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Gaming & Leisure Properties, Inc. - Annual Report: 2019 (Form 10-K)


 
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
 
FORM 10-K
(Mark One)
ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019
or
TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the transition period from to
Commission File Number 001-36124
Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Pennsylvania
 
46-2116489
(State or other jurisdiction of
incorporation or organization)
 
(I.R.S. Employer
Identification No.)
845 Berkshire Blvd., Suite 200
Wyomissing, PA 19610
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant's telephone number, including area code: 610 401-2900
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class
 
Trading Symbol(s)
 
Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock, par value $.01 per share
 
GLPI
 
NASDAQ
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
None
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes    No 
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes    No
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes    No 
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes   No 
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer", "accelerated filer", "smaller reporting company," and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act:
Large accelerated filer
Accelerated filer 
 
 
 
 
Non-accelerated filer
Smaller reporting company
 
 
 
 
 
 
Emerging growth company
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section13(a) of the Exchange Act. 
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes    No 
As of June 30, 2019 (the last business day of the registrant's most recently completed second fiscal quarter), the aggregate market value of the voting common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was approximately $7.9 billion. Such aggregate market value was computed by reference to the closing price of the common stock as reported on the NASDAQ Global Select Market on June 28, 2019.

The number of shares of the registrant's common stock outstanding as of February 18, 2020 was 215,101,747.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Portions of the registrant's definitive proxy statement for its 2020 annual meeting of shareholders (when it is filed) will be incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.




IMPORTANT FACTORS REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Forward-looking statements in this document are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. ("GLPI") and subsidiaries (collectively, the "Company") to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include information concerning the Company's business strategy, plans, and goals and objectives.
Forward-looking statements in this document include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our ability to grow our portfolio of gaming facilities and to secure additional avenues of growth beyond the gaming industry. In addition, statements preceded by, followed by or that otherwise include the words "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "projects," "estimates," "plans," "may increase," "may fluctuate," and similar expressions or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "should," "would," "may" and "could" are generally forward-looking in nature and not historical facts. You should understand that the following important factors could affect future results and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements:
the availability of and the ability to identify suitable and attractive acquisition and development opportunities and the ability to acquire and lease the respective properties on favorable terms;

the degree and nature of our competition;

the ability to receive, or delays in obtaining, the regulatory approvals required to own and/or operate our properties, or other delays or impediments to completing our planned acquisitions or projects;

our ability to maintain our status as a real estate investment trust ("REIT"), given the highly technical and complex Internal Revenue Code (the "Code") provisions for which only limited judicial and administrative authorities exist, where even a technical or inadvertent violation could jeopardize REIT qualification and where requirements may depend in part on the actions of third parties over which the Company has no control or only limited influence;

the satisfaction of certain asset, income, organizational, distribution, shareholder ownership and other requirements on a continuing basis in order for the Company to maintain its REIT status;

the ability and willingness of our tenants, operators and other third parties to meet and/or perform their obligations under their respective contractual arrangements with us, including lease and note requirements and in some cases, their obligations to indemnify, defend and hold us harmless from and against various claims, litigation and liabilities;

the ability of our tenants and operators to maintain the financial strength and liquidity necessary to satisfy their respective obligations and liabilities to third parties, including without limitation to satisfy obligations under their existing credit facilities and other indebtedness;

the ability of our tenants and operators to comply with laws, rules and regulations in the operation of our properties, to deliver high quality services, to attract and retain qualified personnel and to attract customers;

the satisfaction of the loan made to Eldorado Resorts, Inc. ("Eldorado") by way of substitution of one or more additional Eldorado properties acceptable to Eldorado and the Company, which will be transferred to the Company;

the ability to generate sufficient cash flows to service our outstanding indebtedness;

the access to debt and equity capital markets, including for acquisitions or refinancing due to maturities;

adverse changes in our credit rating;

fluctuating interest rates and the potential phasing out of LIBOR after 2021;

the impact of global or regional economic conditions;

the availability of qualified personnel and our ability to retain our key management personnel;

GLPI's obligation to indemnify Penn National Gaming, Inc. and its subsidiaries ("Penn") in certain circumstances if the spin-off transaction described in Part 1 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K fails to be tax-free;

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changes in the United States tax law and other state, federal or local laws, whether or not specific to real estate, REITs or to the gaming, lodging or hospitality industries;

changes in accounting standards;

the impact of weather events or conditions, natural disasters, acts of terrorism and other international hostilities, war or political instability;

other risks inherent in the real estate business, including potential liability relating to environmental matters and illiquidity of real estate investments; and

additional factors discussed in the sections entitled "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in this report.
Certain of these factors and other factors, risks and uncertainties are discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of this report. Other unknown or unpredictable factors may also cause actual results to differ materially from those projected by the forward-looking statements. Most of these factors are difficult to anticipate and are generally beyond the control of the Company.
You should consider the areas of risk described above, as well as those set forth under the heading "Risk Factors," in connection with considering any forward-looking statements that may be made by the Company generally. The Company does not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements, to report events or to report the occurrence of unanticipated events unless required to do so by law.



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TABLE OF CONTENTS
 
 
 
 
 
Page
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


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In this Annual Report on Form 10-K, the terms "we," "us," "our," the "Company" and "GLPI" refer to Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. and subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.
PART I

ITEM 1.    BUSINESS
Overview
GLPI is a self-administered and self-managed Pennsylvania REIT. The Company was formed from the 2013 tax-free spin-off of the real estate assets of Penn and was incorporated in Pennsylvania on February 13, 2013, as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Penn. On November 1, 2013, Penn contributed to GLPI, through a series of internal corporate restructurings, substantially all of the assets and liabilities associated with Penn's real property interests and real estate development business, as well as the assets and liabilities of Louisiana Casino Cruises, Inc. (d/b/a Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge) and Penn Cecil Maryland, Inc. (d/b/a Hollywood Casino Perryville) (which are referred to as the "TRS Properties") and then spun-off GLPI to holders of Penn's common and preferred stock in a tax-free distribution (the "Spin-Off"). The assets and liabilities of GLPI were recorded at their respective historical carrying values at the time of the Spin-Off in accordance with the provisions of Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") 505-60 - Spinoffs and Reverse Spinoffs. GLPI owns and operates the TRS Properties through its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, GLP Holdings, Inc.
The Company elected on its United States ("U.S.") federal income tax return for its taxable year that began on January 1, 2014 to be treated as a REIT and GLPI, together with GLP Holdings, Inc., jointly elected to treat each of GLP Holdings, Inc., Louisiana Casino Cruises, Inc. and Penn Cecil Maryland, Inc. as a "taxable REIT subsidiary" ("TRS") effective on the first day of the first taxable year of GLPI as a REIT. In connection with the Spin-Off, Penn allocated its accumulated earnings and profits (as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes) for periods prior to the consummation of the Spin-Off between Penn and GLPI. In connection with its election to be taxed as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes for the year ended December 31, 2014, GLPI declared a special dividend to its shareholders to distribute any accumulated earnings and profits relating to the real property assets and attributable to any pre-REIT years, including any earnings and profits allocated to GLPI in connection with the Spin-Off, to comply with certain REIT qualification requirements.
As a result of the Spin-Off, GLPI owns substantially all of Penn's former real property assets (as of the consummation of the Spin-Off) and leases back most of those assets to Penn for use by its subsidiaries pursuant to a unitary master lease (the "Penn Master Lease"). The Penn Master Lease is a triple-net operating lease with an initial term of 15 years (expiring October 31, 2028), with no purchase option, followed by four 5-year renewal options (exercisable by Penn) on the same terms and conditions. In April 2016, the Company acquired substantially all of the real estate assets of Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. ("Pinnacle") for approximately $4.8 billion. GLPI originally leased these assets back to Pinnacle, under a unitary triple-net lease with an initial term of 10 years (expiring April 30, 2026), with no purchase option, followed by five 5-year renewal options (exercisable by Pinnacle) on the same terms and conditions (the "Pinnacle Master Lease"). On October 15, 2018, the Company completed its previously announced transactions with Penn, Pinnacle and Boyd to accommodate Penn's acquisition of the majority of Pinnacle's operations, pursuant to a definitive agreement and plan of merger between Penn and Pinnacle, dated December 17, 2017 (the "Penn-Pinnacle Merger"). Concurrent with the Penn-Pinnacle Merger, the Company amended the Pinnacle Master Lease to allow for the sale of the operating assets of Ameristar Casino Hotel Kansas City, Ameristar Casino Resort Spa St. Charles and Belterra Casino Resort from Pinnacle to Boyd Gaming Corporation ("Boyd") (the "Amended Pinnacle Master Lease") and entered into a new unitary triple-net master lease agreement with Boyd (the "Boyd Master Lease") for these properties on terms similar to the Company’s Amended Pinnacle Master Lease. The Boyd Master Lease has an initial term of 10 years (from the original April 2016 commencement date of the Pinnacle Master Lease and expiring April 30, 2026), with no purchase option, followed by five 5-year renewal options (exercisable by Boyd) on the same terms and conditions. The Company also purchased the real estate assets of Plainridge Park Casino ("Plainridge Park") from Penn for $250.0 million, exclusive of transaction fees and taxes and added this property to the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease. The Amended Pinnacle Master Lease was assumed by Penn at the consummation of the Penn-Pinnacle Merger. The Company also entered into a mortgage loan agreement with Boyd in connection with Boyd's acquisition of Belterra Park Gaming & Entertainment Center ("Belterra Park"), whereby the Company loaned Boyd $57.7 million (the "Belterra Park Loan").
In addition to the acquisition of Plainridge Park described above, on October 1, 2018, the Company closed its previously announced transaction to acquire certain real property assets from Tropicana Entertainment Inc. ("Tropicana") and certain of its affiliates pursuant to a Purchase and Sale Agreement (the "Real Estate Purchase Agreement") dated April 15, 2018 between Tropicana and GLP Capital L.P. ("GLP Capital"), the operating partnership of GLPI, which was subsequently amended on October 1, 2018 (as amended, the "Amended Real Estate Purchase Agreement"). Pursuant to the terms of the Amended Real Estate Purchase Agreement, the Company acquired the real estate assets of Tropicana Atlantic City, Tropicana Evansville,

4


Tropicana Laughlin, Trop Casino Greenville and the Belle of Baton Rouge (the "GLP Assets") from Tropicana for an aggregate cash purchase price of $964.0 million, exclusive of transaction fees and taxes (the "Tropicana Acquisition"). Concurrent with the Tropicana Acquisition, Eldorado Resorts, Inc. ("Eldorado") acquired the operating assets of these properties from Tropicana pursuant to an Agreement and Plan of Merger dated April 15, 2018 by and among Tropicana, GLP Capital, Eldorado and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Eldorado (the "Tropicana Merger Agreement") and leased the GLP Assets from the Company pursuant to the terms of a new unitary triple-net master lease with an initial term of 15 years, with no purchase option, followed by four successive 5-year renewal periods (exercisable by Eldorado) on the same terms and conditions (the "Eldorado Master Lease"). Additionally, on October 1, 2018 the Company entered into a loan agreement with Eldorado in connection with Eldorado’s acquisition of Lumière Place Casino ("Lumière Place"), whereby the Company loaned Eldorado $246.0 million (together with the Tropicana Acquisition the "Tropicana Transactions").
GLPI's primary business consists of acquiring, financing, and owning real estate property to be leased to gaming operators in triple-net lease arrangements. Triple-net leases are leases in which the lessee pays rent to the lessor, as well as all taxes, insurance, utilities and maintenance expenses that arise from the use of the property. As of December 31, 2019, GLPI’s portfolio consisted of interests in 44 gaming and related facilities, including the TRS Properties, the real property associated with 32 gaming and related facilities operated by Penn, the real property associated with 5 gaming and related facilities operated by Eldorado, the real property associated with 4 gaming and related facilities operated by Boyd (including one financed property) and the real property associated with the Casino Queen in East St. Louis, Illinois.  These facilities, including our corporate headquarters building, are geographically diversified across 16 states and contain approximately 22.1 million square feet. As of December 31, 2019, the Company's properties were 100% occupied. We expect to continue growing our portfolio by pursuing opportunities to acquire additional gaming facilities to lease to gaming operators under prudent terms.
Tax Status
We elected on our 2014 U.S. federal income tax return to be treated as a REIT and intend to continue to be organized and to operate in a manner that will permit us to qualify as a REIT. To qualify as a REIT, we must meet certain organizational and operational requirements, including a requirement to distribute at least 90% of our annual REIT taxable income to shareholders. As a REIT, we generally will not be subject to federal income tax on income that we distribute as dividends to our shareholders. If we fail to qualify as a REIT in any taxable year, we will be subject to U.S. federal income tax, including any applicable alternative minimum tax, on our taxable income at regular corporate income tax rates, and dividends paid to our shareholders would not be deductible by us in computing taxable income. Any resulting corporate liability could be substantial and could materially and adversely affect our net income and net cash available for distribution to shareholders. Unless we were entitled to relief under certain provisions of the Code, we also would be disqualified from re-electing to be taxed as a REIT for the four taxable years following the year in which we failed to qualify to be taxed as a REIT.
Our TRS Properties are able to engage in activities resulting in income that is not qualifying income for a REIT. As a result, certain activities of the Company which occur within our TRS Properties are subject to federal and state income taxes.
Tenants
As of December 31, 2019, 19 of the Company’s real estate investment properties were leased to a subsidiary of Penn under the Penn Master Lease, 12 of the Company's real estate investment properties were leased to a subsidiary of Penn under the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease, 5 of the Company's real estate investment properties were leased to a subsidiary of Eldorado under the Eldorado Master Lease and 3 of the Company's real estate investment properties were leased to a subsidiary of Boyd under the Boyd Master Lease. Penn, Eldorado and Boyd are leading, diversified, multi-jurisdictional owners and managers of gaming and pari-mutuel properties and established gaming providers with strong financial performance. Additionally, the real estate assets of the Meadows Racetrack and Casino (the "Meadows") are leased to Penn under a single property triple-net operating lease (the "Meadows Lease"). GLPI also leases the Casino Queen property back to its operator on a triple-net basis on terms similar to those in the master leases (the "Casino Queen Lease").

The obligations under the Penn and Amended Pinnacle Master Leases, as well as the Meadows Lease, are guaranteed by Penn and, with respect to each lease, jointly and severally by Penn's subsidiaries that occupy and operate the facilities covered by such lease. Similarly, the obligations under the Eldorado Master Lease are jointly and severally guaranteed by Eldorado and by most of Eldorado's subsidiaries that occupy and operate the facilities leased under the Eldorado Master Lease. The obligations under the Boyd Master Leases are jointly and severally guaranteed by Boyd's subsidiaries that occupy and operate the facilities leased under the Boyd Master Lease.

The rent structure under the Penn Master Lease includes a fixed component, a portion of which is subject to an annual 2% escalator if certain rent coverage ratio thresholds are met, and a component that is based on the performance of the facilities, which is adjusted, subject to certain floors (i) every five years to an amount equal to 4% of the average net revenues of all facilities under the Penn Master Lease (other than Hollywood Casino Columbus and Hollywood Casino Toledo) during

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the preceding five years, and (ii) monthly by an amount equal to 20% of the net revenues of Hollywood Casino Columbus and Hollywood Casino Toledo during the preceding month.

Similar to the Penn Master Lease, each of the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease, Eldorado Master Lease and Boyd Master Lease includes a fixed component, a portion of which is subject to an annual 2% escalator if certain rent coverage ratio thresholds are met and a component that is based on the performance of the facilities, which is adjusted, subject to certain floors, every two years to an amount equal to 4% of the average annual net revenues of all facilities under the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease during the preceding two years.

 The Meadows Lease contains a fixed component, subject to annual escalators, and a component that is based on the performance of the facility, which is reset every two years to an amount determined by multiplying (i) 4% by (ii) the average annual net revenues of the facility for the trailing two-year period. The Meadows Lease contains an annual escalator provision for up to 5% of the base rent, if certain rent coverage ratio thresholds are met, which remains at 5% until the earlier of ten years or the year in which total rent is $31 million, at which point the escalator will be reduced to 2% annually thereafter.

The rent structure under the Casino Queen Lease also includes a fixed component, a portion of which is subject to an annual 2% escalator if certain rent coverage ratio thresholds are met, and a component that is based on the performance of the facility, which is reset every five years to an amount equal to the greater of (i) the annual amount of non-fixed rent applicable for the lease year immediately preceding such rent reset year and (ii) an amount equal to 4% of the average annual net revenues of the facility for the trailing five-year period.

Furthermore, the Company's master leases provide for a floor on the percentage rent described above, should the Company's tenants acquire or commence operating a competing facility within a restricted area (typically 60 miles from a property under the existing master lease with such tenant). These clauses provide landlord protections by basing the percentage rent floor for any affected facility on the net revenues of such facility for the calendar year immediately preceding the year in which the competing facility is acquired or first operated by the tenant. In June 2019, a percentage rent floor was triggered on Penn's Hollywood Casino Toledo property, as a result of Penn's purchase of the operations of the Greektown Casino-Hotel in Detroit, Michigan.

In addition to rent, as triple-net lessees, all of the Company's tenants are required to pay the following executory costs: (1) all facility maintenance, (2) all insurance required in connection with the leased properties and the business conducted on the leased properties, including coverage of the landlord's interests, (3) taxes levied on or with respect to the leased properties, (other than taxes on the income of the lessor), and (4) all utilities and other services necessary or appropriate for the leased properties and the business conducted on the leased properties.
Our tenants do not have the ability to terminate their obligations under our long-term tenant leases prior to the expiration of the initial term without the Company's consent. If our long-term tenant leases are terminated prior to their initial expiration other than with our consent, our tenants may be liable for damages and incur charges such as continued payment of rent through the end of the lease term and maintenance costs for the leased property. All of our tenant leases contain a limited number of renewal options which may be exercised at our tenants' option. The Penn Master Lease, the Eldorado Master Lease and the Casino Queen Lease each have an initial term of 15 years, with no purchase option, followed by four 5-year renewal options (exercisable by Penn, Eldorado or Casino Queen, respectively) on the same terms and conditions, while the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease and the Boyd Master Lease each have an initial term of 10 years (from the original April 2016 commencement date of the Pinnacle Master Lease), with no purchase option, followed by five 5-year renewal options (exercisable by Penn or Boyd, respectively) on the same terms and conditions. The Meadows Lease has an initial term of 10 years, with no purchase option, and the option to renew for three successive 5-year terms and one 4-year term (exercisable by Penn) on the same terms and conditions.








