Michael John Gaughan (March 24, 1943 in Omaha,

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

) is an American

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

owner and operator in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

who is the owner of the

South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa (formerly South Coast) is a resort located along Las Vegas Boulevard in Enterprise, Nevada, south of the Las Vegas Strip. It is owned and operated by Michael Gaughan, the founder of Coast Casinos. It includes a c ...

. He is the son of Jackie Gaughan and was the owner of a

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

race team, South Point Racing, for which his son, Brendan Gaughan, used to drive. The team was dissolved at the end of the 2007 season.

Biography

Gaughan won the 1966

Mint 400 The Mint 400 is an annual American desert off-road race which takes place in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was resumed in 2008 after a 20-year hiatus. The race was for both motorcycles, until 1977, and four-wheel vehicles ( buggies, cars and trucks) s ...

race, and continued that interest with South Point Racing which he founded in 1999 and dissolved in 2007. After many roles in casinos, including various ownership roles, Gaughan opened the

Barbary Coast Hotel and Casino The Cromwell Las Vegas (formerly Barbary Coast and Bill's Gamblin' Hall and Saloon) is a luxury boutique casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment. It was originally opened by Mich ...

in March 1979 at a cost of $11.5 million. That casino, on of land, became the foundation for

Coast Casinos Coast Casinos Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Boyd Gaming Corporation based in Paradise, Nevada. Coast Casinos is the number 2 locals casino brand in the Las Vegas market behind Station Casinos. History Principally owned and founded by Mi ...

. He was instrumental in bringing the

Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) is the largest rodeo organization in the world. It sanctions events in the United States and Canada, with members from said countries, as well as others. Its championship event is the National ...

(PRCA)’s year-end championship event, the

National Finals Rodeo The National Finals Rodeo (NFR) is the premier rodeo event by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). The NFR showcases the talents of the PRCA's top 15 money-winners in the season for each event. The NFR is held each year in the fi ...

(NFR), to Las Vegas in 1985. He serves on the NFR committee and is a longtime sponsor of the NFR and PRCA. He is also a board member of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. In 2004, Gaughan sold Coast Casinos for $1.3 billion to

Boyd Gaming Boyd Gaming Corporation is an American gaming and hospitality company based in Paradise, Nevada. The company continues to be run by founder Sam Boyd's family under the management of Sam's son, Bill Boyd (born 1931), who currently serves as the ...

. In July 2006, Boyd gaming announced that it was selling the South Coast to Gaughan for an estimated $576 million. The casino was built at a cost of $600 million. Gaughan was inducted into the PRCA’s

ProRodeo Hall of Fame The ProRodeo Hall of Fame and Museum of the American Cowboy was opened in August 1979 as a museum designed to "preserve the legacy of the cowboy contests, the heritage and culture of those original competitions, and the champions of the past, pr ...

in 2007. He was elected to the

Gaming Hall of Fame The Gaming Hall of Fame was established in 1989 to recognize individuals who have played a significant role in the gaming-entertainment industry. The Gaming Hall of Fame Charity Gala is an annual event organized by the American Gaming Associati ...

in 2009. In 2017, the ProRodeo Hall of Fame honored Gaughan with its Legend of ProRodeo award. In 2021, the

Professional Bull Riders The Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR) is an international professional bull riding organization based in Pueblo, Colorado, United States. In the U.S., PBR events have been televised on CBS and CBS Sports Network since 2012. In 2013, the ...

(PBR) honored Gaughan with their Jim Shoulders Lifetime Achievement Award.

Michael Gaughan Airport Slots

Gaughan has been granted the rights to operate slot concession at

Harry Reid International Airport Harry Reid International Airport is an international airport in Paradise, Nevada, and is the main government airport for public use in the Las Vegas Valley, a metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Nevada, about south of Downtown Las Vegas. ...

under the name Michael Gaughan Airport Slots, operating over 1,300 slot machines in all of the airport's terminals.

Sources

* Las Vegas Review-Journal * Las Vegas Sun

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaughan, Michael Businesspeople from Omaha, Nebraska Living people NASCAR team owners 1943 births People from the Las Vegas Valley Bishop Gorman High School alumni