He is also a board member of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. He serves on the NFR committee and is a longtime sponsor of the NFR and PRCA.

He was instrumental in bringing the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA)'s year-end championship event, the National Finals Rodeo (NFR), to Las Vegas in 1985. That casino, on 4.3 acres (1.7 ha) of land, became the foundation for Coast Casinos. Īfter many roles in casinos, including various ownership roles, Gaughan opened the Barbary Coast Hotel and Casino in March 1979 at a cost of $11.5 million. Gaughan won the 1966 Mint 400 race, and continued that interest with South Point Racing which he founded in 1999 and dissolved in 2007. The team was dissolved at the end of the 2007 season. He is the son of Jackie Gaughan and was the owner of a NASCAR race team, South Point Racing, for which his son, Brendan Gaughan, used to drive.

Michael John Gaughan (Main Omaha, Nebraska) is an American casino owner and operator in Las Vegas, Nevada, who is the owner of the South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa. South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa, Coast Casinos