6


The following table summarizes certain features of our properties as of December 31, 2019:
 
Location
Tenant/Operator
 
Approx.
Property
Square
Footage (1)
 
Owned
Acreage
 
Leased
Acreage (2)
 
Hotel
Rooms
Tenant Occupied Properties (3)
 
 
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Hollywood Casino Lawrenceburg
Lawrenceburg, IN
Penn
 
634,000

 
73.1

 
32.1

 
295

Hollywood Casino Aurora
Aurora, IL
Penn
 
222,189

 
0.4

 
1.7

 

Hollywood Casino Joliet
Joliet, IL
Penn
 
322,446

 
275.6

 

 
100

Argosy Casino Alton
Alton, IL
Penn
 
124,569

 
0.2

 
3.6

 

Hollywood Casino Toledo
Toledo, OH
Penn
 
285,335

 
42.3

 

 

Hollywood Casino Columbus
Columbus, OH
Penn
 
354,075

 
116.2

 

 

Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races
Charles Town, WV
Penn
 
511,249

 
298.6

 

 
153

Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course
Grantville, PA
Penn
 
451,758

 
573.7

 

 

M Resort
Henderson, NV
Penn
 
910,173

 
83.5

 

 
390

Hollywood Casino Bangor
Bangor, ME
Penn
 
257,085

 
6.4

 
37.9

 
152

Zia Park Casino (4)
Hobbs, NM
Penn
 
109,067

 
317.4

 

 

Hollywood Casino Gulf Coast
Bay St. Louis, MS
Penn
 
425,920

 
578.7

 

 
291

Argosy Casino Riverside
Riverside, MO
Penn
 
450,397

 
37.9

 

 
258

Hollywood Casino Tunica
Tunica, MS
Penn
 
315,831

 

 
67.7

 
494

Boomtown Biloxi
Biloxi, MS
Penn
 
134,800

 
1.5

 
1.0

 

Hollywood Casino St. Louis
Maryland Heights, MO
Penn
 
645,270

 
220.8

 

 
502

Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway
Dayton, OH
Penn
 
191,037

 
119.7

 

 

Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course
Youngstown, OH
Penn
 
177,448

 
193.4

 

 

1st Jackpot Casino
Tunica, MS
Penn
 
78,941

 
52.9

 
93.8

 

Ameristar Black Hawk
Black Hawk, CO
Penn
 
775,744

 
104.1

 

 
536

Ameristar East Chicago
East Chicago, IN
Penn
 
509,867

 

 
21.6

 
288

Ameristar Council Bluffs (4)
Council Bluffs, IA
Penn
 
312,047

 
36.2

 
22.6

 
160

L'Auberge Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge, LA
Penn
 
436,461

 
99.1

 

 
205

Boomtown Bossier City
Bossier City, LA
Penn
 
281,747

 
21.8

 

 
187

L'Auberge Lake Charles
Lake Charles, LA
Penn
 
1,014,497

 

 
234.5

 
995

Boomtown New Orleans
New Orleans, LA
Penn
 
278,227

 
53.6

 

 
150

Ameristar Vicksburg
Vicksburg, MS
Penn
 
298,006

 
74.1

 

 
148

River City Casino and Hotel
St. Louis, MO
Penn
 
431,226

 

 
83.4

 
200

Jackpot Properties (5)
Jackpot, NV
Penn
 
419,800

 
79.5

 

 
416

Plainridge Park Casino
Plainville, MA
Penn
 
196,473

 
87.9

 

 

The Meadows Racetrack and Casino (4)
Washington, PA
Penn
 
417,921

 
155.5

 

 

Casino Queen
East St. Louis, IL
Casino Queen
 
330,502

 
67.2

 

 
157

Belterra Casino Resort
Florence, IN
Boyd
 
782,393

 
167.1

 
148.5

 
662

Ameristar Kansas City
Kansas City, MO
Boyd
 
763,939

 
224.5

 
31.4

 
184

Ameristar St. Charles
St. Charles, MO
Boyd
 
1,272,938

 
241.2

 

 
397

Tropicana Atlantic City
Atlantic City, NJ
Eldorado
 
4,232,018

 
18.3

 

 
2,364

Tropicana Evansville
Evansville, IN
Eldorado
 
754,833

 
18.4

 
10.2

 
338

Tropicana Laughlin
Laughlin, NV
Eldorado
 
936,453

 
93.6

 

 
1,487

Trop Casino Greenville
Greenville, MS
Eldorado
 
94,017

 

 
7.4

 
40

Belle of Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge, LA
Eldorado
 
386,398

 
13.1

 
0.8

 
288

 
 
 
 
21,527,097

 
4,547.5

 
798.2

 
11,837

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Financed Property
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Belterra Park Gaming & Entertainment Center (6)
Cincinnati, OH
Boyd
 
372,650

 
160.0

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

7


Other Properties
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Other owned buildings and land (7)
various
N/A
 
23,400

 
3.9

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
TRS Properties
 
 
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge, LA
GLPI
 
95,318

 
25.1

 

 

Hollywood Casino Perryville
Perryville, MD
GLPI
 
97,961

 
36.3

 

 

 
 
 
 
193,279

 
61.4

 

 

Total
 
 
 
22,116,426

 
4,772.8

 
798.2

 
11,837


 

(1) 
Square footage includes air-conditioned space and excludes parking garages and barns.

(2) 
Leased acreage reflects land subject to leases with third-parties and includes land on which certain of the current facilities and ancillary supporting structures are located as well as parking lots and access rights.

(3) 
We currently lease 86.6 acres in Tunica, Mississippi, where the Resorts Casino Tunica is located, which has been excluded from this table. This property is leased to Penn as part of the Penn Master Lease, however, the casino and hotel were closed by Penn in June 2019. As a result of the property closure, the Company entered into an agreement to terminate the long-term ground lease for this property, which will be effective in February 2020, at which time such ground lease will be removed from the Penn Master Lease.

(4) 
These properties include hotels not owned by the Company. Square footage and rooms associated with properties not owned by GLPI are excluded from the table above.

(5)
Encompasses two gaming properties in Jackpot, Nevada: Cactus Pete's and The Horseshu.

(6) 
The Company financed the purchase of this property through a real estate loan to the owner-operator. Square footage and acreage associated with this property that we do not own are included in this table for informational purposes only.
    
(7) 
This includes our corporate headquarters building and undeveloped land the Company owns at locations other than its tenant occupied properties.
Hollywood Casino Lawrenceburg
We own 73.1 acres and lease 32.1 acres in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, a portion of which serves as the dockside embarkation for the gaming vessel, and includes a Hollywood-themed casino riverboat, an entertainment pavilion, a 295-room hotel, two parking garages and an adjacent surface lot, with an additional surface lot used for remote parking. This property is leased to Penn as part of the Penn Master Lease.
Hollywood Casino Aurora
We own a dockside barge structure and land-based pavilion in Aurora, Illinois. We own the land, which is approximately 0.4 acres, on which the pavilion is located. The property also includes two parking garages under finance lease agreements and rights to a pedestrian walkway bridge under an operating lease, together comprising 1.7 acres. This property is leased to Penn as part of the Penn Master Lease.
Hollywood Casino Joliet
We own 275.6 acres in Joliet, Illinois, which includes a barge-based casino, land-based pavilion, a 100-room hotel, a parking garage, surface parking areas and a recreational vehicle park. This property is leased to Penn as part of the Penn Master Lease.
Argosy Casino Alton
We lease 3.6 acres in Alton, Illinois, a portion of which serves as the dockside boarding for the Alton Belle II, a riverboat casino. The dockside facility includes an entertainment pavilion and office space, as well as surface parking areas. In addition, we own an office building property consisting of 0.2 acres. This property is leased to Penn as part of the Penn Master Lease.


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Hollywood Casino Toledo
We own a 42.3-acre site in Toledo, Ohio, where Hollywood Casino Toledo is located. The property includes a casino as well as structured and surface parking. This property is leased to Penn as part of the Penn Master Lease.
Hollywood Casino Columbus
We own 116.2 acres of land in Columbus, Ohio, where Hollywood Casino Columbus is located. The property includes a casino as well as structured and surface parking. this property is leased to Penn as part of the Penn Master Lease.
Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races
We own 298.6 acres on various parcels in Charles Town and Ranson, West Virginia of which 155 acres comprise the Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races. The facility includes a 153-room hotel and a 3/4-mile all-weather lighted thoroughbred racetrack, a training track, two parking garages, an employee parking lot, an enclosed grandstand/clubhouse and stable facilities for over 1,300 horses. This property is leased to Penn as part of the Penn Master Lease.
Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course
We own 573.7 acres in Grantville, Pennsylvania, where Penn National Race Course is located on 181 acres. The facility includes a casino, a one-mile all-weather lighted thoroughbred racetrack and a 7/8-mile turf track, a parking garage and surface parking spaces. The property also includes approximately 393 acres surrounding the Penn National Race Course that are available for future expansion or development. This property is leased to Penn as part of the Penn Master Lease.
M Resort
We own 83.5 acres on the southeast corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and St. Rose Parkway in Henderson, Nevada, where the M Resort is located. The M Resort property includes a casino, a 390-room hotel and a parking facility. In addition, our tenant has rights to 4.0 acres of land at the casino site. This property is leased to Penn as part of the Penn Master Lease.
Hollywood Casino Bangor
We lease 2.5 acres in Bangor, Maine on which Hollywood Casino Bangor is located. We also own 6.4 acres adjacent to the casino on which a 152-room hotel and a four-story parking garage are located. In addition, we lease 35.4 acres at and around historic Bass Park, which is adjacent to the casino and includes a one-half mile standardbred racetrack, a grandstand with over 12,000 square feet and seating for 3,500 patrons and parking. This property is leased to Penn as part of the Penn Master Lease.
Zia Park Casino
We own 317.4 acres in Hobbs, New Mexico, where the Zia Park Casino is located. The property also includes a one-mile thoroughbred and quarter-horse racetrack. This property is leased to Penn as part of the Penn Master Lease.
Hollywood Casino Gulf Coast
We own 578.7 acres in the city of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, including a 20-slip marina. The property includes a casino, an 18-hole golf course, a 291-room hotel, a recreational vehicle park and other facilities. This property is leased to Penn as part of the Penn Master Lease.
Argosy Casino Riverside
We own 37.9 acres in Riverside, Missouri, which includes a barge-based casino, a 258-room hotel, an entertainment/banquet facility and a parking garage. This property is leased to Penn as part of the Penn Master Lease.
Hollywood Casino Tunica
We lease 67.7 acres of land in Tunica, Mississippi. The property includes a dockside single-level casino, a 494-room hotel, surface parking and other land-based facilities. This property is leased to Penn as part of the Penn Master Lease.
Boomtown Biloxi
We lease 1.0 acre of land mostly used for parking and a welcome center and own an additional 1.5 acres in Biloxi, Mississippi. In addition, our tenant has rights to 18.5 acres of land, most of which is utilized for the dockside casino and 4.5 acres of submerged tidelands at the casino site. This property is leased to Penn as part of the Penn Master Lease.


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Hollywood Casino St. Louis
We own 220.8 acres along the Missouri River in Maryland Heights, Missouri. The property includes a casino, a 502-room hotel and structure and surface parking. This property is leased to Penn as part of the Penn Master Lease.
Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway
We own 119.7 acres in Dayton, Ohio, where Penn operates the Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway. The property includes a gaming facility, a 5/8-mile all-weather standardbred racetrack and surface parking. This property is leased to Penn as part of the Penn Master Lease.
Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course
We own 193.4 acres in Youngstown, Ohio, where Penn operates the Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course. The property includes a gaming facility, a one-mile thoroughbred racetrack and surface parking. This property is leased to Penn as part of the Penn Master Lease.
1st Jackpot Casino
We own 52.9 acres of wetlands and lease an additional 93.8 acres in Tunica, Mississippi located approximately 30 miles from downtown Memphis, Tennessee. The property is located along the Mississippi River and includes a dockside casino, surface parking and other land-based facilities. This property is leased to Penn as part of the Penn Master Lease.
Ameristar Black Hawk
We own 104.1 acres in Black Hawk, Colorado which includes a casino and a 536-room hotel. The casino property sits on approximately 6 acres and the remaining 98 acres, which are located across the street from the casino, are used mainly for overflow parking, administrative offices and a warehouse. This property is leased to Penn as part of the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease.

Ameristar East Chicago

We lease 21.6 acres in East Chicago, Indiana located approximately 25 miles from downtown Chicago, Illinois. The property includes a dockside riverboat casino and a 288-room hotel. This property is leased to Penn as part of the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease.

Ameristar Council Bluffs

We own 36.2 acres and lease an additional 22.6 acres in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The property is located across the Missouri River from Omaha, Nebraska. The property includes a dockside casino and a 160-room hotel. This property is leased to Penn as part of the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease.

L’ Auberge Baton Rouge

We own 99.1 acres in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The property includes a dockside casino and a 205-room hotel and is located approximately 10 miles south of downtown Baton Rouge. This property is leased to Penn as part of the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease.

Boomtown Bossier City

We own 21.8 acres on the banks of the Red River in Bossier City, Louisiana. The property features a 187-room hotel adjoining a dockside riverboat casino. This property is leased to Penn as part of the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease.

L’Auberge Lake Charles

We lease 234.5 acres in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The property includes a dockside casino and a 995-room hotel and is one of the closest full-scale casino-hotel facilities to Houston, Texas. This property is leased to Penn as part of the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease.




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Boomtown New Orleans

We own 53.6 acres in Harvey, Louisiana. The property includes a dockside riverboat casino and a 150-room hotel. This property is leased to Penn as part of the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease.

Ameristar Vicksburg

We own 74.1 acres in Vicksburg, Mississippi. The property includes a dockside riverboat casino and a 148-room hotel. Also located on the property is a recreational vehicle park and buildings which are used for warehousing and support services. This property is leased to Penn as part of the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease.

River City Casino and Hotel

We lease 83.4 acres in St. Louis County Missouri approximately 12 miles south of downtown St. Louis. The property includes a dockside casino and a 200-room hotel. This property is leased to Penn as part of the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease.

Jackpot Properties

We own 79.5 acres in Jackpot, Nevada, encompassing Cactus Petes and The Horseshu. In addition to these two casinos, the property includes a 416-room hotel and a recreational vehicle park. These two properties sit directly across from each other with Highway 93 separating them. These properties are leased to Penn as part of the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease.

Plainridge Park Casino

We own 87.9 acres in Plainridge, Massachusetts. The property includes a gaming facility, live harness racing on a 5/8-mile track, 1,600 structured and surface parking spaces, a grandstand and a clubhouse. This property is leased to Penn as part of the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease.

The Meadows Racetrack and Casino

We own 155.5 acres in Washington, Pennsylvania. The property includes a casino, an off-track wagering facility, a 24- lane bowling alley and a state-of-the-art 5/8-mile harness track with a 500-seat grandstand. This property is leased to Penn under the Meadows Lease.
Casino Queen
We own 67.2 acres in East St. Louis, Illinois. The property includes a casino, a 157-room hotel, a recreational vehicle park and surface parking areas. This property is leased to Casino Queen under the Casino Queen Lease.
Belterra Casino Resort

We own 167.1 acres and lease an additional 148.5 acres in Florence, Indiana. The property is located along the Ohio River and includes a dockside riverboat casino, an 18-hole golf course and a 608-room casino hotel, in addition to the 54-room Ogle Haus Inn. This property is leased to Boyd as part of the Boyd Master Lease.

Ameristar Kansas City

We own 224.5 acres in Kansas City, Missouri, along the north bank of the Missouri River and lease an additional 31.4 adjacent acres. The property includes a dockside casino and a 184-room hotel. This property is leased to Boyd as part of the Boyd Master Lease.

Ameristar St. Charles

We own 241.2 acres in St. Charles, Missouri, along the west bank of the Missouri River. The property includes a dockside casino and a 397-room hotel. This property is leased to Boyd as part of the Boyd Master Lease.




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Tropicana Atlantic City

We own 18.3 acres in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The property includes a casino, 2,364 hotel rooms across five hotel towers and structured parking. This property is leased to Eldorado as part of the Eldorado Master Lease.

Tropicana Evansville

We own 18.4 acres and lease another 10.2 acres along the banks of the Ohio river in Evansville, Indiana. The property includes a casino and two hotels with a combined 338 rooms along with a 1,660-vehicle attached parking garage. This property is leased to Eldorado as part of the Eldorado Master Lease.

Tropicana Laughlin

We own 93.6 acres in Laughlin, Nevada. The property includes a casino and a 1,487-room hotel. This property is leased to Eldorado as part of the Eldorado Master Lease.

Trop Casino Greenville

We lease 7.4 acres in historic downtown Greenville, Mississippi. The property includes a riverboat and casino and a 40-room hotel. This property is leased to Eldorado as part of the Eldorado Master Lease.

Belle of Baton Rouge

We own 13.1 acres and lease another 0.8 acres in the downtown historic district of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The property includes a dockside casino, structured parking and a 288-room hotel. This property is leased to Eldorado as part of the Eldorado Master Lease.

Financed Property

Belterra Park Gaming and Entertainment Center

We hold the mortgage on this property which encompasses 160.0 acres on the banks of the Ohio River approximately 10 minutes from downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. The property includes a gaming facility and live thoroughbred racing on two tracks, a 7/8-mile turf track and a one-mile dirt track.

TRS Properties
Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge
Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge is a dockside riverboat casino operating in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The riverboat features approximately 29,000 square feet of gaming space with 859 gaming machines and 12 table games and also features a deli. The facility also includes a two-story, 66,318 square foot dockside building featuring a variety of amenities, including a grill, a 268-seat buffet, a premium players' lounge, an event venue, a lobby bar, a public atrium, two meeting rooms and 1,407 surface parking spaces.
Hollywood Casino Perryville
Hollywood Casino Perryville is located directly off Interstate 95 in Cecil County, Maryland just 35 miles northeast of Baltimore and 70 miles from Washington, D.C. Hollywood Casino Perryville is a Hollywood-themed facility which offers 34,329 square feet of gaming space with 822 slot machines, 13 table games, 8 poker tables and a simulcast race book. The facility also offers several third-party operated food and beverage options, including a bar and grill, a casino bar, a gift shop and 1,600 surface parking spaces with valet and self-parking.
Competition
We compete for additional real property investments with other REITs, including two other gaming focused REITs, MGM Growth Properties LLC and VICI Properties Inc., investment companies, private equity and hedge fund investors, sovereign funds, lenders, gaming companies and other investors. Some of our competitors are significantly larger and have greater financial resources and lower costs of capital than we have, making it more challenging to identify and successfully capitalize on acquisition opportunities that meet our investment objectives.

