance lets say Spa, then the fans are dragged towards the track and its near vicinity. So the region does profit from the race. But the rest of the year, hardly anyone goes to Spa just to visit the track. Not even towards Liege for a city trip. And no way that Brussels is having an influx of tourists due to the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa. Whereas in the case of Baku, Monaco or in the future Las Vegas, people see the race and do want to visit the city. And this is even aside from those people who actually attend the race.
And on the subject of the numbers:
The Baku City Circuit needed alterations to be able to be converted to a Street Circuit. This has costed around 7.9 million dollars. The hosting of the Grand Prix itself for the 5 year period, building up the track, building up facilities and also cleaning up afterwards, does cost less than 150 million dollars.
Simple math will tell you that 150 million dollars, at max, divided by the 5 years the contract is long, makes it an investment of 30 million dollars per year to prep the circuit and all facilities each year.
If we look at the numbers in my earlier post, there is an difference in the influx of tourists by 1 million compared to the period preceding the Grand Prix. Which in effect tells me that if 1 million tourists spend around 30 dollars each, those 30 million dollars are already back in the monetary system of Azerbaijan. We all know tourists spend more and this is even calculated without the direct profits from ticket sales at the Grand Prix itself. Calculated with a bigger spending spree, and the taxes as profit alone, it is very well possible that the Grand Prix is very much worth it to Baku. Even with the hosting fee of 55 million per annum is included. And even more valuable, is how the Grand Prix builds up the image of the city of Baku. Because before the Grand Prix, hardly anyone ever thought about going to Baku. But right now, at least in my social environment, there are multiple people telling they want to visit Baku once. And I cant say that Spa does the same for Belgium or a major city near Spa.
Well the kind where people tend to travel the world to look at different sceneries compared to the standard Eiffel Tower, Buckingham Palace, Empire State Building or the Sydney Opera House. More like people that do like visiting the remnants of the First and Second World War worldwide, visit Chernobyl (back in a peaceful time), or visit countries like Mongolia, Azerbaijan, Nepal or the hinterlands (correct word?) of China rather than its crowded cities.
