This story is brought to you by the INTIX Women in Entertainment Technology Program, proudly sponsored by Lynne King Smith and TicketForce.
Editor's note as of October 2023: Amy Graca's current title is SVP, Entertainment Ticketing, at Caesars Entertainment.
Amy Graca
As Caesars Entertainment’s Vice President of Global Ticketing, Amy Graca oversees 90 live entertainment venues around the world. In this capacity, she manages the ticketing strategy enterprise-wide for the company’s 40-plus integrated resorts in the United States and internationally. “I lead all ticketing strategies and operations in Las Vegas,” she says. “We are operating with a team of more than 300 people to lead this effort. We are launching new attractions and shows on a regular basis, which allows us to utilize pricing tools, inventory tools and create efficiencies throughout the enterprise.”
With such a wide swatch of duties and responsibilities, is there a favorite part to her job? Graca answers quickly: “The thing I like the most about my job is the people I get to collaborate with every day,” she says, “and the customers we get to interact with, too. When you see a venue full of happy fans, it’s an amazing experience to reflect on and know that you helped make that happen.”
Graca has been “making it happen” for some time now. She started her career with Live Nation, followed by a move to Ticketmaster in 2005 where she held several roles of increasing responsibility, including senior client representative. Graca has been with Caesars Entertainment for more than a decade now, spearheading new revenue-generating initiatives and growing the business to a multimillion-dollar department. Indeed, Caesars’ ticketing department oversees the sale of more than 6 million tickets a year.
As such, the challenges are many. Chief among them? “Open distribution!” she exclaims. “With the volume of tickets moving through a variety of sales channels, it is challenging and somewhat perplexing that the industry doesn’t have better solutions for these partners and that the customer experience is so fragmented in this day and age of a digital world.”
Facing such challenges, Graca often calls on the lessons she learned during her earliest days in the industry. “You must be true to and live up to your ethics,” she says. “You’ll always be challenged to mold and to change. People will always look to influence your opinion. But remember what you believe in. Don’t let others change who you are at your core.”
Graca also takes great pride in being a successful woman in such a demanding field. “There are a lot of great opportunities for women in ticketing,” she says. “Women are great leaders; forward thinkers; and, operationally, we can get many things done at the same time. There are roles available in technology, box office, ticketing and leadership in all segments of the business right now.”
“As a woman, don’t be afraid to speak up and show your skill set,” she says. “Don’t wait for others to find the answers. Speak first in meetings or present a solution that might work and be helpful. If you see an area of opportunity, take it upon yourself to help or be creative in how you might solve the issue. Most importantly, don’t doubt yourself. If you believe, then others will, too!”
Graca also finds it important to be hopeful for the future. One initiative she is working on has her the most stoked. “I’m close to being able to share an exciting event that I’m working on to ignite equality for all women in all industry,” she says. “It’s not something that we can talk about publicly yet … but soon!”
She was also excited to talk about initiatives she’s not directly involved in, like Amazon Prime Day, a global shopping event that will start on Monday, July 15, and run through Tuesday, July 16. In 2018, Ariana Grande kicked off Prime Day with a live performance in New York. Amazon Prime members were able to stream the concert via Amazon’s official Prime Day page. This year, pop country superstar Taylor Swift will headline Amazon’s all-female concert along with Becky G, Dua Lipa and SZA.
“The industry is now using different platforms to spread awareness with social sites that we’ve never done before,” Graca says. “I think entertainment content will continue to change over the coming years. The NFL Sunday Ticket, for example — why go to a [game] when you can watch in HD at home with a beer? Things like that are going to change the way we do ticketing and engage in entertainment options long term.”
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