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In addition, revenues from our gaming properties are dependent on the ability of our gaming tenants and operators to compete with other gaming operators. The gaming industry is characterized by an increasingly high degree of competition among a large number of participants, including riverboat casinos, dockside casinos, land-based casinos, video lottery, sweepstakes and poker machines not located in casinos, Native American gaming, emerging varieties of internet gaming, sports betting and other forms of gaming in the U.S. In a broader sense, our gaming tenants and operators face competition from all manner of leisure and entertainment activities, including: shopping, athletic events, television and movies, concerts and travel. Legalized gaming is currently permitted in various forms throughout the U.S., in several Canadian provinces and on various lands taken into trust for the benefit of certain Native Americans in the U.S. and Canada. In addition, established gaming jurisdictions could award additional gaming licenses or permit the expansion or relocation of existing gaming operations. New, relocated or expanded operations by other persons may increase competition for our gaming tenants and operators and could have a material adverse impact on our gaming tenants and operators and us as landlord. Finally, the imposition of smoking bans and/or higher gaming tax rates have a significant impact on our gaming tenants' and operators' ability to compete with facilities in nearby jurisdictions.
Segments
Consistent with how our Chief Operating Decision Maker (as such term is defined in ASC 280 - Segment Reporting) reviews and assesses our financial performance, we have two reportable segments, GLP Capital, L.P. (a wholly-owned subsidiary of GLPI through which GLPI owns substantially all of its real estate assets) ("GLP Capital") and the TRS Properties. The GLP Capital reportable segment consists of the leased real property and represents the majority of our business. The TRS Properties reportable segment consists of Hollywood Casino Perryville and Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge. See "Item 7—Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and "Item 8—Financial Statements and Supplementary Data—Note 17—Segment Information" for further information with respect to the Company's segments.
Information about our Executive Officers
Name
Age
 
Position
Peter M. Carlino
73

 
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
Steven T. Snyder
59

 
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Brandon J. Moore
45

 
Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
Desiree A. Burke
54

 
Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer
Matthew Demchyk
38

 
Senior Vice President of Investments
Peter M. Carlino.    Mr. Carlino is Chairman of our Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Carlino joined the Company in connection with the Spin-Off on November 1, 2013. Prior to the Spin-Off, Mr. Carlino served as Penn's founder and Chief Executive Officer. He continues as Penn's non-executive Chairman of the Board of Directors. Since 1976, Mr. Carlino has been President of Carlino Capital Management Corp. (formerly known as Carlino Financial Corporation), a holding company that owns and operates various Carlino family investments.
Steven T. Snyder.    Mr. Snyder is our Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Snyder joined the Company in connection with the Spin-Off on November 1, 2013. Prior to the Spin-Off, he served as Penn's Senior Vice President of Corporate Development from 2003 and was responsible for identifying and conducting internal and industry analysis of potential acquisitions, partnerships and other opportunities. He joined Penn as Vice President of Corporate Development in May 1998 and held that position until his appointment to Senior Vice President in 2003. Prior to joining Penn, Mr. Snyder was a partner with Hamilton Partners, Ltd. and previously served as Managing Director of Municipal and Corporate Investment Banking for Meridian Capital Markets. Mr. Snyder began his career in finance at Butcher & Singer, where he served as First Vice President of Public Finance.
Brandon J. Moore.    Mr. Moore is our Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary. Mr. Moore joined the Company in January 2014. Previously, he served as Penn's Vice President, Senior Corporate Counsel from March 2010 where he was a member of the legal team responsible for a variety of transactional, regulatory and general legal matters. Prior to joining Penn, Mr. Moore was with Ballard Spahr LLP, where he provided advanced legal counsel to clients on matters including merger and acquisition transactions, debt and equity financings, and various other matters.
Desiree A. Burke. Ms. Burke joined the Company in April 2014 as our Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer. Previously, Ms. Burke served as Penn's Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer from November 2009. Additionally, she served as Penn's Vice President and Corporate Controller from November 2005 to October 2009. Prior to her time at Penn National Gaming, Inc., Ms. Burke was the Executive Vice President/Director of Financial Reporting and Control

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for MBNA America Bank, N.A. She joined MBNA in 1994 and held positions of ascending responsibility in the finance department during her tenure. Ms. Burke is a CPA.
Matthew Demchyk. Mr. Demchyk joined the Company in February 2019 as our Senior Vice President of Investments. Previously, he served as Portfolio Manager of Real Estate Securities at Millennium Partners for nine years. Prior to joining Millennium Partners, he managed a portfolio of REIT equity securities at Carlson Capital and served as Assistant Portfolio Manager at CenterSquare Investment Management, a leading REIT dedicated asset manager. Mr. Demchyk is a CFA charter holder.
Tax Considerations
We elected to be treated as a REIT on our 2014 U.S. federal income tax return and we, together with an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, GLP Holdings, Inc., jointly elected to treat each of GLP Holdings, Inc., Louisiana Casino Cruises, Inc. and Penn Cecil Maryland, Inc. as a "taxable REIT subsidiary" effective on the first day of the first taxable year of GLPI as a REIT. We intend to continue to be organized and to operate in a manner that will permit us to qualify as a REIT. Qualification and taxation as a REIT depends on our ability to meet on a continuing basis, through actual operating results, distribution levels, and diversity of stock ownership, various qualification requirements imposed upon REITs by the Code. Our ability to qualify to be taxed as a REIT also requires that we satisfy certain tests, some of which depend upon the fair market values of assets that we own directly or indirectly. The material qualification requirements are summarized below. Such values may not be susceptible to a precise determination. Accordingly, no assurance can be given that the actual results of our operations for any taxable year will satisfy such requirements for qualification and taxation as a REIT. Additionally, while we intend to operate so that we continue to qualify to be taxed as a REIT, no assurance can be given that the Internal Revenue Service (the "IRS") will not challenge our qualification, or that we will be able to operate in accordance with the REIT requirements in the future.
Taxation of REITs in General
As a REIT, generally we will be entitled to a deduction for dividends that we pay and therefore will not be subject to U.S. federal corporate income tax on our net REIT taxable income that is currently distributed to our shareholders. This treatment substantially eliminates the "double taxation" at the corporate and shareholder levels that generally results from an investment in a C corporation. A "C corporation" is a corporation that generally is required to pay tax at the corporate level. Double taxation means taxation once at the corporate level when income is earned and once again at the shareholder level when the income is distributed. In general, the income that we generate is taxed only at the shareholder level upon a distribution of dividends to our shareholders. We will nonetheless be subject to U.S. federal tax in the following circumstances:
We will be taxed at regular corporate rates on any undistributed net taxable income, including undistributed net capital gains.

For tax years that began prior to January 1, 2018, we may be subject to the "alternative minimum tax" on our items of tax preference, including any deductions of net operating losses.

If we have net income from prohibited transactions, which are, in general, sales or other dispositions of inventory or property held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business, other than foreclosure property, such income will be subject to a 100% tax.

If we elect to treat property that we acquire in connection with a foreclosure of a mortgage loan or certain leasehold terminations as "foreclosure property," we may thereby avoid the 100% tax on gain from a resale of that property (if the sale would otherwise constitute a prohibited transaction), but the income from the sale or operation of the property may be subject to corporate income tax at the highest applicable rate (currently 21%).

If we fail to satisfy the 75% gross income test and/or the 95% gross income test, as discussed below, but nonetheless maintain our qualification as a REIT because we satisfy other requirements, we will be subject to a 100% tax on an amount based on the magnitude of the failure, as adjusted to reflect the profit margin associated with our gross income.

If we violate the asset tests (other than certain de minimis violations) or other requirements applicable to REITs, as described below, and yet maintain our qualification as a REIT because there is reasonable cause for the failure and other applicable requirements are met, we may be subject to a penalty tax. In that case, the amount of the penalty tax will be at least $50,000 per failure, and, in the case of certain asset test failures, will be determined as the amount of net income generated by the nonqualifying assets in question multiplied by the highest corporate tax rate (currently 21%) if that amount exceeds $50,000 per failure.

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If we fail to distribute during each calendar year at least the sum of (i) 85% of our ordinary income for such year, (ii) 95% of our capital gain net income for such year and (iii) any undistributed net taxable income from prior periods, we will be subject to a nondeductible 4% excise tax on the excess of the required distribution over the sum of (a) the amounts that we actually distributed and (b) the amounts we retained and upon which we paid income tax at the corporate level.

We may be required to pay monetary penalties to the IRS in certain circumstances, including if we fail to meet record-keeping requirements intended to monitor our compliance with rules relating to the composition of a REIT's shareholders.

A 100% tax may be imposed on transactions between us and a TRS that do not reflect arm's-length terms.

If we acquire appreciated assets from a corporation that is not a REIT (i.e., a corporation taxable under subchapter C of the Code) in a transaction in which the adjusted tax basis of the assets in our hands is determined by reference to the adjusted tax basis of the assets in the hands of the subchapter C corporation, we may be subject to tax on such appreciation at the highest corporate income tax rate then applicable if we subsequently recognize gain on a disposition of any such assets during the five-year period following their acquisition from the subchapter C corporation.

The earnings of our TRS Properties will generally be subject to U.S. federal corporate income tax.
In addition, we and our subsidiaries may be subject to a variety of taxes, including payroll taxes and state, local, and foreign income, property, gross receipts and other taxes on our assets and operations. We could also be subject to tax in situations and on transactions not presently contemplated.
Requirements for Qualification—General
The Code defines a REIT as a corporation, trust or association:
1.
that is managed by one or more trustees or directors;
2.
the beneficial ownership of which is evidenced by transferable shares, or by transferable certificates of beneficial interest;
3.
that would be taxable as a domestic corporation but for its election to be subject to tax as a REIT;
4.
that is neither a financial institution nor an insurance company subject to specific provisions of the Code;
5.
the beneficial ownership of which is held by 100 or more persons;
6.
in which, during the last half of each taxable year, not more than 50% in value of the outstanding stock is owned, directly or indirectly, by five or fewer "individuals" (as defined in the Code to include specified tax-exempt entities); and
7.
that meets other tests described below, including with respect to the nature of its income and assets.
The Code provides that conditions (1) through (4) must be met during the entire taxable year, and that condition (5) must be met during at least 335 days of a taxable year of 12 months, or during a proportionate part of a shorter taxable year. Conditions (5) and (6) need not be met during a corporation's initial tax year as a REIT (which, in our case, was 2014). Our charter provides restrictions regarding the ownership and transfers of our stock, which are intended to assist us in satisfying the stock ownership requirements described in conditions (5) and (6) above. These restrictions, however, may not ensure that we will, in all cases, be able to satisfy the share ownership requirements described in conditions (5) and (6) above. If we fail to satisfy these share ownership requirements, except as provided in the next sentence, our status as a REIT will terminate. If, however, we comply with the rules contained in the applicable Treasury regulations that require us to ascertain the actual ownership of our shares and we do not know, or would not have known through the exercise of reasonable diligence, that we failed to meet the requirements described in condition (6) above, we will be treated as having met this requirement.
To monitor compliance with the stock ownership requirements, we generally are required to maintain records regarding the actual ownership of our stock. To do so, we must demand written statements each year from the record holders of significant percentages of our stock pursuant to which the record holders must disclose the actual owners of the stock (i.e., the persons required to include our dividends in their gross income). We must maintain a list of those persons failing or refusing to comply with this demand as part of our records. We could be subject to monetary penalties if we fail to comply with these

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record-keeping requirements. If, upon request by the Company, a shareholder fails or refuses to comply with the demands, such holder will be required by Treasury regulations to submit a statement with his, her or its tax return disclosing the actual ownership of our stock and other information.
Qualified REIT Subsidiaries

The Code provides that a corporation that is a "qualified REIT subsidiary" shall not be treated as a separate corporation, and all assets, liabilities and items of income, deduction and credit of a "qualified REIT subsidiary" shall be treated as assets, liabilities and items of income, deduction and credit of the REIT. A "qualified REIT subsidiary" is a corporation, all of the capital stock of which is owned by the REIT, that has not elected to be a "taxable REIT subsidiary" (discussed below). In applying the requirements described herein, all of our "qualified REIT subsidiaries" will be ignored, and all assets, liabilities and items of income, deduction and credit of such subsidiaries will be treated as our assets, liabilities and items of income, deduction and credit. These subsidiaries, therefore, will not be subject to federal corporate income taxation, although they may be subject to state and local taxation.
Taxable REIT Subsidiaries
In general, we may jointly elect with a subsidiary corporation, whether or not wholly-owned, to treat such subsidiary corporation as a TRS. We generally may not own more than 10% of the securities of a taxable corporation, as measured by voting power or value, unless we and such corporation elect to treat such corporation as a TRS. The separate existence of a TRS is not ignored for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Accordingly, a TRS generally is subject to corporate income tax on its earnings, which may reduce the cash flow that we and our subsidiaries generate in the aggregate and may reduce our ability to make distributions to our shareholders.
We are not treated as holding the assets of a TRS or as receiving any income that the subsidiary earns. Rather, the stock issued by the TRS to us is an asset in our hands, and we treat the dividends paid to us, if any, as income. This treatment can affect our income and asset test calculations, as described below. Because we do not include the assets and income of TRSs on a look-through basis in determining our compliance with the REIT requirements, we may use such entities to undertake indirectly activities that the REIT rules might otherwise preclude us from doing directly or through pass-through subsidiaries. For example, we may use a TRS to perform services or conduct activities that give rise to certain categories of income or to conduct activities that, if conducted by us directly, would be treated in our hands as prohibited transactions.
The TRS rules impose a 100% excise tax on transactions between a TRS and its parent REIT or the REIT's tenants that are not conducted on an arm's-length basis. We intend that all of our transactions with our TRS, if any, will be conducted on an arm's-length basis.
Income Tests
As a REIT, we must satisfy two gross income requirements on an annual basis. First, at least 75% of our gross income for each taxable year, excluding gross income from sales of inventory or dealer property in "prohibited transactions," discharge of indebtedness and certain hedging transactions, generally must be derived from "rents from real property," gains from the sale of real estate assets (but not including certain debt instruments of publicly offered REITs that are not secured by mortgages on real property), interest income derived from mortgage loans secured by real property (including certain types of mortgage-backed securities), dividends received from other REITs, and specified income from temporary investments. Second, at least 95% of our gross income in each taxable year, excluding gross income from prohibited transactions, discharge of indebtedness and certain hedging transactions, must be derived from some combination of income that qualifies under the 75% gross income test described above, as well as other dividends, interest, and gain from the sale or disposition of stock or securities, which need not have any relation to real property. Income and gain from certain hedging transactions will be excluded from both the numerator and the denominator for purposes of both the 75% and 95% gross income tests.
Rents received by a REIT will qualify as "rents from real property" in satisfying the gross income requirements described above only if several conditions are met.

The amount of rent must not be based in whole or in part on the income or profits of any person. However, an amount received or accrued generally will not be excluded from the term "rents from real property" solely by reason of being based on a fixed percentage or percentages of gross receipts or sales.

Rents received from a tenant will not qualify as "rents from real property" in satisfying the gross income tests if the REIT, or a direct or indirect owner of 10% or more of the REIT, directly or constructively, owns 10% or more of such tenant (a "Related Party Tenant"). However, rental payments from a taxable REIT subsidiary will qualify as rents from real property even if we own more than 10% of the total value or combined voting power of the taxable REIT subsidiary if (i) at least 90% of the property is leased to unrelated tenants and the rent paid by the taxable REIT

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subsidiary is substantially comparable to the rent paid by the unrelated tenants for comparable space or (ii) the property leased is a "qualified lodging facility," as defined in Section 856(d)(9)(D) of the Code, or a "qualified health care property," as defined in Section 856(e)(6)(D)(i) of the Code, and certain other conditions are satisfied.

Rent attributable to personal property leased in connection with a lease of real property will not qualify as "rents from real property" if such rent exceeds 15% of the total rent received under the lease.

The REIT generally must not operate or manage the property or furnish or render services to tenants, except through an "independent contractor" who is adequately compensated and from whom the REIT derives no income, or through a taxable REIT subsidiary. The "independent contractor" requirement, however, does not apply to the extent the services provided by the REIT are "usually or customarily rendered" in connection with the rental of space for occupancy only, and are not otherwise considered "rendered to the occupant." In addition, a de minimis rule applies with respect to non-customary services. Specifically, if the value of the non-customary service income with respect to a property (valued at no less than 150% of the direct costs of performing such services) is 1% or less of the total income derived from the property, then all rental income except the non-customary service income will qualify as "rents from real property." A taxable REIT subsidiary may provide services (including noncustomary services) to a REIT’s tenants without "tainting" any of the rental income received by the REIT, and will be able to manage or operate properties for third parties and generally engage in other activities unrelated to real estate.

