Lady Gaga Nearing Las Vegas Residency Deal With MGM Resorts

Posted on: December 19, 2017, 12:00h. 

Last updated on: December 19, 2017, 10:17h.

Casino.org Staff Writer Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming.

Superstar Lady Gaga is reportedly ready to sign with MGM Resorts for a 36-show Las Vegas residency at the company’s rebranded Monte Carlo.

Lady Gaga Las Vegas residency
Lady Gaga began 2017 with the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Her 2018 New Year might commence by announcing a Las Vegas residency. (Image: Mike Ehrmann/Getty)

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the deal will pay her around $400,000 per performance, for a total compensation of $14.4 million. The residency will kick off sometime late next year.

Online reports claim the money is much higher, with Gaga set to make more than $1.5 million per show, but a source told the RJ those rumors are “way off.”

Casino operators have been courting Lady Gaga for months, and the winning bidder appears to be MGM. Gaga’s show, should the reporting be true, will take place inside the Monte Carlo’s new Park Theater.

MGM Resorts is currently spending $450 million to reimagine the Monte Carlo into two distinct hotels, Park MGM and The NoMad. The renovations are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2018.

Mighty Millennial

She’s not Adele, but Lady Gaga might just be the next best thing, as casinos continue to clamor for ways to get younger demographics inside their doors.

Today’s 18 to 34-year-old is thought to have less of an appetite for simple games of chance like the casino’s bread and butter slot machine. As older generations become even older, operators are searching for strategies to keep their floors busy in the years ahead.

Skill-based gaming and e-sports have emerged as leading alternatives to traditional gambling formats. Another strategy casino conglomerates are using is hipper, younger entertainment residencies to get patrons in the doors.

Adele is considered the holy grail, as she appeals to both young and old. But Lady Gaga, one of the most-followed Twitter celebrities whose albums have sold upwards of 30 million copies, isn’t a bad plan B.

Residencies Wanted

MGM’s 5,200-seat Park Theater is in need of entertainment. The venue’s current three headliners, Bruno Mars, Cher, and Ricky Martin, are all readying to exit the sage in early 2018.

MGM isn’t the only game in town searching for A-list talent.

Caesars has a major void to fill when Britney Spears brings her “Piece of Me” residency at Planet Hollywood to a close on New Year’s Eve. Elton John is also scheduled to conclude his Caesars Palace mainstay on May 19. Caesars will also say goodbye to Mariah Carey in 2018.

Caesars’ trifecta of ending headlining residencies means just Celine Dion, Rod Stewart, and Reba, Brooks & Dunn are confirmed to occupy the Colosseum in 2018. Ask a sample of 20 and 30-somethings if they’re willing to spend a couple hundred bucks to see those names, and the odds are slim that the majority will answer “yes.”   

MGM hopes a Lady Gaga ticket will be much more appealing. It has plenty of reason to believe so.

Gaga sold out Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena in August, and again just this past Saturday night. Her latest tour, the Joanne World Tour, has sold out every single show during the first two legs in North America.