About Brian Agnew
Brian Agnew, Senior Vice President of Finance, Treasury & Investor Relations at Caesars Entertainment, was featured in a September 2024 interview discussing the growth and impact of Las Vegas residencies. Agnew stated that professional sports in Las Vegas have been "great for the city," noting that the city offers world-class facilities and additional experiences such as residencies. He described the modern residency as originating in 2003 with the creation of the Coliseum for Celine Dion's show "A New Day," calling it a "big risk" to build a venue for an artist at the peak of their career and fill it multiple nights a week.
Agnew noted that the concept was "unproven" at the time, as the city was smaller and lacked a precedent for such residencies. He contrasted this with the present day, where artists in the prime of their careers seek to perform residencies, and highlighted the intimate access these venues provide, stating that even from the back row, audience members are only 150 feet from the performer.
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Brian Agnew's recent appearances.
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Transcript (10 segments)
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Interviewer0:00
Is there a measurable benefit to your bottom line to have pro sports teams now based in Las Vegas?
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Brian Agnew0:05
You know, having sports in Las Vegas has been great for the city. If you're going to see your team on the road, there's nowhere better in the country to see it than Las Vegas, because one, the facilities are world class, but then there's so many other experiences you can bolt on to it. And residencies are certainly a part of that.
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Interviewer0:23
What does that term residency actually mean? I mean, it's a concert, right? What's the difference?
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Brian Agnew0:27
Well, if you think of Taylor Swift coming to Allegiant, she comes to Allegiant, which was great for a show. If you're Adele, you're coming here for 100 shows. If you were Celine, you were here for more than 1,100 shows. If you were Elton John, you were here for 450 shows. The modern residency was born in 2003 with the creation of the Colosseum for Celine Dion and her show 'A New Day.' It was a big risk to take an artist at the peak of their career, build a venue unique for them, so that guests can see and experience them in venues that they can't see anywhere else.
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Interviewer1:02
You say it was risky just because of the upfront cost?
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Brian Agnew1:05
It was risky because it had never been done: to build a facility of this size, to pay for an artist at the peak of their career, and then to be able to fill the venue three or four nights a week for many, many weekends a year. It had never been done. It was unproven.
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Interviewer1:22
Right, because even though for somebody like Adele or Garth Brooks, 4,000 seats is a really small venue, there is still now the challenge of needing to do this multiple nights in a row in the same location.
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Brian Agnew1:31
That's right. So if you go back to 2003, the city wasn't as big as what it was. You didn't have this precedence of residencies being a success. You had Celine having to fill at the time five nights a week. So think about filling a Tuesday, a Wednesday, a Thursday. Celine did it. Elton quickly followed. Fast forward to today, and you have artists in the prime of their career wanting to sit down and do a residency. You know, if you're in the very back seat, you're only 150 feet, so your access to them is unlike any other venue where you could see them. Today, in an Adele show, you have an arena-style production in this very intimate venue, and she can be walking past you as close as you and I. And you'll never get that at any other venue in the world.
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Interviewer2:17
I've seen clips of this Adele show that's up right now, and I mean, it's incredible. Again, the intimacy of the whole thing. I feel like if I was a huge fan and she's singing 'Hello' from like me to you, I'm a mess, I'm crying, I'm freaking out.
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Brian Agnew2:35
There are a lot of tears. I won't lie. There are a lot of tears.