We do not anticipate receiving rent that is based in whole or in part on the income or profits of any person (except by reason of being based on a fixed percentage or percentages of gross receipts or sales consistent with the rules described above). Our former parent, Penn, received a private letter ruling from the IRS that concluded certain rental formulas under the Penn Master Lease will not cause any amounts received under the Penn Master Lease to be treated as other than rents from real property. While we do not expect to seek similar rulings for additional leases we enter into that have substantially similar terms as the Penn Master Lease, we intend to treat amounts received under those leases consistent with the conclusions in the ruling, though there can be no assurance that the IRS will not challenge such treatment. We also do not anticipate receiving more than a de minimis amount of rents from any Related Party Tenant or rents attributable to personal property leased in connection with real property that will exceed 15% of the total rents received with respect to such real property. We may receive certain types of income that will not qualify under the 75% or 95% gross income tests. In particular, dividends received from a taxable REIT subsidiary will not qualify under the 75% test. We believe, however, that the aggregate amount of such items and other non-qualifying income in any taxable year will not cause GLPI to exceed the limits on non-qualifying income under either the 75% or 95% gross income tests.
We may directly or indirectly receive distributions from TRSs or other corporations that are not REITs or qualified REIT subsidiaries. These distributions generally are treated as dividend income to the extent of the earnings and profits of the distributing corporation. Such distributions will generally constitute qualifying income for purposes of the 95% gross income test, but not for purposes of the 75% gross income test. Any dividends that we receive from another REIT or qualified REIT subsidiary, however, will be qualifying income for purposes of both the 95% and 75% gross income tests.
We believe that we have and will continue to be in compliance with these gross income tests. If we fail to satisfy one or both of the 75% or 95% gross income tests for any taxable year, we may still qualify to be taxed as a REIT for such year if we are entitled to relief under applicable provisions of the Code. These relief provisions will be generally available if (i) our failure to meet these tests was due to reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect and (ii) following our identification of the failure to meet the 75% or 95% gross income test for any taxable year, we file a schedule with the IRS setting forth each item of our gross income for purposes of the 75% or 95% gross income test for such taxable year in accordance with Treasury regulations. It is not possible to state whether we would be entitled to the benefit of these relief provisions in all circumstances. If these relief provisions are inapplicable to a particular set of circumstances, we will not qualify to be taxed as a REIT. Even if these relief provisions apply, and we retain our status as a REIT, the Code imposes a tax based upon the amount by which we fail to satisfy the particular gross income test.
Asset Tests
At the close of each calendar quarter, we must also satisfy five tests relating to the nature of our assets. First, at least 75% of the value of our total assets must be represented by some combination of "real estate assets," cash, cash items, U.S. government securities, and, under some circumstances, stock or debt instruments purchased with new capital. For this purpose, real estate assets include interests in real property (such as land, buildings, leasehold interest in real property and, for taxable years that began or after January 1, 2016, personal property leased with real property if the rents attributable to the personal property would be rents from real property under the income tests discussed above), interests in mortgages on real property or on interests in real property, shares in other qualifying REITs, and stock or debt instruments held for less than one year purchased with the proceeds from an offering of shares of our stock or certain debt and, for tax years that began on or after

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January 1, 2016, debt instruments issued by publicly offered REITs. Assets that do not qualify for purposes of the 75% asset test are subject to the additional asset tests described below.
Second, the value of any one issuer's securities that we own may not exceed 5% of the value of our total assets.
Third, we may not own more than 10% of any one issuer's outstanding securities, as measured by either voting power or value. The 5% and 10% asset tests do not apply to securities of TRSs and qualified REIT subsidiaries and the 10% asset test does not apply to "straight debt" having specified characteristics and to certain other securities described below. Solely for purposes of the 10% asset test, the determination of our interest in the assets of a partnership or limited liability company in which we own an interest will be based on our proportionate interest in any securities issued by the partnership or limited liability company, excluding for this purpose, certain securities described in the Code. The safe harbor under which certain types of securities are disregarded for purposes of the 10% value limitation includes (1) straight debt securities (including straight debt securities that provide for certain contingent payments); (2) any loan to an individual or an estate; (3) any rental agreement described in Section 467 of the Code, other than with a "related person" (4) any obligation to pay rents from real property; (5) certain securities issued by a State or any political subdivision thereof, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; (6) any security issued by a REIT; and (7) any other arrangement that, as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, is excepted from the definition of a security. In addition, for purposes of applying the 10% value limitation, (a) a REIT’s interest as a partner in a partnership is not considered a security; (b) any debt instrument issued by a partnership is not treated as a security if at least 75% of the partnership’s gross income is from sources that would qualify for the 75% REIT gross income test; and (c) any debt instrument issued by a partnership is not treated as a security to the extent of the REIT’s interest as a partner in the partnership.
Fourth, the aggregate value of all securities of TRSs that we hold, together with other non-qualified assets (such as furniture and equipment or other tangible personal property, or non-real estate securities) may not, in the aggregate, exceed 25% of the value of our total assets. Beginning after December 31, 2017, the aggregate value of all securities of the TRSs that we hold may not exceed 20% of our total assets.
Fifth, not more than 25% of the value of our gross assets may be represented by debt instruments of publicly offered REITs that are not secured by mortgages on real property or interests in real property.
However, certain relief provisions are available to allow REITs to satisfy the asset requirements or to maintain REIT qualification notwithstanding certain violations of the asset and other requirements. For example, if we should fail to satisfy the asset tests at the end of a calendar quarter, such a failure would not cause us to lose our REIT qualification if we (i) satisfied the asset tests at the close of the preceding calendar quarter and (ii) the discrepancy between the value of our assets and the asset requirements was not wholly or partly caused by an acquisition of non-qualifying assets, but instead arose from changes in the relative market values of our assets. If the condition described in (ii) was not satisfied, we still could avoid disqualification by eliminating any discrepancy within 30 days after the close of the calendar quarter in which it arose or by making use of the relief provisions described above.
In the case of de minimis violations of the 10% and 5% asset tests, a REIT may maintain its qualification despite a violation of such requirements if (i) the value of the assets causing the violation does not exceed the lesser of 1% of the REIT's total assets and $10,000,000 and (ii) the REIT either disposes of the assets causing the failure within six months after the last day of the quarter in which it identifies the failure, or the relevant tests are otherwise satisfied within that time frame.
Even if we did not qualify for the foregoing relief provisions, one additional provision allows a REIT which fails one or more of the asset requirements to nevertheless maintain its REIT qualification if (i) the REIT provides the IRS with a description of each asset causing the failure, (ii) the failure is due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect, (iii) the REIT pays a tax equal to the greater of (a) $50,000 per failure and (b) the product of the net income generated by the assets that caused the failure multiplied by the highest applicable corporate tax rate (currently 21%) and (iv) the REIT either disposes of the assets causing the failure within six months after the last day of the quarter in which it identifies the failure, or otherwise satisfies the relevant asset tests within that time frame.
We believe that we have been and will continue to be in compliance with the asset tests described above.






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Annual Distribution Requirements
In order to qualify to be taxed as a REIT, we are required to distribute dividends, other than capital gain dividends, to our shareholders in an amount at least equal to:
(i)
the sum of

(a)
90% of our REIT taxable income, computed without regard to our net capital gains and the deduction for dividends paid; and

(b)
90% of our after tax net income, if any, from foreclosure property (as described below); minus

(ii)
the excess of the sum of specified items of non-cash income over 5% of our REIT taxable income, computed without regard to our net capital gain and the deduction for dividends paid.
We generally must make these distributions in the taxable year to which they relate, or in the following taxable year if declared before we timely file our tax return for the year and if paid with or before the first regular dividend payment after such declaration. These distributions will be treated as received by our shareholders in the year in which paid. In order for distributions to be counted as satisfying the annual distribution requirements for REITs, and to provide us with a REIT-level tax deduction, the distributions must not be "preferential dividends." A dividend is not a preferential dividend if the distribution is (i) pro rata among all outstanding shares of stock within a particular class and (ii) in accordance with any preferences among different classes of stock as set forth in our organizational documents. Given our status as a "publicly offered REIT" (within the meaning of the Code), the preferential dividend rules do not apply to us for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2014.
To the extent that we distribute at least 90%, but less than 100%, of our REIT taxable income, as adjusted, we will be subject to tax at ordinary corporate tax rates on the retained portion. We may elect to retain, rather than distribute, some or all of our net long-term capital gains and pay tax on such gains. In this case, we could elect for our shareholders to include their proportionate shares of such undistributed long-term capital gains in income, and to receive a corresponding credit for their share of the tax that we paid. Our shareholders would then increase the adjusted basis of their stock by the difference between (i) the amounts of capital gain dividends that we designated and that they include in their taxable income, minus (ii) the tax that we paid on their behalf with respect to that income.
To the extent that in the future we may have available net operating losses carried forward from prior tax years, such losses may reduce the amount of distributions that we must make in order to comply with the REIT distribution requirements.
If we fail to distribute during each calendar year at least the sum of (i) 85% of our ordinary income for such year, (ii) 95% of our capital gain net income for such year and (iii) any undistributed net taxable income from prior periods, we will be subject to a non-deductible 4% excise tax on the excess of such required distribution over the sum of (a) the amounts actually distributed, plus (b) the amounts of income we retained and on which we have paid corporate income tax.
We expect that our REIT taxable income will be less than our cash flow because of depreciation and other non-cash charges included in computing REIT taxable income. Accordingly, we anticipate that we generally will have sufficient cash or liquid assets to enable us to satisfy the distribution requirements described above. However, from time to time, we may not have sufficient cash or other liquid assets to meet these distribution requirements due to timing differences between the actual receipt of income and actual payment of deductible expenses, and the inclusion of income and deduction of expenses in determining our taxable income. In addition, we may decide to retain our cash, rather than distribute it, in order to repay debt, acquire assets, or for other reasons. If these timing differences occur, we may borrow funds to pay dividends or pay dividends through the distribution of other property (including shares of our stock) in order to meet the distribution requirements, while preserving our cash.
If our taxable income for a particular year is subsequently determined to have been understated, we may be able to rectify a resultant failure to meet the distribution requirements for a year by paying "deficiency dividends" to shareholders in a later year, which may be included in our deduction for dividends paid for the earlier year. In this case, we may be able to avoid losing REIT qualification or being taxed on amounts distributed as deficiency dividends, subject to the 4% excise tax described above. We will be required to pay interest based on the amount of any deduction taken for deficiency dividends.
For purposes of the 90% distribution requirement and excise tax described above, any distribution must be paid in the taxable year to which they relate, or in the following taxable year if such distributions are declared in October, November or December of the taxable year, are payable to shareholders of record on a specified date in any such month, and are actually paid before the end of January of the following year. Such distributions are treated as both paid by us and received by our shareholders on December 31 of the year in which they are declared.

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In addition, at our election, a distribution for a taxable year may be declared before we timely file our tax return for the year, provided we pay such distribution with or before our first regular dividend payment after such declaration, and such payment is made during the 12-month period following the close of such taxable year. Such distributions are taxable to our shareholders in the year in which paid, even though the distributions relate to our prior taxable year for purposes of the 90% distribution requirement.

We believe that we have satisfied the annual distribution requirements for the year ended December 31, 2019. Although we intend to satisfy the annual distribution requirements to continue to qualify as a REIT for the year ending December 31, 2020 and thereafter, economic, market, legal, tax or other considerations could limit our ability to meet those requirements.
Failure to Qualify
If we fail to satisfy one or more requirements for REIT qualification other than the income or asset tests, we could avoid disqualification as a REIT if our failure is due to reasonable cause and not to willful neglect and we pay a penalty of $50,000 for each such failure. Relief provisions are also available for failures of the income tests and asset tests, as described above in "Income Tests" and "Asset Tests."
If we fail to qualify for taxation as a REIT in any taxable year, and the relief provisions described above do not apply, we would be subject to tax, including any applicable alternative minimum tax, on our taxable income at regular corporate rates. We cannot deduct distributions to shareholders in any year in which we are not a REIT, nor would we be required to make distributions in such a year. In this situation, to the extent of current and accumulated earnings and profits (as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes), distributions to shareholders would be taxable as regular corporate dividends. Such dividends paid to U.S. shareholders that are individuals, trusts and estates may be taxable at the preferential income tax rates (i.e., currently the 20% maximum U.S. federal rate) for qualified dividends. In addition, subject to the limitations of the Code, corporate distributees may be eligible for the dividends received deduction. Unless we are entitled to relief under specific statutory provisions, we would also be disqualified from re-electing to be taxed as a REIT for the four taxable years following the year during which we lost our qualification. It is not possible to state whether, in all circumstances, we would be entitled to this statutory relief.
Legislative or Other Actions Affecting REITs
The present U.S. federal income tax treatment of REITs may be modified, possibly with retroactive effect, by legislative, judicial or administrative action at any time. The REIT rules are constantly under review by persons involved in the legislative process and by the IRS and the Treasury which may result in statutory changes as well as revisions to regulations and interpretations. Changes to the U.S. federal tax laws and interpretations thereof could adversely affect an investment in our common stock.
On December 22, 2017, H.R. 1, known as the Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to titles II and V of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018 (the "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act") was signed into law. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act makes significant changes to the U.S. federal income taxation of individuals and corporations, generally effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017. In addition to reducing corporate and individual income tax rates, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act eliminates or restricts various deductions that, along with other provisions, may change the way that we calculate our REIT taxable income and our TRSs' taxable income. Significant provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that investors should be aware of include provisions that: (i) lower the corporate income tax rate to 21%, (ii) provide noncorporate taxpayers with a deduction of up to 20% of certain income earned through partnerships and REITs, (iii) limit the net operating loss deduction to 80% of taxable income, where taxable income is determined without regard to the net operating loss deduction itself, generally eliminates net operating loss carrybacks and allow unused net operating losses to be carried forward indefinitely, (iv) expand the ability of businesses to deduct the cost of certain property investments in the year in which the property is purchased, and (v) generally lower tax rates for individuals and other noncorporate taxpayers, while limiting deductions such as miscellaneous itemized deductions and state and local tax deductions. In addition, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act limits the deduction for net interest expense incurred by a business to 30% of the "adjusted taxable income" of the taxpayer. However, the limitation on the interest expense deduction does not apply to certain small-business taxpayers or electing real property trades or businesses, such as any real property development, redevelopment, construction, reconstruction, acquisition, conversion, rental, operation, management, leasing, or brokerage trade or business. Making the election to be treated as a real property trade or business requires the electing real property trade or business to depreciate non-residential real property, residential rental property, and qualified improvement property over a longer period using the alternative depreciation system. We have not yet elected out of the new interest expense limitation.

The effect of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is highly uncertain, both in terms of its direct effect on the taxation of holders of our common stock and its indirect effect on the value of our assets or market conditions generally.

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Shareholders are urged to consult with their own tax advisors with respect to the impact that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and other legislation may have on their investment and the status of legislative, regulatory or administrative developments and proposals and their potential effect on their investment in our shares.
Regulation
The ownership, operation, and management of, and provision of certain products and services to, gaming and racing facilities are subject to pervasive regulation. Gaming laws are generally based upon declarations of public policy designed to protect gaming consumers and the viability and integrity of the gaming industry. Gaming laws also may be designed to protect and maximize state and local revenues derived through taxes and licensing fees imposed on gaming industry participants as well as to enhance economic development and tourism. To accomplish these public policy goals, gaming laws establish procedures to ensure that participants in the gaming industry, including landlords and other suppliers, meet certain standards of character and fitness. In addition, gaming laws require gaming industry participants to:
ensure that unsuitable individuals and organizations have no role in gaming operations;

establish procedures designed to prevent cheating and fraudulent practices;

establish and maintain responsible accounting practices and procedures;

maintain effective controls over their financial practices, including establishment of minimum procedures for internal fiscal affairs and the safeguarding of assets and revenues;

maintain systems for reliable record keeping;

file periodic reports with gaming regulators;

ensure that contracts and financial transactions are commercially reasonable, reflect fair market value and are arms-length transactions; and

establish programs to promote responsible gaming.
These regulations impact our business in three important ways: (1) our ownership and operation of the TRS Properties; (2) our ownership of land and buildings in which gaming activities are operated by third party tenants pursuant to long-term leases; and (3) the operations of our gaming tenants. Our ownership and operation of the TRS Properties subject GLPI, its subsidiaries and its officers and directors to the jurisdiction of the gaming regulatory agencies in Louisiana and Maryland. Further, many gaming and racing regulatory agencies in the jurisdictions in which our gaming tenants operate require GLPI and its affiliates to maintain a license as a key business entity or supplier because of its status as landlord, including Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Our businesses are subject to various federal, state and local laws and regulations in addition to gaming regulations. These laws and regulations include, but are not limited to, restrictions and conditions concerning alcoholic beverages, environmental matters, employees, health care, currency transactions, taxation, zoning and building codes, and marketing and advertising. Such laws and regulations could change or could be interpreted differently in the future, or new laws and regulations could be enacted. Material changes, new laws or regulations, or material differences in interpretations by courts or governmental authorities could adversely affect our operating results.
Insurance
We have comprehensive liability, property and business interruption insurance at our TRS Properties. In regards to our properties subject to triple-net leases, the lease agreements require our tenants to have their own comprehensive liability, property and business interruption insurance policies, including protection for our insurable interests as the landlord.

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Environmental Matters
Our properties are subject to environmental laws regulating, among other things, air emissions, wastewater discharges and the handling and disposal of wastes, including medical wastes. Certain of the properties we own utilize above or underground storage tanks to store heating oil for use at the properties. Other properties were built during the time that asbestos-containing building materials were routinely installed in residential and commercial structures. Our triple-net leases obligate the tenants thereunder to comply with applicable environmental laws and to indemnify us if their noncompliance results in losses or claims against us, and we expect that any future leases will include the same provisions for other operators. An operator's failure to comply could result in fines and penalties or the requirement to undertake corrective actions which may result in significant costs to the operator and thus adversely affect their ability to meet their obligations to us.
Pursuant to U.S. federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations, a current or previous owner or operator of real property may be required to investigate, remove and/or remediate a release of hazardous substances or other regulated materials at, or emanating from, such property. Further, under certain circumstances, such owners or operators of real property may be held liable for property damage, personal injury and/or natural resource damage resulting from or arising in connection with such releases. Certain of these laws have been interpreted to provide for joint and several liability unless the harm is divisible and there is a reasonable basis for allocation of responsibility. We also may be liable under certain of these laws for damage that occurred prior to our ownership of a property or at a site where we or our tenants sent wastes for disposal. The failure to properly remediate a property may also adversely affect our ability to lease, sell or rent the property or to borrow funds using the property as collateral.
In connection with the ownership of our real property, we could be legally responsible for environmental liabilities or costs relating to a release of hazardous substances or other regulated materials at or emanating from such property. In order to assess the potential for such liability, we conduct routine due diligence of environmental assessments prior to acquisition. We are not aware of any environmental issues that are expected to have a material impact on the operations of any of our properties.
Pursuant to the Penn Master Lease and a Separation and Distribution Agreement between Penn and GLPI, any liability arising from or relating to environmental liabilities arising from the businesses and operations of Penn's real property holdings prior to the Spin-Off (other than any liability arising from or relating to the operation or ownership of the TRS Properties and except to the extent first discovered after the end of the term of the Penn Master Lease) was retained by Penn and Penn will indemnify GLPI (and its subsidiaries, directors, officers, employees and agents and certain other related parties) against any losses arising from or relating to such environmental liabilities. Similarly, pursuant to a Separation and Distribution Agreement originally between Pinnacle's operating company and GLPI (as successor to Pinnacle Entertainment), any liability arising from or relating to environmental liabilities arising from the business and operations of Pinnacle's real property holdings prior to the Company's acquisition of the majority of Pinnacle's real property assets (except to the extent first discovered after the end of the term of the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease) was retained by Pinnacle and Pinnacle will indemnify GLPI (and its subsidiaries, directors, officers, employees and agents and certain other related parties) against any losses arising from or relating to such environmental liabilities. Effective October 15, 2018, Penn assumed all obligations of Pinnacle pursuant to a merger of Pinnacle with and into a subsidiary of Penn. There can be no assurance that Penn will be able to fully satisfy these indemnification obligations. Moreover, even if we ultimately succeed in recovering from Penn any amounts for which we are held liable, we may be temporarily required to bear these losses.
Employees
As of December 31, 2019, we had 648 full and part-time employees. Substantially all of these employees are employed at Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge and Hollywood Casino Perryville. The Company believes its relations with its employees are good.
Some of our employees at Hollywood Casino Perryville are currently represented by labor unions. The Seafarers Entertainment and Allied Trade Union represents 145 of our employees at Hollywood Casino Perryville under an agreement that expires in January 2032. Additionally, United Industrial Service Transportation Professional and Government Workers of North America and Local No. 27 United Food and Commercial Workers represent certain employees under collective bargaining agreements that expire in 2020 and 2032, respectively, neither of which represents more than 50 of our employees at Hollywood Casino Perryville.

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Available Information
For more information about us, visit our website at www.glpropinc.com. The contents of our website are not part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Our electronic filings with the SEC (including all annual reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-K/A, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and Form 10-Q/A, and current reports on Form 8-K, and any amendments to these reports), including the exhibits, are available free of charge through our website as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file them with or furnish them to the SEC.

