Back to all
Ben Johnson Memorial Award
Awarded in 2023
Michael Gaughan
Born March 24, 1943, in Omaha, Nebraska, Michael Gaughan has been a resident of Las Vegas, Nevada, since 1952. With nearly 60 years in the Las Vegas casino and gaming industry, he began his career in 1965 along with his father, Jackie Gaughan, as owner and casino manager of the El Cortez Hotel in downtown Las Vegas. Today, Gaughan owns the South Point Hotel, Casino, Spa and Equestrian Center, which includes one of the finest horse facilities in the country. Instrumental in bringing many major sporting events to Las Vegas, including the National Finals Rodeo, Gaughan is a Board member at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, is a longtime sponsor of the NFR and PRCA, and was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2007, named the Resistol “Man of the Year” in 2014 and received the PBR’s Jim Shoulders Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021.
Born March 24, 1943, in Omaha, Nebraska, Michael Gaughan has been a resident of Las Vegas, Nevada, since 1952. With nearly 60 years in the Las Vegas casino and gaming industry, he began his career in 1965 along with his father, Jackie Gaughan, as owner and casino manager of the El Cortez Hotel in downtown Las Vegas. Today, Gaughan owns the South Point Hotel, Casino, Spa and Equestrian Center, which includes one of the finest horse facilities in the country. Instrumental in bringing many major sporting events to Las Vegas, including the National Finals Rodeo, Gaughan is a Board member at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, is a longtime sponsor of the NFR and PRCA, and was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2007, named the Resistol “Man of the Year” in 2014 and received the PBR’s Jim Shoulders Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021.
