What’s happening is a lot of places are saving money by not doing the food and they’ve cut back. There’s no tellin’ if it wasn’t for the pandemic, but the local places are doing quite well right now. I just got that back last month.įinancially, how has that impacted your business?Īctually, right now I’m doing all right. But I had to close down the public viewing, but they let me have horse shows. If you like horses, you can come out here and watch ’em for free. I think on horse events, like three or four of the 43 were ticketed, so everything’s free. The other people in the seats are the participants and their families, and 95 percent of your horse events, they don’t draw people. The arena has about 4,600 seats, but there could be no spectators. To get into my arena, the people on horseback do not have to wear a mask.

How has your business managed without these events and other convention and meeting business during the pandemic? The South Point is known for its arena and equestrian events center. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. He sat down late last month with the Las Vegas Review-Journal to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic, his casino, his philosophies and how the business has changed over the years. Gaughan expects to bring back another 120 or so employees when he opens up the property’s showroom, box office and convention space. He has 2,300 employees working at the property, nearly all of whom he brought back after the COVID-19 shutdown last March, he said. Gaughan, 78, now owns South Point and the Las Vegas Airport Slot Concession.

in 2004, before splitting off from the company in 2006. Michael Gaughan merged his Coast Casinos company with Boyd Gaming Corp.

He is the son of the late casino owner Jackie Gaughan, who owned the El Cortez and ownership stakes in many other properties. He’s built and owned some of the more recognizable properties in the Las Vegas Valley including the Barbary Coast (now The Cromwell), Gold Coast, Suncoast, The Orleans and South Point.īorn in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1943, Gaughan moved to Las Vegas in 1952 and later graduated from Bishop Gorman High School in 1961. Johnson was president, and Clark County’s population was about 211,000 (about 100,000 people fewer than Henderson nowadays) when Michael Gaughan first became an owner of the El Cortez in 1965.įew, if any, have held a gaming license in Nevada for longer than Gaughan. (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal) cost an average of 30 cents per gallon, Lyndon B.

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