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ITEM 1A.    RISK FACTORS
Risk Factors Relating to Our Business
The majority of our revenues are dependent on Penn and its subsidiaries until we further diversify our portfolio. Any event that has a material adverse effect on Penn’s business, financial position or results of operations may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position or results of operations.

The majority of our revenue is based on the revenue derived under our master leases with subsidiaries of Penn. Because these master leases are triple-net leases, we depend on Penn to operate the properties that we own in a manner that generates revenues sufficient to allow Penn to meet its obligations to us, including payment of rent and all insurance, taxes, utilities and maintenance and repair expenses, and to indemnify, defend and hold us harmless from and against various claims, litigation and liabilities arising in connection with its business. There can be no assurance that Penn will have sufficient assets, income or access to financing to enable it to satisfy its payment obligations to us under the master leases. The ability of Penn to fulfill its obligations depends, in part, upon the overall profitability of its gaming operations and, other than limited contractual protections afforded to us as a landlord, we have no control over Penn or its operations. The inability or unwillingness of Penn to meet its subsidiaries’ rent obligations and other obligations under the master leases may materially and adversely affect our business, financial position or results of operations, including our ability to pay dividends to our shareholders.

Due to our dependence on rental payments from Penn as a significant source of revenue, we may be limited in our ability to enforce our rights under the master leases. Failure by Penn to comply with the terms of its master leases or to comply with the gaming regulations to which the leased properties are subject could require us to find another lessee for such leased property. In such event, we may be unable to locate a suitable lessee at similar rental rates or at all, which would have the effect of reducing our rental revenues. Likewise, our financial position may be materially weakened if Penn failed to renew or extend any master lease as such lease expires and we are unable to lease or re-lease our properties on economically favorable terms.

Any event that has a material adverse effect on Penn’s business, financial position or results of operations could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position or results of operations. In addition, continued consolidation in the gaming industry would increase our dependence on our existing tenants and could make it increasingly difficult for us to find alternative tenants for our properties.
Our pursuit of investments in, and acquisitions or development of, additional properties may be unsuccessful or fail to meet our expectations.
We operate in a highly competitive industry and face competition from other REITs (including other gaming-focused REITs), investment companies, private equity and hedge fund investors, sovereign funds, lenders, gaming companies (including gaming companies considering REIT structures) and other investors, some of whom are significantly larger and have greater resources and lower costs of capital. Increased competition may make it more challenging to identify and successfully capitalize on acquisition opportunities that meet our investment objectives. If we cannot identify and purchase a sufficient number of investment properties at favorable prices or if we are unable to finance acquisitions on commercially favorable terms, our business, financial position or results of operations could be materially adversely affected. Additionally, the fact that we must distribute 90% of our net taxable income in order to maintain our qualification as a REIT may limit our ability to rely upon rental payments from our leased properties or subsequently acquired properties in order to finance acquisitions. As a result, if debt or equity financing is not available on acceptable terms, further acquisitions might be limited or curtailed and completing proposed acquisitions may be adversely impacted. Furthermore, fluctuations in the price of our common stock may impact our ability to finance additional acquisitions through the issuance of common stock and/or cause significant dilution.
Investments in and acquisitions of gaming properties and other properties we might seek to acquire entail risks associated with real estate investments, including that the investment's performance will fail to meet expectations or that the tenant, operator or manager will underperform. Real estate development projects present other risks, including construction delays or cost overruns that increase expenses, the inability to obtain required zoning, occupancy and other governmental approvals and permits on a timely basis, and the incurrence of significant development costs prior to completion of the project.
We are dependent on the gaming industry and may be susceptible to the risks associated with it, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial position or results of operations.
As the owner and landlord of gaming facilities, we are impacted by the risks associated with the gaming industry. Therefore, our success is to some degree dependent on the gaming industry, which could be adversely affected by economic conditions in general, changes in consumer trends and preferences and other factors over which we and our tenants have no control. As we are subject to risks inherent in substantial investments in a single industry, a decrease in the gaming business may have a greater adverse effect on our revenues than if we owned a more diversified real estate portfolio, particularly

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because a component of the rent under our leases is based, over time, on the revenue of the gaming facilities operated by our tenants. Decreases in discretionary consumer spending brought about by weakened general economic conditions such as, but not limited to, high unemployment levels, higher income taxes, low levels of consumer confidence, weakness in the housing market, cultural and demographic changes, and increased stock market volatility may negatively impact our revenues and operating cash flow.
The gaming industry is characterized by an increasing number of gaming facilities with an increasingly high degree of competition among a large number of participants, including riverboat casinos, dockside casinos, land-based casinos, video lottery, sweepstakes and poker machines not located in casinos, Native American gaming and other forms of gaming in the U.S. Furthermore, competition from alternative wagering products, such as internet lotteries, sweepstakes, social gaming products, daily fantasy sports and other internet wagering gaming services, online sports wagering or games of skill, which allow their customers a wagering alternative to the casino-style, such as remote home gaming or in non-casino settings, could divert customers from our properties and thus adversely affect our TRS Properties and the business of our tenants and, indirectly, our business. Present state or federal laws that restrict the forms of gaming authorized or the number of competitors that offer gaming in the applicable jurisdiction are subject to change and may increase the competition affecting our TRS Properties and the business of our tenants and, indirectly, our business. Currently, there are proposals that would legalize several forms of internet gaming and other alternative wagering products in a number of states. Further, several states have already approved intrastate internet gaming. Expansion of internet gaming in other jurisdictions could further compete with our traditional operations, which could have an adverse impact on our business and result of operations.
The operations of our TRS Properties and of our tenants in our leased facilities are subject to disruptions or reduced patronage as a result of severe weather conditions, natural disasters and other casualty events. Because many of our facilities are located on or adjacent to bodies of water, they are subject to risks in addition to those associated with land-based facilities, including loss of service due to casualty, forces of nature, mechanical failure, extended or extraordinary maintenance, flood, hurricane or other severe weather conditions. A component of the rent under our leases is based, over time, on the revenues of the gaming facilities operated by Penn, Eldorado, Boyd and Casino Queen on our properties; consequently, a casualty that leads to the loss of use of a casino facility subject to our leases for an extended period may negatively impact our revenues.
We face extensive regulation from gaming and other regulatory authorities.
The ownership, operation, and management of gaming and racing facilities are subject to pervasive regulation. These regulations impact both our ownership and operation of the TRS Properties and the operations of our gaming tenants. Our ownership and operation of the TRS Properties subject us, our officers, directors and shareholders to the jurisdiction of the gaming regulatory agencies in Louisiana and Maryland. Further, many gaming and racing regulatory agencies in the jurisdictions in which our tenants operate require GLPI, its affiliates and certain officers and directors to maintain licenses as a key business entity, supplier or key person because of GLPI's status as landlord. For GLPI to maintain such licenses in good standing, certain of GLPI's officers, directors and shareholders are also required to maintain licenses or a finding of suitability.
Many jurisdictions also require any person who acquires beneficial ownership of more than a certain percentage of securities of a company licensed in such jurisdiction, typically 5%, to report the acquisition to gaming authorities, and gaming authorities may require such holders to apply for qualification or a finding of suitability, subject to limited exceptions for "institutional investors" that hold a company's voting securities for passive investment purposes only. Some jurisdictions may also limit the number of gaming licenses or gaming facilities in which a person may hold an ownership or a controlling interest. Subject to certain administrative proceeding requirements, the gaming regulators have the authority to deny any application or limit, condition, restrict, revoke or suspend any license, registration, finding of suitability or approval, or fine any person licensed, registered or found suitable or approved, for any cause deemed reasonable by the gaming authorities.
Additionally, substantially all material loans, significant acquisitions, leases, sales of securities and similar financing transactions by us and our subsidiaries must be reported to and in some cases approved by gaming authorities in advance of the transaction. Neither we nor any of our subsidiaries may make a public offering of securities without the prior approval of certain gaming authorities. Changes in control through merger, consolidation, stock or asset acquisitions, management or consulting agreements, or otherwise are subject to receipt of prior approval of certain gaming authorities. Entities seeking to acquire control of GLPI or one of its subsidiaries must satisfy gaming authorities with respect to a variety of stringent licensing standards prior to assuming control.
Required regulatory approvals can delay or prohibit transfers of our gaming properties, which could result in periods in which we are unable to receive rent for such properties.
The tenants of our gaming properties are operators of gaming facilities and must be licensed under applicable state law. Prior to the transfer of gaming facilities, including a controlling interest, the new owner or operator generally must become licensed under applicable state law. In the event that any current lease or any future lease agreement we enter into is terminated

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or expires and a new tenant is found, any delays in the new tenant receiving regulatory approvals from the applicable state government agencies, or the inability to receive such approvals, may prolong the period during which we are unable to collect the applicable rent.
We may not achieve the intended benefits from the Tropicana Acquisition or the Boyd Master Lease, which could have an adverse impact on our business.

We consummated the Tropicana Acquisition on October 1, 2018 and entered into a master lease agreement with Boyd on October 15, 2018. However, our ability to successfully realize the expected benefits of these transactions is largely dependent upon Eldorado’s and Boyd’s respective ability to operate our properties in a manner that generates revenues sufficient to allow Eldorado and Boyd to meet their obligations to us, including payment of rent, loan interest and all insurance, taxes, utilities and maintenance and repair expenses, and to indemnify, defend and hold us harmless from and against various claims, litigation and liabilities arising in connection with their respective businesses. We cannot guarantee that either Eldorado or Boyd will maintain its operations in a profitable manner and, other than limited contractual protections afforded to us as a landlord and, under limited circumstances, as a lender, we have no control over either Eldorado’s or Boyd’s business or finances. Our financial position could be materially weakened if either Eldorado or Boyd were unable to meet its obligations to us or failed to renew or extend any lease as such lease expires, or if we were unable to lease or re-lease our properties on economically favorable terms.

In addition, we made a short-term loan to Eldorado in the amount of $246.0 million in connection with Eldorado’s acquisition of Tropicana’s Lumière Place property, and we made a mortgage loan to Boyd in the amount of $57.7 million in connection with Boyd’s acquisition of the Belterra Park property. In our capacity as a lender, we have fewer protections available to us with respect to these properties than we would have as a landlord, and there are regulatory restrictions that may prevent our ability to take possession of these properties upon a default by the borrower. In addition, on the one-year anniversary of the Eldorado loan, the mortgage and the related deed of trust on the Lumière Place property terminated and the loan will continue unsecured until its final maturity on the second anniversary of the loan.  If Eldorado or Boyd are unable or unwilling to satisfy their respective obligations to us under these loans in a timely manner or at all, our business and/or our financial position could be materially and adversely affected.

Our pursuit of strategic acquisitions unrelated to the gaming industry may be unsuccessful or fail to meet our expectations.

We may pursue strategic acquisitions of real property assets unrelated to the gaming industry, including acquisitions that may be complementary to our existing gaming properties.  Our management does not possess the same level of expertise with the dynamics and market conditions applicable to non-gaming assets, which could adversely affect the results of our expansion into other asset classes.  In addition, we may be unable to achieve our desired return on our investments in new or adjacent asset classes.
Our charter restricts the ownership and transfer of our outstanding stock, which may have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a transaction or change of control of our company.
In order for us to qualify to be taxed as a REIT, not more than 50% in value of our outstanding shares of stock may be owned, actually or constructively, by five or fewer individuals at any time during the last half of each taxable year after the first year for which GLPI elected to qualify to be taxed as a REIT (2014). Additionally, at least 100 persons must beneficially own GLPI stock during at least 335 days of a taxable year (other than the first taxable year for which GLPI elected to be taxed as a REIT). GLPI's charter, with certain exceptions, authorizes the Board of Directors to take such actions as are necessary and desirable to preserve GLPI's qualification as a REIT. GLPI's charter also provides that, subject to certain exceptions approved by the Board of Directors, no person may beneficially or constructively own more than 7% in value or in number, whichever is more restrictive, of GLPI's outstanding shares of all classes and series of stock. The constructive ownership rules are complex and may cause shares of stock owned directly or constructively by a group of related individuals or entities to be constructively owned by one individual or entity. These ownership limits could delay or prevent a transaction or a change in control of GLPI that might involve a premium price for shares of GLPI stock or otherwise be in the best interests of GLPI shareholders. The acquisition of less than 7% of our outstanding stock by an individual or entity could cause that individual or entity to own beneficially or constructively in excess of 7% in value of our outstanding stock, and thus violate our charter's ownership limit. Our charter prohibits any person from owning shares of our stock that would result in our being "closely held" under Section 856(h) of the Code. Any attempt to own or transfer shares of our stock in violation of these restrictions may result in the transfer being automatically void. GLPI's charter also provides that shares of GLPI's capital stock acquired or held in excess of the ownership limit will be transferred to a trust for the benefit of a designated charitable beneficiary, and that any person who acquires shares of GLPI's capital stock in violation of the ownership limit will not be entitled to any dividends on the shares or be entitled to vote the shares or receive any proceeds from the subsequent sale of the shares in excess of the lesser of the market price on the day the shares were transferred to the trust or the amount realized from the sale. GLPI or its designee

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will have the right to purchase the shares from the trustee at this calculated price as well. A transfer of shares of GLPI's capital stock in violation of the limit may be void under certain circumstances. GLPI's 7% ownership limitation may have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of GLPI, including an extraordinary transaction (such as a merger, tender offer or sale of all or substantially all of our assets) that might provide a premium price for GLPI's shareholders. To assist GLPI in complying with applicable gaming laws, our charter also provides that capital stock of GLPI that is owned or controlled by an unsuitable person or an affiliate of an unsuitable person will be transferred to a trust for the benefit of a designated charitable beneficiary, and that any such unsuitable person or affiliate will not be entitled to any dividends on the shares or be entitled to vote the shares or receive any proceeds from the subsequent sale of the shares in excess of the lesser of the price paid by the unsuitable person or affiliate for the shares or the amount realized from the sale, in each case less a discount in a percentage (up to 100%) to be determined by our Board of Directors in its sole and absolute discretion. The shares shall additionally be redeemable by GLPI, out of funds legally available for that redemption, to the extent required by the gaming authorities making the determination of unsuitability or to the extent determined to be necessary or advisable by our Board of Directors, at a redemption price equal to the lesser of (i) the market price on the date of the redemption notice, (ii) the market price on the redemption date, or (iii) the actual amount paid for the shares by the owner thereof, in each case less a discount in a percentage (up to 100%) to be determined by our Board of Directors in its sole and absolute discretion.
Pennsylvania law and provisions in our charter and bylaws may delay or prevent takeover attempts by third parties and therefore inhibit our shareholders from realizing a premium on their stock.
Our charter and bylaws, in addition to Pennsylvania law, contain provisions that are intended to deter coercive takeover practices and inadequate takeover bids and to encourage prospective acquirors to negotiate with our Board of Directors rather than to attempt a hostile takeover. Our charter and bylaws, among other things (i) permit the Board of Directors, without further action of the shareholders, to issue and fix the terms of preferred stock, which may have rights senior to those of the common stock; (ii) establish certain advance notice procedures for shareholder proposals, and require all director candidates to be recommended by the nominating committee of the Board of Directors following the affirmative determination by the nominating committee that such nominee is likely to meet the applicable suitability requirements of any federal, state or local regulatory body having jurisdiction over us; (iii) provide that a director may only be removed by shareholders for cause and upon the vote of 75% of the shares entitled to vote; (iv) do not permit direct nomination by shareholders of nominees for election to the Board of Directors, but instead permit shareholders to recommend potential nominees to our Compensation and Governance Committee; (v) require shareholders to have beneficially owned at least 1% of our outstanding common stock in order to recommend a person for nomination for election to the Board of Directors, or to present a shareholder proposal, for action at a shareholders' meeting; and (vi) provide for supermajority approval requirements for amending or repealing certain provisions in our charter and in order to approve an amendment or repeal of any provision of our bylaws that has not been proposed by our Board of Directors.
In addition, specific anti-takeover provisions in Pennsylvania law could make it more difficult for a third party to attempt a hostile takeover. These provisions require (i) approval of certain transactions by a majority of the voting stock other than that held by the potential acquirer; (ii) the acquisition at "fair value" of all the outstanding shares not held by an acquirer of 20% or more; (iii) a five-year moratorium on certain "business combination" transactions with an "interested shareholder" (iv) the loss by interested shareholders of their voting rights over "control shares" (v) the disgorgement of profits realized by an interested shareholder from certain dispositions of our shares; and (vi) severance payments for certain employees and prohibiting termination of certain labor contracts.
We believe these provisions will protect our shareholders from coercive or otherwise unfair takeover tactics by requiring potential acquirers to negotiate with our Board of Directors and by providing our Board of Directors with more time to assess any acquisition proposal. These provisions are not intended to make GLPI immune from takeovers or to prevent a transaction from occurring. However, these provisions will apply even if the offer may be considered beneficial by some shareholders and could delay or prevent an acquisition that our Board of Directors determines is not in the best interests of GLPI. These provisions may also prevent or discourage attempts to remove and replace incumbent directors.
We may experience uninsured or underinsured losses, which could result in a significant loss of the capital we have invested in a property, decrease anticipated future revenues or cause us to incur unanticipated expense.
While our leases require, and new lease agreements are expected to require, that comprehensive insurance and hazard insurance be maintained by the tenants, a tenant's failure to comply could lead to an uninsured or underinsured loss and there can be no assurance that we will be able to recover such uninsured or underinsured amounts from such tenant. Further, there are certain types of losses, generally of a catastrophic nature, such as earthquakes, hurricanes and floods, that may be uninsurable or not economically insurable. Insurance coverage may not be sufficient to pay the full current market value or current replacement cost of a loss. Inflation, changes in building codes and ordinances, environmental considerations, and other factors also might make it infeasible to use insurance proceeds to replace the property after such property has been damaged or

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destroyed. Under such circumstances, the insurance proceeds received might not be adequate to restore the economic position with respect to such property.
If we or one of our tenants experience a loss that is uninsured, or that exceeds our or our tenant's policy coverage limits, we could lose the capital invested in the damaged properties as well as the anticipated future cash flows from those properties. In addition, if the damaged properties were subject to recourse indebtedness, we could continue to be liable for the indebtedness even if these properties were irreparably damaged.
In addition, even if damage to our properties is covered by insurance, a disruption of our or our tenant's business caused by a casualty event may result in the loss of business or tenants. The business interruption insurance we or our tenant's carry may not fully compensate us for the loss of business or tenants due to an interruption caused by a casualty event.
A disruption in the financial markets may make it more difficult to evaluate the stability, net assets and capitalization of insurance companies and any insurer's ability to meet its claim payment obligations. A failure of an insurance company to make payments to us or our tenants upon an event of loss covered by an insurance policy could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The market price of our common stock may be volatile, and holders of our common stock could lose a significant portion of their investment if the market price of our common stock declines.
The market price of our common stock may be volatile, and shareholders may not be able to resell their shares of our common stock at or above the price at which they acquired the common stock due to fluctuations in its market price, including changes in price caused by factors unrelated to our performance or prospects.
Specific factors that may have a significant effect on the market price for our common stock include, among others, the following:
changes in stock market analyst recommendations or earnings estimates regarding our common stock or other comparable REITs;

actual or anticipated fluctuations in our revenue stream or future prospects;

strategic actions taken by us or our competitors, such as acquisitions;

our failure to close pending acquisitions;

our failure to achieve the perceived benefits of our acquisitions, including financial results, as rapidly as or to the extent anticipated by financial or industry analysts;

new laws or regulations or new interpretations of existing laws or regulations applicable to our business and operations or the gaming industry;

changes in tax or accounting standards, policies, guidance, interpretations or principles;

changes in the interest rate environment;

adverse conditions in the financial markets or general U.S. or international economic conditions, including those resulting from war, incidents of terrorism and responses to such events; and

sales of our common stock by members of our management team or other significant shareholders.
Environmental compliance costs and liabilities associated with real estate properties owned by us may materially impair the value of those investments.
As an owner of real property, we are subject to various federal, state and local environmental and health and safety laws and regulations. Although we do not operate or manage most of our properties, we may be held primarily or jointly and severally liable for costs relating to the investigation and clean-up of any property from which there has been a release or threatened release of a regulated material as well as other affected properties, regardless of whether we knew of or caused the release.

