MGM Resorts Exec Hire Signals Tectonic Shift, Everyone Missed It
MGM Resorts’ recent hiring of a Hollywood power broker, Ryan Abboushi, as President of Entertainment is a very big deal.
And everyone missed it. Las Vegas doesn’t have entertainment journalism. Or restaurant journalism. Or journalism, really. There’s a lot of world-class cutting and pasting from news releases, though, so there’s that.
This is why you have us and patiently endure our 69 jokes. We unmiss the misses, connect the dots and “FU” the “BAR” when needed.
If the name Ryan Abboushi isn’t familiar, that’s sort of the point.
Abboushi isn’t the typical Las Vegas casino-resort entertainment executive. He doesn’t come from Cirque. He hasn’t managed showrooms. He didn’t cut his teeth firing Zowie Bowie at Red Rock or Fremont Street Experience, although, everyone should get to do that at least once.
He comes from CAA, Creative Artists Agency, one of the most powerful talent agencies on Earth.
That detail isn’t a footnote. It’s the headline. Or would have been if we weren’t so terrible at writing headlines.
Abboushi’s job at CAA wasn’t to book casino lounge acts and manage property signage. He brokered deals, assembled creative teams and sold high-concept content across platforms.
He didn’t just manage acts, he moved intellectual property like chess pieces.
What does all this mean for the company that operates half the casinos on the Las Vegas Strip?
MGM Resorts isn’t just booking shows anymore. It plans to own them. And not just “shows,” but entertainment experiences, the future of Las Vegas and the world.
Historically, casino entertainment executives were essentially traffic managers. Their job was to fill the theaters, rent space to producers (four-wall deals) and promote headliners and residencies.
Casino companies rarely create anything where they own the intellectual property. They wait for events and attractions, then they hitch their wagons to them. MGM Resorts isn’t waiting anymore.
Show costs have ballooned. Ticket prices have soared. Mid-tier productions are struggling. And Cirque du Soleil, once the blueprint for Vegas entertainment dominance, has contracted, with some wondering if the company could be on the verge of bankruptcy (again).
Along with the business realities of traditional casino entertainment, audience behavior has changed. Visitors want experiences, not just shows. They want multi-platform engagement, not just a seat and merch.
Here’s where Ryan Abboushi comes in.
Bringing in someone from CAA isn’t about maintaining the status quo. It’s about turning MGM Resorts into a creator of content, the owner of it. Content and brands and intellectual property that can be rolled out to not only its Las Vegas casinos, but to its casinos across the country and around the world.
Abboushi’s background includes developing large-scale brand partnerships, structuring content deals for talent across TV, film, streaming and live events, and connecting talent to global platforms and sponsors.
He understands how to build entertainment ecosystems. If MGM Resorts gives him the freedom and resources, Las Vegas becomes both stage and studio.
This hire suggests MGM Resorts is exploring or preparing for owned intellectual propert stage shows (think of a Vegas-born franchise that could tour globally or hit streaming after a run), integrated sports-entertainment experiences, especially with Vegas exploding as a sports city (whether we personally like it or not), branded festivals or multi-day activations, especially tied to lifestyle and luxury partners, cross-platform deals (where a live experience becomes a digital content series or streaming docuseries), celebrity-driven content, etc.
The possibilities are endless.
Abboushi’s hire has a direct connection to the sports fever happening in Las Vegas. The city has gone from sports desert to sports mecca practically overnight. Examples: The Raiders, Vegas Golden Knights, Aces, F1, UFC and a lot of chatter about an imaginary ballpark (that isn’t happening under current ownership, but still). It’s a lot.
Abboushi’s agency background includes working with athletes and sports-related content deals. MGM Resorts has partnerships with UFC, boxing and is heavily invested in sports betting. It’s not a stretch to imagine MGM Resorts exploring hybrid experiences that merge live sports, entertainment and tech-driven interactivity. Think post-fight concerts packaged as global pay-per-view events. Think immersive fan experiences tied to tournaments. Abboushi is uniquely positioned to bring these partnerships to life, connecting entertainment talent with sports brands in a way that feels seamless and scalable.
Is this a risky direction? Of course. It’s new and new things are scary. You know what’s scarier? Staying on auto-pilot. Sticking to what’s worked in the past, assuming it will work in the future.
Is MGM Resorts culture ready for a Ryan Abboushi? Great question. Culture change is hard and rarely can one person make change happen. That means more moves along these lines are in the works at MGM Resorts.
Abboushi isn’t a casino lifer. He didn’t work his way up through the ranks by dealing craps at Excalibur. He’ll need to navigate internal resistance and operational friction. We know this because we faced the same challenges at Caesars Entertainment where our award-winning Pulse of Vegas blog was looked upon as a nuisance rather than the goldmine it was. Long story.
We let A.I. help envision how Ryan Abboushi can better integrate into the MGM Resorts culture. All due respect.
The changes we’re talking about require investment and commitment on the part of MGM Resorts.
Funding development is a whole different ballgame than just leasing space to mentalists and topless revues.
There’s no guarantee of success. Entertainment intellectual property is high risk, high reward. Just ask anyone who was involved with “R.U.N.,” Cirque’s $60 million trainwreck at Luxor.
The hiring of Ryan Abboushi is a bold move, a pivot that shows there’s going ot be an arms race in Las Vegas. The content wars. That war is going to be fought in pursuit of an audience that doesn’t really care about gambling all that much. Specifically, our fellow youths.
Casinos have gone to the same well for far too long. Their loyalty club databases are strained to the limit and gamblers are aging and dying off. Las Vegas visitation is down, and we aren’t just talking about the recent tariff kerfuffle.
MGM Resorts is declaring it won’t just chase trends. It plans to make them.
MGM Resorts doesn’t want its future to rely on F1 or Super Bowls or EDC. It’s going to create celebrity-studded events and partnerships it can own and franchise to itself and others.
What we’re talking about has been described as the “experience economy.” It’s all about creating moments that people are willing to pay for, not just products or services, but experiences that are immersive, shareable and emotionally engaging. See also Area 15, an experiential mall in Las Vegas that’s taken everyone by surprise. And by that we mean us.
Another dot that hasn’t been connected: Barry Diller.
Again, that name might not be familiar to you, but he’s a very big Hollywood honcho and his IAC holds a 22% stake in MGM Resorts, making it the casino company’s largest shareholder.
We’re betting Diller was key in bringing Ryan Abboushi onboard at MGM Resorts.
Diller’s background in media and digital ventures, including founding Fox Broadcasting and InterActive Corp (IAC), aligns with MGM’s need to innovate beyond traditional casino operations. He’s reportedly been increasingly impatient about the state of MGM Resorts’ stock price and has pushed for progress on the digital front. He’s an advocate of companies diversifying and modernizing their offerings to stay competitive.
The hiring of Abboushi suggests a strategic move to create unique, branded entertainment experiences that can be monetized across various platforms, including digital and live events. Yes, we sort of paraphrased that from the news release, but that’s not the same as copying and pasting, just keep moving.
Ryan Abboushi isn’t just another casino executive filling an open spot. (We aren’t sure this was even a spot in the company before his hire.) He’s a statement of intent. He’s the link between what Las Vegas entertainment has always been and the “experience economy.”
If this pans out, Abboushi’s hire might be remembered not just as a staffing decision, but as a strategic turning point for what Las Vegas entertainment looks like in the years to come.
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