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In addition to these costs, which are typically not limited by law or regulation and could exceed the property's value, we could be liable for certain other costs, including governmental fines and injuries to persons, property or natural resources. Further, some environmental laws create a lien on the contaminated site in favor of the government for damages and the costs the government incurs in connection with such contamination.
Although we require our operators and tenants to undertake to indemnify us for certain environmental liabilities, including environmental liabilities they cause, the amount of such liabilities could exceed the financial ability of the tenant or operator to indemnify us. The presence of contamination or the failure to remediate contamination may adversely affect our ability to sell or lease the real estate or to borrow using the real estate as collateral.
Changes to U.S. federal income tax laws could materially and adversely affect us and our shareholders.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act made significant changes to the federal income taxation of individuals and corporations under the Code, generally effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017. In addition to reducing corporate and individual income tax rates, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act eliminates or restricts various deductions that, along with other provisions, may change the way that we calculate our REIT taxable income and our TRS’s taxable income. Significant provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that investors should be aware of include provisions that: (i) lower the corporate income tax rate to 21%, (ii) provide noncorporate taxpayers with a deduction of up to 20% of certain income earned through partnerships and REITs, (iii) limit the net operating loss deduction to 80% of taxable income, where taxable income is determined without regard to the net operating loss deduction itself, generally eliminates net operating loss carrybacks and allows unused net operating losses to be carried forward indefinitely, (iv) expand the ability of businesses to deduct the cost of certain property investments in the year in which the property is purchased, (v) generally lower tax rates for individuals and other noncorporate taxpayers, while limiting deductions such as miscellaneous itemized deductions and state and local tax deductions, and (vi) limit the deduction for net interest expense incurred by a business to 30% of the "adjusted taxable income" of the taxpayer, but do not apply to certain small-business taxpayers or electing real property trades or businesses, including REITs. The effect of these, and the many other, changes made is highly uncertain, both in terms of their direct effect on the taxation of holders of our common stock and their indirect effect on the value of our assets or market conditions generally.
We face risks associated with security breaches through cyber-attacks, cyber intrusions or otherwise, as well as other significant disruptions of our information technology (IT) networks and related systems.

We face risks associated with security breaches, whether through cyber-attacks or cyber intrusions over the internet, malware, computer viruses, attachments to e-mails, persons inside our organization or persons with access to systems inside our organization, and other significant disruptions of our IT networks and related systems. The risk of a security breach or disruption, particularly through cyber-attack or cyber intrusion, including by computer hackers, foreign governments and cyber terrorists, has generally increased as the number, intensity and sophistication of attempted attacks and intrusions from around the world have increased. Our IT networks and related systems are essential to the operation of our business and our ability to perform day-to-day operations. Although we make efforts to maintain the security and integrity of these types of IT networks and related systems, and we have implemented various measures to manage the risk of a security breach or disruption, there can be no assurance that our security efforts and measures will be effective or that attempted security breaches or disruptions would not be successful or damaging. A security breach or other significant disruption involving our IT networks and related systems could disrupt the proper functioning of our networks and systems; result in misstated financial reports, violations of loan covenants and/or missed reporting deadlines; result in our inability to monitor our compliance with the rules and regulations regarding our qualification as a REIT; result in the unauthorized access to, and destruction, loss, theft, misappropriation or release of proprietary, confidential, sensitive or otherwise valuable information of ours or others, which others could use to compete against us or for disruptive, destructive or otherwise harmful purposes and outcomes; require significant management attention and resources to remedy any damages that result; subject us to claims for breach of contract, damages, credits, penalties or termination of certain agreements; or damage our reputation among our tenants and investors generally.
The historical financial information included in this filing may not be a reliable indicator of future results.
The historical financial statements included herein do not reflect what the business, financial position or results of operations of GLPI may be in the future.





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Risk Factors Relating to our Status as a REIT
If we do not qualify to be taxed as a REIT, or fail to remain qualified as a REIT, we will be subject to U.S. federal income tax as a regular corporation and could face a substantial tax liability, which may reduce the amount of cash available for distribution to our shareholders.
We elected on our 2014 U.S. federal income tax return to be treated as a REIT and intend to continue to be organized and to operate in a manner that will permit us to qualify as a REIT. We currently operate, and intend to continue to operate, in a manner that will allow us to continue to qualify to be taxed as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes. We received an opinion from our special tax advisors, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and KPMG LLP (collectively the "Special Tax Advisors"), with respect to our qualification as a REIT in connection with the Spin-Off. Opinions of advisors are not binding on the IRS or any court. The opinions of the Special Tax Advisors represent only the view of the Special Tax Advisors based on their review and analysis of existing law and on certain representations as to factual matters and covenants made by us, including representations relating to the values of our assets and the sources of our income. The opinions are expressed as of the date issued. The Special Tax Advisors have no obligation to advise us or the holders of our common stock of any subsequent change in the matters stated, represented or assumed or of any subsequent change in applicable law. Furthermore, both the validity of the opinions of Special Tax Advisors and our qualification as a REIT will depend on our satisfaction of certain asset, income, organizational, distribution, shareholder ownership and other requirements on a continuing basis, the results of which are not monitored by the Special Tax Advisors. Our ability to satisfy the asset tests depends upon our analysis of the characterization and fair market values of our assets, some of which are not susceptible to a precise determination, and for which we will not obtain independent appraisals.
Penn has received a private letter ruling from the IRS with respect to certain issues relevant to our qualification as a REIT. In general, the ruling provides, subject to the terms and conditions contained therein, that (1) certain of the assets to be held by us after the Spin-Off and (2) the methodology for calculating a certain portion of rent received by us pursuant to the Penn Master Lease will not adversely affect our qualification as a REIT. No assurance can be given that the IRS will not challenge our qualification as a REIT on the basis of other issues or facts outside the scope of the ruling.
If we were to fail to qualify to be taxed as a REIT in any taxable year, we would be subject to U.S. federal income tax, including any applicable alternative minimum tax, on our taxable income at regular corporate rates, and dividends paid to our shareholders would not be deductible by us in computing our taxable income. Any resulting corporate liability could be substantial and would reduce the amount of cash available for distribution to our shareholders, which in turn could have an adverse impact on the value of our common stock. Unless we were entitled to relief under certain Code provisions, we also would be disqualified from re-electing to be taxed as a REIT for the four taxable years following the year in which we failed to qualify to be taxed as a REIT.
Qualifying as a REIT involves highly technical and complex provisions of the Code and violations of these provisions could jeopardize our REIT qualifications.
Qualification as a REIT involves the application of highly technical and complex Code provisions for which only limited judicial and administrative authorities exist. Even a technical or inadvertent violation could jeopardize our REIT qualification. Our qualification as a REIT depends on our satisfaction of certain asset, income, organizational, distribution, shareholder ownership and other requirements on a continuing basis. In addition, our ability to satisfy the requirements to qualify to be taxed as a REIT may depend in part on the actions of third parties over which we have no control or only limited influence.
We could fail to qualify to be taxed as a REIT if income we receive from Penn, Eldorado, Boyd, or their subsidiaries, is not treated as qualifying income.
Under applicable provisions of the Code, we will not be treated as a REIT unless we satisfy various requirements, including requirements relating to the sources of our gross income. Rents received or accrued by us from Penn, Eldorado, Boyd, or their subsidiaries, will not be treated as qualifying rent for purposes of these requirements if the Penn Master Lease, Amended Pinnacle Master Lease, Eldorado Master Lease or Boyd Master Lease is not respected as a true lease for U.S. federal income tax purposes and is instead treated as a service contract, joint venture or some other type of arrangement. If the Penn Master Lease, Amended Pinnacle Master Lease, Eldorado Master Lease or Boyd Master Lease is not respected as a true lease for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we may fail to qualify to be taxed as a REIT. Furthermore, our qualification as a REIT will depend on our satisfaction of certain asset, income, organizational, distribution, shareholder ownership and other requirements on a continuing basis. Our ability to satisfy the asset tests depends upon our analysis of the characterization and fair market values of our assets, some of which are not susceptible to a precise determination, and for which we will not obtain independent appraisals.

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In addition, subject to certain exceptions, rents received or accrued by us from Penn, Eldorado, Boyd, or their subsidiaries, will not be treated as qualifying rent for purposes of these requirements if we or an actual or constructive owner of 10% or more of our stock actually or constructively owns 10% or more of the total combined voting power of all classes of Penn stock, Eldorado stock or Boyd stock entitled to vote or 10% or more of the total value of all classes of Penn stock, Eldorado stock or Boyd stock. Our charter provides for restrictions on ownership and transfer of our shares of stock, including restrictions on such ownership or transfer that would cause the rents received or accrued by us from Penn, Eldorado, Boyd, or their subsidiaries, to be treated as non-qualifying rent for purposes of the REIT gross income requirements. Nevertheless, there can be no assurance that such restrictions will be effective in ensuring that rents received or accrued by us from Penn, Eldorado, Boyd, or their subsidiaries, will not be treated as qualifying rent for purposes of REIT qualification requirements.
Dividends payable by REITs do not qualify for the reduced tax rates available for some dividends.
The maximum U.S. federal income tax rate applicable to income from "qualified dividends" payable by U.S. corporations to U.S. shareholders that are individuals, trusts and estates is currently 20%. Ordinary dividends payable by REITs, however, generally are not eligible for the reduced rates. However, for taxable years that begin after December 31, 2017, and before January 1, 2026: (i) the U.S. federal income tax brackets generally applicable to ordinary income of individuals, trusts and estates have been modified (with the rates generally reduced) and (ii) shareholders that are individuals, trusts or estates are generally entitled to a deduction equal to 20% of the aggregate amount of ordinary income dividends received from a REIT (not including dividends that are eligible for the reduced rates applicable to "qualified dividend income" or treated as capital gain dividends), subject to certain limitations.
The more favorable rates applicable to regular corporate qualified dividends could cause investors who are individuals, trusts or estates to perceive investments in REITs to be relatively less attractive than investments in the stocks of non-REIT corporations that pay dividends, which could adversely affect the value of the stock of REITs, including our stock, even taking into account the lower 37% maximum rate for ordinary income and the 20% deduction for ordinary REIT dividends received in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017 and before January 1, 2026.
REIT distribution requirements could adversely affect our ability to execute our business plan.
We generally must distribute annually at least 90% of our REIT taxable income, determined without regard to the dividends paid deduction and excluding any net capital gains, in order to qualify to be taxed as a REIT (assuming that certain other requirements are also satisfied) so that U.S. federal corporate income tax does not apply to earnings that we distribute. To the extent that we satisfy this distribution requirement and qualify for taxation as a REIT but distribute less than 100% of our REIT taxable income, determined without regard to the dividends paid deduction and including any net capital gains, we will be subject to U.S. federal corporate income tax on our undistributed net taxable income. In addition, we will be subject to a 4% nondeductible excise tax if the actual amount that we distribute to our shareholders in a calendar year is less than a minimum amount specified under U.S. federal income tax laws. We intend to make distributions to our shareholders to comply with the REIT requirements of the Code.
From time to time, we may generate taxable income greater than our cash flow as a result of differences in timing between the recognition of taxable income and the actual receipt of cash or the effect of nondeductible capital expenditures, the creation of reserves or required debt or amortization payments. If we do not have other funds available in these situations, we could be required to borrow funds on unfavorable terms, sell assets at disadvantageous prices, distribute amounts that would otherwise be invested in future acquisitions, or pay dividends in the form of taxable in-kind distributions of property, including potentially, shares of our common stock to make distributions sufficient to enable us to pay out enough of our taxable income to satisfy the REIT distribution requirement and to avoid corporate income tax and the 4% excise tax in a particular year. These alternatives could increase our costs or reduce our equity. Thus, compliance with the REIT requirements may hinder our ability to grow, which could adversely affect the value of our stock. Restrictions on our indebtedness, including restrictions on our ability to incur additional indebtedness or make certain distributions, could preclude us from meeting the 90% distribution requirement. Decreases in funds from operations due to unfinanced expenditures for acquisitions of properties or increases in the number of shares of our common stock outstanding without commensurate increases in funds from operations each would adversely affect our ability to maintain distributions to our shareholders. Moreover, the failure of Penn to make rental payments under the Penn Master Lease, the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease or the Meadows Lease, as applicable, would materially impair our ability to make distributions. Consequently, there can be no assurance that we will be able to make distributions at the anticipated distribution rate or any other rate.
Even if we remain qualified as a REIT, we may face other tax liabilities that reduce our cash flow.
Even if we remain qualified for taxation as a REIT, we may be subject to certain U.S. federal, state, and local taxes on our income and assets, including taxes on any undistributed income and state or local income, property and transfer taxes. For example, we hold certain of our assets and conduct related activities through TRS subsidiary corporations that are subject to

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federal, state, and local corporate-level income taxes as regular C corporations as well as state and local gaming taxes. In addition, we may incur a 100% excise tax on transactions with a TRS if they are not conducted on an arm's-length basis. Any of these taxes would decrease cash available for distribution to our shareholders.
Complying with REIT requirements may cause us to forego otherwise attractive acquisition opportunities or liquidate otherwise attractive investments.
To qualify to be taxed as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we must ensure that, at the end of each calendar quarter, at least 75% of the value of our assets consist of cash, cash items, government securities and "real estate assets" (as defined in the Code), including certain mortgage loans and securities. The remainder of our investments (other than government securities, qualified real estate assets and securities issued by a TRS) generally cannot include more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of any one issuer or more than 10% of the total value of the outstanding securities of any one issuer. In addition, in general, no more than 5% of the value of our total assets (other than government securities, qualified real estate assets and securities issued by a TRS) can consist of the securities of any one issuer, and no more than 20% of the value of our total assets can be represented by securities of one or more TRSs. If we fail to comply with these requirements at the end of any calendar quarter, we must correct the failure within 30 days after the end of the calendar quarter or qualify for certain statutory relief provisions to avoid losing our REIT qualification and suffering adverse tax consequences. As a result, we may be required to liquidate or forego otherwise attractive investments. These actions could have the effect of reducing our income and amounts available for distribution to our shareholders.
In addition to the asset tests set forth above, to qualify to be taxed as a REIT we must continually satisfy tests concerning, among other things, the sources of our income, the amounts we distribute to shareholders and the ownership of our stock. We may be unable to pursue investments that would be otherwise advantageous to us in order to satisfy the source-of-income or asset-diversification requirements for qualifying as a REIT. Thus, compliance with the REIT requirements may hinder our ability to make certain attractive investments.
Complying with REIT requirements may limit our ability to hedge effectively and may cause us to incur tax liabilities.
The REIT provisions of the Code substantially limit our ability to hedge our assets and liabilities. Income from certain hedging transactions that we may enter into to manage risk of interest rate changes with respect to borrowings made or to be made to acquire or carry real estate assets or from transactions to manage risk of currency fluctuations with respect to any item of income or gain that satisfy the REIT gross income tests (including gain from the termination of such a transaction) does not constitute "gross income" for purposes of the 75% or 95% gross income tests that apply to REITs, provided that certain identification requirements are met. To the extent that we enter into other types of hedging transactions or fail to properly identify such transaction as a hedge, the income is likely to be treated as non-qualifying income for purposes of both of the gross income tests. As a result of these rules, we may be required to limit our use of advantageous hedging techniques or implement those hedges through a TRS. This could increase the cost of our hedging activities because the TRS may be subject to tax on gains or expose us to greater risks associated with changes in interest rates that we would otherwise want to bear. In addition, losses in the TRS will generally not provide any tax benefit, except that such losses could theoretically be carried back or forward against past or future taxable income in the TRS.
We could be subject to tax on any unrealized net built-in gains on the assets held before electing to be treated as a REIT and on the assets acquired from Pinnacle (prior to the Penn-Pinnacle Merger), which could have a material and adverse effect on our business and financial condition.
We own appreciated assets that were held by a C corporation before we elected to be treated as a REIT and were acquired in a transaction in which the adjusted tax basis of the assets in our ownership is determined by reference to the adjusted tax basis of the assets in the hands of the C corporation. If we dispose of any such appreciated assets during the five-year period following our acquisition of the assets from the C corporation (i.e., during the five-year period following our qualification as a REIT), we will be subject to tax at the highest corporate tax rates on any gain from such assets to the extent of the excess of the fair market value of the assets on the date that they were acquired by us over the adjusted tax basis of such assets on such date, which are referred to as built-in gains. The assets acquired from Pinnacle (prior to the Penn-Pinnacle Merger) are expected to have significant built-in-gains. Because, prior to the original Pinnacle transaction, Pinnacle was a C corporation, if we dispose of any such appreciated assets during the five-year period following the transactions, we will be subject to tax at the highest corporate tax rates on any gain from such assets to the extent of the built-in-gain in such assets at the time of the transaction.
We would be subject to this tax liability even if we continue to qualify and maintain our status as a REIT. Any recognized built-in gain will retain our character as ordinary income or capital gain and will be taken into account in determining REIT taxable income and our distribution requirement. Any tax on the recognized built-in gain will reduce REIT taxable income. We may choose not to sell in a taxable transaction appreciated assets we might otherwise sell during the five-

32


year period in which the built-in gain tax applies in order to avoid the built-in gain tax. However, there can be no assurances that such a taxable transaction will not occur. If we sell such assets in a taxable transaction, the amount of corporate tax that we will pay will vary depending on the actual amount of net built-in gain or loss present in those assets as of the time we became a REIT. The amount of tax could be significant.
Risks Related to Our Capital Structure
We may have future capital needs and may not be able to obtain additional financing on acceptable terms.
As of December 31, 2019, we had approximately $5.7 billion in long-term indebtedness, net of unamortized debt issuance costs, bond premiums and original issuance discounts, consisting of:
$495.0 million of total indebtedness outstanding under our senior unsecured credit facility (the "Credit Facility") (consisting of the $449.0 million Term Loan A-1 facility and $46.0 million of borrowings under our revolving credit facility) and approximately $1,128.6 million available for borrowing under our revolver (including $0.4 million of contingent obligations under letters of credit);

$5,290.2 million of outstanding senior unsecured notes; and

approximately $1.0 million of finance lease liabilities related to certain assets.
We may incur additional indebtedness in the future to refinance our existing indebtedness or to finance newly-acquired properties. Any significant additional indebtedness could require a substantial portion of our cash flow to make interest and principal payments due on our indebtedness. Greater demands on our cash resources may reduce funds available to us to pay dividends, make capital expenditures and acquisitions, or carry out other aspects of our business strategy. Increased indebtedness may also limit our ability to adjust rapidly to changing market conditions, make us more vulnerable to general adverse economic and industry conditions and create competitive disadvantages for us compared to other companies with relatively lower debt levels and/or borrowing costs. Increased future debt service obligations may limit our operational flexibility, including our ability to acquire properties, finance or refinance our properties, contribute properties to joint ventures or sell properties as needed. If we incur additional indebtedness or such other obligations, the risks associated with our leverage, including our possible inability to service our debt, may increase.
We may be unable to obtain additional financing or financing on favorable terms or our operating cash flow may be insufficient to satisfy our financial obligations under indebtedness outstanding from time to time (if any). If financing is not available when needed, or is available on unfavorable terms, we may be unable to develop new or enhance our existing properties, complete acquisitions or otherwise take advantage of business opportunities or respond to competitive pressures, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We have a material amount of indebtedness which could have significant effects on our business including the following:
it may limit our ability to obtain additional debt or equity financing for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements and general corporate or other purposes;

a material portion of our cash flows will be dedicated to the payment of principal and interest on our indebtedness, including indebtedness we may incur in the future, and will not be available for other purposes, including to make acquisitions;

it could limit our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and the industry in which we operate and place us at a competitive disadvantage compared to our competitors that have less debt or are less leveraged;

it could make us more vulnerable to downturns in general economic or industry conditions or in our business, or prevent us from carrying out activities that are important to our growth;

it could increase our interest expense if interest rates in general increase because our indebtedness under the Credit Facility bears interest at floating rates;

it could limit our ability to take advantage of strategic business opportunities;



33


it could make it more difficult for us to satisfy our obligations with respect to our indebtedness. Any failure to comply with the obligations of any of our debt instruments could result in an event of default which, if not cured or waived, could result in the acceleration of our indebtedness under the Credit Facility and other outstanding debt obligations; and

it could impact our ability to pay dividends to our shareholders.

We cannot assure you that our business will generate sufficient cash flow from operations, or that future borrowings will be available to us under our Credit Facility or from other debt financing, in an amount sufficient to enable us to pay our indebtedness or to fund our other liquidity needs. If we do not generate sufficient cash flow from operations to satisfy our debt service obligations, we may have to undertake alternative financing plans, such as refinancing or restructuring our indebtedness, selling assets or seeking to raise additional capital, including by issuing equity securities or securities convertible into equity securities. Our ability to restructure or refinance our indebtedness will depend on the capital markets and our financial condition at such time. Any refinancing of our indebtedness could be at higher interest rates and may require us to comply with more onerous covenants, which could further restrict our business operations. Our inability to generate sufficient cash flow to satisfy our debt service requirements or to refinance our obligations on commercially reasonable terms may have an adverse effect, which could be material to our business, financial position or results of operations.
Our shareholders may be subject to significant dilution caused by the additional issuance of equity securities.
If and when additional funds are raised through the issuance of equity securities, including under our "at the market" offering program relating to our common stock (the "ATM Program") or in connection with future acquisitions, our shareholders may experience significant dilution. Additionally, sales of substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market, or the perception that such sales could occur, could adversely affect the market price of our common stock, make it more difficult for our shareholders to sell their GLPI common stock at a time and price that they deem appropriate and impair our future ability to raise capital through an offering of our equity securities.
Adverse changes in our credit rating may affect our borrowing capacity and borrowing terms.
Our outstanding debt is periodically rated by nationally recognized credit rating agencies. The credit ratings are based upon our operating performance, liquidity and leverage ratios, overall financial position, and other factors viewed by the credit rating agencies as relevant to both our industry and the economic outlook. Our credit rating may affect the amount of capital we can access, as well as the terms of any financing we obtain. Because we rely in part on debt financing to fund growth, the absence of an investment grade credit rating or any credit rating downgrade may have a negative effect on our future growth.
If we cannot obtain additional capital, our growth may be limited.
As described above, in order to qualify and maintain our qualification as a REIT each year, we are required to distribute at least 90% of our REIT taxable income, excluding net capital gains, to our shareholders. As a result, our retained earnings available to fund acquisitions, development, or other capital expenditures are nominal, and we rely upon the availability of additional debt or equity capital to fund these activities. Our long-term ability to grow through acquisitions or development, which is an important component of our strategy, may be limited if we cannot obtain additional debt financing or raise equity capital. Market conditions may make it difficult to obtain debt financing or raise equity capital, and we cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain additional debt or equity financing or that we will be able to obtain such capital on favorable terms.
An increase in market interest rates could increase our interest costs on existing and future debt and could adversely affect our stock price.
If interest rates increase, so could our interest costs for any new debt and our variable rate debt obligations. This increased cost could make the financing of any acquisition more costly, as well as lower our current period earnings. Rising interest rates could limit our ability to refinance existing debt when it matures or cause us to pay higher interest rates upon refinancing. In addition, an increase in interest rates could decrease the access third parties have to credit, thereby decreasing the amount they are willing to pay for our assets and consequently limiting our ability to reposition our portfolio promptly in response to changes in economic or other conditions.
Further, the dividend yield on our common stock, as a percentage of the price of such common stock, may influence the price of such common stock. Thus, an increase in market interest rates may lead prospective purchasers of our common stock to expect a higher dividend yield, which may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
The majority of our debt is at fixed rates and our exposure to variable interest rates is currently limited to our revolving credit facility and our Term Loan A-1. Both of these debt instruments are indexed to LIBOR which is expected to be

34


phased out during late 2021. The discontinuance of LIBOR would affect our interest expense and earnings. As the Term Loan A-1 matures in mid-2021, only the borrowings under our revolver will be subject to the expected LIBOR transition. LIBOR is currently expected to transition to a new standard rate, the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”). We are currently monitoring the transition and cannot be certain whether SOFR will become the standard rate for our variable rate debt. However, the transition away from LIBOR rates will likely require us to renegotiate our revolving credit facility, which does not provide for reference rate replacement. We intend to continue to monitor the developments with respect to the phase out of LIBOR after 2021 and work with our lenders to minimize the impact of any LIBOR transition on our financial condition and results of operations, but can provide no assurances regarding the impact of the discontinuance of LIBOR.
Covenants in our debt agreements may limit our operational flexibility, and a covenant breach or default could materially adversely affect our business, financial position or results of operations.
The agreements governing our indebtedness contain customary covenants, including restrictions on our ability to grant liens on our assets, incur indebtedness, sell assets, make investments, engage in acquisitions, mergers or consolidations and pay certain dividends and other restricted payments. Specifically, our debt agreements contain the following financial covenants: a maximum total debt to total asset value ratio of 60% (subject to increase to 65% for specified periods in connection with certain acquisitions), a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio of 1.5 to 1, a maximum senior secured debt to total asset value ratio of 40% and a maximum unsecured debt to unencumbered asset value ratio of 60%. These restrictions may limit our operational flexibility. Covenants that limit our operational flexibility as well as defaults under our debt instruments could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position or results of operations.
Risk Factors Relating to Our Acquisition of Penn, Pinnacle and Tropicana's Gaming Properties
Our recourse against Tropicana, including for any breaches under the Amended Real Estate Purchase Agreement or the Tropicana Merger Agreement, is limited.

As is customary for a public company target in a merger and acquisition transaction, Tropicana has no obligation to indemnify us or Eldorado for any breaches of its representations and warranties or covenants included in the Merger Agreement and the Real Estate Purchase Agreement, or for any pre-closing liabilities or claims. While we have certain arrangements in place with Eldorado in connection with certain limited pre-closing liabilities, if any issues arise post-closing (other than as provided for in the Eldorado Master Lease), we may not be entitled to sufficient, or any, indemnification or recourse from Tropicana or Eldorado, which could have a materially adverse impact on our business and results of operations.
Penn has contractual obligations to indemnify us for certain liabilities, including liabilities as successor in interest to Pinnacle. However, there can be no assurance that these indemnities will be sufficient to insure us against the full amount of such liabilities, or that Penn's ability to satisfy its and Pinnacle's indemnification obligations will not be impaired in the future.
Penn has contractual obligations to indemnify us for certain liabilities, including liabilities as successor in interest to Pinnacle. However, third parties could seek to hold us responsible for any of the liabilities that Penn and Pinnacle agreed to retain, and there can be no assurance that Penn will be able to fully satisfy its indemnification obligations. Moreover, even if we ultimately succeed in recovering from Penn any amounts for which we are held liable, we may be temporarily required to bear these losses while seeking recovery from Penn and such recovery could have a material adverse impact on Penn's financial condition and ability to pay rent due under the Penn Master Lease and/or the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease.
Risk Factors Relating to Our Spin-Off from Penn
If the Spin-Off, together with certain related transactions, does not qualify as a transaction that is generally tax-free for U.S. federal income tax purposes, GLPI could be subject to significant tax liabilities and, in certain circumstances, GLPI could be required to indemnify Penn for material taxes pursuant to indemnification obligations under the Tax Matters Agreement.
Penn has received a private letter ruling from the IRS substantially to the effect that, among other things, the Spin-Off, together with the required compliance exchanges and certain related transactions, will qualify as a transaction that is generally tax-free for U.S. federal income tax purposes under Sections 355 and/or 368(a)(1)(D) of the Code (the "IRS Ruling"). The IRS Ruling does not address certain requirements for tax-free treatment of the Spin-Off under Section 355, and Penn received from its tax advisors a tax opinion substantially to the effect that, with respect to such requirements on which the IRS will not rule, such requirements have been satisfied. The IRS Ruling, and the tax opinions that Penn received from its tax advisors, relied on, among other things, certain representations, assumptions and undertakings, including those relating to the past and future conduct of GLPI's business, and the IRS Ruling and the opinions would not be valid if such representations, assumptions and undertakings were incorrect in any material respect.

35


Notwithstanding the IRS Ruling and the tax opinions, the IRS could determine the Spin-Off should be treated as a taxable transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes if it determines any of the representations, assumptions or undertakings that were included in the request for the IRS Ruling are false or have been violated or if it disagrees with the conclusions in the opinions that are not covered by the IRS Ruling.
Under a Tax Matters Agreement that GLPI entered into with Penn, GLPI generally is required to indemnify Penn against any tax resulting from the Spin-Off to the extent that such tax resulted from (i) an acquisition of all or a portion of the equity securities or assets of GLPI, whether by merger or otherwise, (ii) other actions or failures to act by GLPI, or (iii) any of GLPI's representations or undertakings being incorrect or violated. GLPI's indemnification obligations to Penn and its subsidiaries, officers and directors will not be limited by any maximum amount. If GLPI is required to indemnify Penn or such other persons under the circumstance set forth in the Tax Matters Agreement, GLPI may be subject to substantial liabilities.
Potential indemnification liabilities of GLPI pursuant to the Separation and Distribution Agreement could materially adversely affect GLPI.
The Separation and Distribution Agreement between GLPI and Penn provides for, among other things, the principal corporate transactions required to effect the separation, certain conditions to the separation and provisions governing the relationship between GLPI and Penn with respect to and resulting from the separation.
Among other things, the Separation and Distribution Agreement provides for indemnification obligations designed to make us financially responsible for substantially all liabilities that may result relating to or arising out of our business. If GLPI is required to indemnify Penn under the circumstances set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement, GLPI may be subject to substantial liabilities.
ITEM 1B.    UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
None.


36


ITEM 2.     PROPERTIES
Rental Properties
As of December 31, 2019, the Company had 41 rental properties, consisting of the real property associated with 32 gaming and related facilities operated by Penn, the real property associated with five gaming and related facilities operated by Eldorado, the real property associated with three gaming and related facilities operated by Boyd and the real property associated with the Casino Queen in East St. Louis, Illinois. All rental properties are subject to long-term triple-net leases. For additional information pertaining to our tenant leases and our rental properties see Item 1.
GLPI Financed Property
As of December 31, 2019, the Company had a financial interest in one casino property through a real estate loan to the respective casino owner-operator. For additional information pertaining to this property see Item 1.
TRS Properties
Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge
Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge is a dockside riverboat casino located on approximately 21.1 acres, which we own, on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the East Baton Rouge Downtown Development District. The property site serves as the dockside embarkation for Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge and features a two-story building. We also own approximately 4.0 acres of land which features a railroad underpass that provides unimpeded access to the casino property.
Hollywood Casino Perryville
We own 36.3 acres of land in Perryville, Maryland where Hollywood Casino Perryville is located. The property is located directly off Interstate 95 in Cecil County, Maryland just 35 miles northeast of Baltimore and 70 miles from Washington, D.C.

See Item 1 for further information pertaining to our TRS Properties.

Corporate Office

The Company's corporate headquarters building is located in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania and is owned by the Company.

ITEM 3.    LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
The Company is subject to various legal and administrative proceedings relating to personal injuries, employment matters, commercial transactions and other matters arising in the normal course of business. The Company does not believe that the final outcome of these matters will have a material adverse effect on the Company's consolidated financial position or results of operations. In addition, the Company maintains what it believes is adequate insurance coverage to further mitigate the risks of such proceedings. However, such proceedings can be costly, time consuming and unpredictable and, therefore, no assurance can be given that the final outcome of such proceedings may not materially impact the Company's consolidated financial condition or results of operations. Further, no assurance can be given that the amount or scope of existing insurance coverage will be sufficient to cover losses arising from such matters.
ITEM 4.    MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not applicable.


37


PART II
ITEM 5.   MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED SHAREHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
Market Information
Our common stock is quoted on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "GLPI." As of February 18, 2020, there were approximately 714 holders of record of our common stock.
Dividend Policy
The Company's annual dividend is greater than or equal to at least 90% of its REIT taxable income on an annual basis, determined without regard to the dividends paid deduction and excluding any net capital gains. U.S. federal income tax law generally requires that a REIT annually distribute at least 90% of its REIT taxable income, without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and excluding net capital gains, and that it pay regular corporate rates to the extent that it annually distributes less than 100% of its taxable income.
Cash available for distribution to GLPI shareholders is derived from income from real estate and the income of the TRS Properties. All distributions will be made by GLPI at the discretion of its Board of Directors and will depend on the financial position, results of operations, cash flows, capital requirements, debt covenants, applicable laws and other factors as the Board of Directors of GLPI deems relevant. See Note 16 to the consolidated financial statements for further details on dividends.


38


ITEM 6.    SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
The following selected consolidated financial and operating data for the five-year period ended December 31, 2019 is derived from our consolidated financial statements. The selected consolidated financial and operating data should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and notes thereto, "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and the other financial information included herein.
 
Year Ended December 31,
 
2019 (1)
 
2018 (1) 
 
2017 (1) 
 
2016 (1)
 
2015
 
(in thousands, except per share data)
Income statement data:
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Total revenues
$
1,153,473

 
$
1,055,727

 
$
971,307

 
$
828,255

 
$
575,053

Total operating expenses
436,050

 
461,917

 
365,789

 
347,632

 
317,638

Income from operations
717,423

 
593,810

 
605,518

 
480,623

 
257,415

Total other expenses
321,778

 
249,330

 
215,133

 
183,773

 
121,851

Income before income taxes
395,645

 
344,480

 
390,385

 
296,850

 
135,564

Income tax expense
4,764

 
4,964

 
9,787

 
7,545

 
7,442

Net income
$
390,881

 
$
339,516

 
$
380,598

 
$
289,305

 
$
128,122

Per share data:
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Basic earnings per common share
$
1.82

 
$
1.59

 
$
1.80

 
$
1.62

 
$
1.12

Diluted earnings per common share
$
1.81

 
$
1.58

 
$
1.79

 
$
1.60

 
$
1.08

Weighted shares outstanding - Basic
214,667

 
213,720

 
210,705

 
178,594

 
114,432

Weighted shares outstanding - Diluted
215,786

 
214,779

 
212,752

 
180,622

 
118,439

Cash dividends per common share declared and paid
$
2.74

 
$
2.57

 
$
2.50

 
$
2.32

 
$
2.18

Other data:
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Net cash provided by operating activities
$
750,302

 
$
654,433

 
$
598,711

 
$
514,370

 
$
319,688

Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities
(2,817
)
 
(1,509,784
)
 
698

 
(3,218,616
)
 
(14,142
)
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities
(746,445
)
 
852,080

 
(606,911
)
 
2,698,927

 
(299,644
)
Depreciation and amortization
258,971

 
148,365

 
123,835

 
115,717

 
109,783

Straight-line rent adjustments
34,574

 
61,888

 
65,971

 
58,673

 
55,825

Impairment charges (2)
13,000

 
59,454

 

 

 

Collections of principal payments on investment in direct financing lease (3)

 
38,459

 
73,072

 
48,533

 

Interest expense
301,520

 
247,684

 
217,068

 
185,896

 
124,183

Balance sheet data:
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Cash and cash equivalents
$
26,823

 
$
25,783

 
$
29,054

 
$
36,556

 
$
41,875

Real estate investments, net (3)
7,100,555

 
7,331,460

 
3,662,045

 
3,739,091

 
2,090,059

Investment in direct financing lease, net (3)

 

 
2,637,639

 
2,710,711

 

Total assets
8,434,298

 
8,577,293

 
7,246,882

 
7,369,330

 
2,448,155

Long-term debt, net of unamortized debt issuance costs, bond premiums and original issuance discounts
5,737,962

 
5,853,497

 
4,442,880

 
4,664,965

 
2,510,341

Shareholders' equity (deficit)
2,074,245

 
2,265,607

 
2,458,247

 
2,433,869

 
(253,514
)
Property Data:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Number of rental properties owned at year end
41

 
42

 
36

 
34

 
19

Rentable square feet at year end
21,527

 
21,847

 
15,198

 
14,799

 
6,970

 


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(1) 
In October 2018, the Company purchased the real property assets of five Tropicana properties for approximately $992.5 million. These assets were subsequently leased to Eldorado under a triple-net master lease. Also in October 2018, the Company purchased Plainridge Park from Penn for $250.9 million in conjunction with the Penn-Pinnacle Merger. This property was leased back to Penn under the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease. The purchase of these assets contributed to the Company's growth in asset base as well as improved financial performance during fiscal years 2019 and 2018.
    
In April 2016, the Company purchased substantially all of the real property assets of Pinnacle for approximately $4.8 billion. The purchase of these assets, which were subsequently leased back to Pinnacle under a triple-net lease and financed through a combination of debt and equity, contributed to the Company's significant growth in asset base as well as improved financial performance during fiscal years 2017 and 2016. To a lesser extent, the purchase of the real property assets of the Meadows for $323.3 million in September 2016 also contributed to the Company's improved operating results during fiscal years 2017 and 2016. Finally, the purchase of the real property assets of the 1st Jackpot Casino and Resorts Casino Tunica for $82.9 million in May 2017 contributed slightly to the Company's increase in net revenues for fiscal year 2017. See Note 18 to the consolidated financial statements for additional information on the Company's acquisitions.

(2) 
During the first quarter of 2019, the Company recorded an impairment charge of $13.0 million to write-off its unsecured loan (the "Casino Queen Loan") to CQ Holding Company, Inc., an affiliate of Casino Queen ("CQ Holding Company"), as repayment of the loan was no longer expected. During the fourth quarter of 2018, the Company recorded an impairment charge of $59.5 million, related to the goodwill recorded on the books of its subsidiary, Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge. For further information on the impairment charges see Notes 6 and 8 to the consolidated financial statements.

(3) 
Prior to the Penn-Pinnacle Merger, the Pinnacle Master Lease was bifurcated between an operating lease and a direct financing lease, with the land assets qualifying for operating lease treatment and the building assets triggering direct financing lease treatment. This net investment in direct financing lease was unwound in conjunction with the Penn-Pinnacle Merger, via the fourth amendment to the Pinnacle Master Lease. As a result of this amendment, the Company reassessed the lease's classification and determined the new lease agreement qualified for operating lease treatment under ASC 840 - Leases ("ASC 840"). Therefore, subsequent to the Penn-Pinnacle Merger, the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease is treated as an operating lease in its entirety, the building assets previously recorded as an investment in direct financing lease on the Company's consolidated balance sheet were recorded as real estate assets on the Company's consolidated balance sheet and all rent received under the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease is recorded as rental income on the Company's consolidated statement of income.

ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
 
Our Operations
GLPI is a self-administered and self-managed Pennsylvania REIT. The Company was formed from the 2013 tax-free spin-off of the real estate assets of Penn and was incorporated in Pennsylvania on February 13, 2013, as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Penn. On November 1, 2013, Penn contributed to GLPI, through a series of internal corporate restructurings, substantially all of the assets and liabilities associated with Penn's real property interests and real estate development business, as well as the assets and liabilities of Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge and Hollywood Casino Perryville (which are referred to as the "TRS Properties") and then spun-off GLPI to holders of Penn's common and preferred stock in a tax-free distribution (the "Spin-Off"). The Company elected on its U.S. federal income tax return for its taxable year that began on January 1, 2014 to be treated as a REIT and the Company, together with an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, GLP Holdings, Inc., jointly elected to treat each of GLP Holdings, Inc., Louisiana Casino Cruises, Inc. (d/b/a Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge) and Penn Cecil Maryland, Inc. (d/b/a Hollywood Casino Perryville) as a "taxable REIT subsidiary" effective on the first day of the first taxable year of GLPI as a REIT. As a result of the Spin-Off, GLPI owns substantially all of Penn's former real property assets (as of the consummation of the Spin-Off) and leases back most of those assets to Penn for use by its subsidiaries, under the Penn Master Lease and owns and operates the TRS Properties through its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, GLP Holdings, Inc. The assets and liabilities of GLPI were recorded at their respective historical carrying values at the time of the Spin-Off.
In April 2016, the Company acquired substantially all of the real estate assets of Pinnacle for approximately $4.8 billion. GLPI originally leased these assets back to Pinnacle, under a unitary triple-net lease with an initial term of 10 years, with no purchase option, followed by five 5-year renewal options (exercisable by Pinnacle) on the same terms and conditions. On October 15, 2018, the Company completed its previously announced transactions with Penn, Pinnacle and Boyd to

40


accommodate Penn's acquisition of the majority of Pinnacle's operations, pursuant to a definitive agreement and plan of merger between Penn and Pinnacle, dated December 17, 2017. Concurrent with the Penn-Pinnacle Merger, the Company amended the Pinnacle Master Lease to allow for the sale of the operating assets of Ameristar Casino Hotel Kansas City, Ameristar Casino Resort Spa St. Charles and Belterra Casino Resort from Pinnacle to Boyd and entered into a new unitary triple-net master lease agreement with Boyd for these properties on terms similar to the Company’s Amended Pinnacle Master Lease. The Boyd Master Lease has an initial term of 10 years (from the original April 2016 commencement date of the Pinnacle Master Lease and expiring April 30, 2026), with no purchase option, followed by five 5-year renewal options (exercisable by Boyd) on the same terms and conditions. The Company also purchased the real estate assets of Plainridge Park from Penn for $250.0 million, exclusive of transaction fees and taxes and added this property to the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease. The Amended Pinnacle Master Lease was assumed by Penn at the consummation of the Penn-Pinnacle Merger. The Company also entered into a mortgage loan agreement with Boyd in connection with Boyd's acquisition of Belterra Park, whereby the Company loaned Boyd $57.7 million.
In addition to the acquisition of Plainridge Park described above, on October 1, 2018, the Company closed its previously announced transaction to acquire certain real property assets from Tropicana and certain of its affiliates pursuant to the Real Estate Purchase Agreement dated April 15, 2018 between Tropicana and GLP Capital, which was subsequently amended on October 1, 2018. Pursuant to the terms of the Amended Real Estate Purchase Agreement, the Company acquired the real estate assets of Tropicana Atlantic City, Tropicana Evansville, Tropicana Laughlin, Trop Casino Greenville and the Belle of Baton Rouge from Tropicana for an aggregate cash purchase price of $964.0 million, exclusive of transaction fees and taxes. Concurrent with the Tropicana Acquisition, Eldorado acquired the operating assets of these properties from Tropicana pursuant to an Agreement and Plan of Merger dated April 15, 2018 by and among Tropicana, GLP Capital, Eldorado and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Eldorado and leased the GLP Assets from the Company pursuant to the terms of a new unitary triple-net master lease with an initial term of 15 years, with no purchase option, followed by four successive 5-year renewal periods (exercisable by Eldorado) on the same terms and conditions. Additionally, on October 1, 2018 the Company entered into a loan agreement with Eldorado in connection with Eldorado’s acquisition of Lumière Place, whereby the Company loaned Eldorado $246.0 million.
GLPI's primary business consists of acquiring, financing, and owning real estate property to be leased to gaming operators in triple-net lease arrangements. As of December 31, 2019, GLPI's portfolio consisted of interests in 44 gaming and related facilities, including the TRS Properties, the real property associated with 32 gaming and related facilities operated by Penn, the real property associated with 5 gaming and related facilities operated by Eldorado, the real property associated with 4 gaming and related facilities operated by Boyd (including one financed property) and the real property associated with the Casino Queen in East St. Louis, Illinois. These facilities, including our corporate headquarters building, are geographically diversified across 16 states and contain approximately 22.1 million square feet. As of December 31, 2019, our properties were 100% occupied. We expect to continue growing our portfolio by pursuing opportunities to acquire additional gaming facilities to lease to gaming operators under prudent terms.
As of December 31, 2019, the majority of our earnings are the result of the rental revenues we receive from our triple-net master leases with Penn, Boyd and Eldorado. Additionally, we have rental revenue from the Casino Queen property which is leased back to a third-party operator on a triple-net basis and the Meadows property which is leased to Penn under a single property triple-net lease. In addition to rent, the tenants are required to pay the following executory costs: (1) all facility maintenance, (2) all insurance required in connection with the leased properties and the business conducted on the leased properties, including coverage of the landlord's interests, (3) taxes levied on or with respect to the leased properties (other than taxes on the income of the lessor) and (4) all utilities and other services necessary or appropriate for the leased properties and the business conducted on the leased properties. 
 
Additionally, in accordance with ASC 842, we record revenue for the ground lease rent paid by our tenants with an offsetting expense in land rights and ground lease expense within the condensed consolidated statement of income as we have concluded that as the lessee we are the primary obligor under the ground leases. We sublease these ground leases back to our tenants, who are responsible for payment directly to the landlord.

 Gaming revenue for our TRS Properties is derived primarily from gaming on slot machines and to a lesser extent, table game and poker revenue, which is highly dependent upon the volume and spending levels of customers at our TRS Properties. Other revenues at our TRS Properties are derived from our dining, retail and certain other ancillary activities.


41


Our Competitive Strengths
We believe the following competitive strengths will contribute significantly to our success:
Geographically Diverse Property Portfolio
As of December 31, 2019, our portfolio consisted of 44 gaming and related facilities, including 41 rental properties, the TRS Properties and one property we had a financial interest in, pursuant to a real estate loan we made to the respective casino owner-operator. Our portfolio, including our corporate headquarters building, comprises approximately 22.1 million square feet and over 5,600 acres of land and is broadly diversified by location across 16 states. We expect that our geographic diversification will limit the effect of a decline in any one regional market on our overall performance.
Financially Secure Tenants
Three of the company's tenants, Penn, Eldorado and Boyd, are leading, diversified, multi-jurisdictional owners and managers of gaming and pari-mutuel properties and established gaming providers with strong financial performance. Additionally, all of the aforementioned tenants are publicly traded companies that are subject to the informational filing requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are required to file periodic reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). Readers are directed to Penn's, Eldorado's and Boyd's respective websites for further financial information on these companies.
Long-Term, Triple-Net Lease Structure
Our real estate properties are leased under long-term triple-net leases guaranteed by our tenants, pursuant to which the tenant is responsible for all facility maintenance, insurance required in connection with the leased properties and the business conducted on the leased properties, including coverage of the landlord's interests, taxes levied on or with respect to the leased properties (other than taxes on our income) and all utilities and other services necessary or appropriate for the leased properties and the business conducted on the leased properties.
Flexible UPREIT Structure
We have the flexibility to operate through an umbrella partnership, commonly referred to as an UPREIT structure, in which substantially all of our properties and assets are held by GLP Capital or by subsidiaries of GLP Capital. Conducting business through GLP Capital allows us flexibility in the manner in which we structure and acquire properties. In particular, an UPREIT structure enables us to acquire additional properties from sellers in exchange for limited partnership units, which provides property owners the opportunity to defer the tax consequences that would otherwise arise from a sale of their real properties and other assets to us. As a result, this structure potentially may facilitate our acquisition of assets in a more efficient manner and may allow us to acquire assets that the owner would otherwise be unwilling to sell because of tax considerations. We believe that this flexibility will provide us an advantage in seeking future acquisitions.
Experienced and Committed Management Team
Our management team has extensive gaming and real estate experience. Peter M. Carlino, our chief executive officer, has more than 30 years of experience in the acquisition and development of gaming facilities and other real estate projects. Steven T. Snyder, our chief financial officer and previously our senior vice president of corporate development, is a finance professional with more than 20 years of experience in the gaming industry, including identifying and analyzing potential acquisitions. Through years of public company experience, our management team also has extensive experience accessing both debt and equity capital markets to fund growth and maintain a flexible capital structure.
Segment Information
 
Consistent with how our Chief Operating Decision Maker (as such term is defined in ASC 280 - Segment Reporting) reviews and assesses our financial performance, we have two reportable segments, GLP Capital and the TRS Properties. The GLP Capital reportable segment consists of the leased real property and represents the majority of our business. The TRS Properties reportable segment consists of Hollywood Casino Perryville and Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge.

Executive Summary
 
Financial Highlights
 
We reported total revenues and income from operations of $1,153.5 million and $717.4 million, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2019, compared to $1,055.7 million and $593.8 million, respectively, for the year ended

42


December 31, 2018.  The major factors affecting our results for the year ended December 31, 2019, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2018, were as follows:

Total income from real estate was $1,025.1 million and $923.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. Total income from real estate increased by $101.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2018, primarily due to the Tropicana Transactions, the Penn-Pinnacle Merger and our entry into the Belterra Park Loan, as well as the impact of the rent escalators under our master leases, the partial recognition of income previously deferred under the Penn Master Lease and the Meadows Lease and the recognition of cash rent that was previously applied against the lease receivable on our balance sheet as rental income.
These increases were partially offset by the elimination of the revenue gross-up for real estate taxes paid directly by our tenants under ASC 842 and the first percentage rent reset under the Penn Master Lease, which resulted in a rent decrease.

Net revenues for our TRS Properties decreased by $4.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, as compared to the prior year, due to decreased revenues at both TRS properties. The largest driver of the decrease resulted from general market deterioration in the Baton Rouge region and the smoking ban at all Baton Rouge, Louisiana casinos that went into effect during the second quarter of 2018.
 
Total operating expenses decreased by $25.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, as compared to the prior year, primarily driven by a decrease in real estate tax expense, as we are no longer required to gross-up our financial statements for the real estate taxes paid directly by our tenants under ASC 842 and by the absence of retirement costs and goodwill impairment charges in the current year. These decreases were partially offset by a loan impairment charge of $13.0 million related to the write-off of the Company's Casino Queen Loan and an increase in depreciation expense resulting from the addition of the Tropicana and Plainridge Park real estate assets to our real estate portfolio, the reclassification of the Pinnacle building assets to real estate investments on our balance sheet and the acceleration of depreciation related to the closure of the Resorts Casino Tunica property by our tenant in the second quarter of 2019. Land rights and ground lease expense also increased resulting from the acquisition of rights to six long-term ground leases in connection with the October 2018 Tropicana Acquisition and the acceleration of land rights amortization expense related to the closure of the Resorts Casino Tunica property. The closure of the Resorts Casino Tunica property by our tenant will not impact the rent collected from Penn under the Penn Master Lease, as our lease with Penn is unitary and cross-collateralized and does not allow for rent reductions for individual property closure.

Other expenses, net increased by $72.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, as compared to the prior year, primarily due to interest expense related to the debt refinancing in the second quarter of 2018 and debt issuances in the third quarter of 2018, the proceeds of which were utilized for the October 2018 closings of the Tropicana Transactions and the acquisition of Plainridge Park Casino, as well as the funding of the Belterra Park Loan in connection with the
Penn-Pinnacle Merger. Also driving the increase was a $21.0 million loss on the early extinguishment of debt related to the Company's cash tender of a portion of its 2020 Notes and the issuance of $1.1 billion in new unsecured notes during the third quarter of 2019, in connection with our efforts to reduce our borrowing costs and lengthen our average debt maturity.

Net income increased by $51.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, as compared to the prior year, primarily due to the variances explained above.

Segment Developments
 
The following are recent developments that have had or are expected to have an impact on us by segment:
 
GLP Capital

On October 15, 2018, Penn's acquisition of Pinnacle closed, and the Company completed its previously announced transactions with Penn, Pinnacle and Boyd. Concurrent with Penn's acquisition, the Company amended the Pinnacle Master Lease to allow for the sale of the operating assets of Ameristar Casino Hotel Kansas City, Ameristar Casino Resort Spa St. Charles and Belterra Casino Resort from Pinnacle to Boyd and entered into a new triple-net master lease agreement with Boyd for these properties on terms similar to the Company’s existing master leases. The Company also purchased the real estate assets of Plainridge Park Casino from Penn for $250.0 million, exclusive of transaction fees and taxes, and added this property to the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease. We also entered into a loan agreement with Boyd in connection with

43


Boyd's acquisition of Belterra Park, whereby we loaned Boyd $57.7 million, act as mortgagee and collect interest income from Boyd.

On October 1, 2018, the Company purchased the real property assets of five properties from Tropicana for $964.0 million, exclusive of taxes and transaction fees. Concurrent with the acquisition of these properties, Eldorado purchased the operating assets of these Tropicana properties and Lumière Place and entered into a new triple-net master lease with the Company for the lease of the five Tropicana properties purchased by us for a 15-year initial term, with no purchase option, followed by four successive 5-year renewal periods (exercisable by Eldorado). The Company also made a loan to Eldorado in the amount of $246.0 million in connection with Eldorado’s acquisition of Lumière Place.

TRS Properties

During the second quarter of 2018, a smoking ban went into effect at all Baton Rouge, Louisiana casinos, which in combination with the general market deterioration in the Baton Rouge region has contributed to the poor performance of our Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge property, resulting in an impairment charge of $59.5 million during the fourth quarter of 2018.

Critical Accounting Estimates
We make certain judgments and use certain estimates and assumptions when applying accounting principles in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements. The nature of the estimates and assumptions are material due to the levels of subjectivity and judgment necessary to account for highly uncertain factors or the susceptibility of such factors to change. We have identified the accounting for leases, income taxes, real estate investments, and goodwill and other intangible assets as critical accounting estimates, as they are the most important to our financial statement presentation and require difficult, subjective and complex judgments.
We believe the current assumptions and other considerations used to estimate amounts reflected in our consolidated financial statements are appropriate. However, if actual experience differs from the assumptions and other considerations used in estimating amounts reflected in our consolidated financial statements, the resulting changes could have a material adverse effect on our consolidated results of operations and, in certain situations, could have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial condition.
Leases
 
As a REIT, the majority of our revenues are derived from rent received from our tenants under long-term triple-net leases. Currently, we have master leases with Penn, Eldorado and Boyd under which we lease 31, five and three properties, respectively, to these tenants. We also have a long-term lease with Casino Queen and a separate single property lease by which we lease the Meadows' real estate assets to Penn. The accounting guidance under ASC 842 is complex and requires the use of judgments and assumptions by management to determine the proper accounting treatment of a lease. We perform a lease classification test upon the entry into any new tenant lease or lease modification to determine if we will account for the lease as an operating or sales-type lease. The revenue recognition model and thus the presentation of our financial statements is significantly different under operating leases and sales-type leases.

Under the operating lease model, as the lessor, the assets we own and lease to our tenants remain on our balance sheet as real estate investments and we record rental revenues on a straight-line basis over the lease term. This includes the recognition of percentage rents that are fixed and determinable at the lease inception date on a straight-line basis over the entire lease term, resulting in the recognition of deferred rental revenue on our consolidated balance sheets. Deferred rental revenue is amortized to rental revenue on a straight-line basis over the remainder of the lease term. The lease term includes the initial non-cancelable lease term and any reasonably assured renewal periods. Contingent rental income that is not fixed and determinable at lease inception is recognized only when the lessee achieves the specified target.

Under the sales-type lease model, however, at lease inception we would record an investment in sales-type lease on our consolidated balance sheet rather than recording the actual assets we own. Furthermore, the cash rent we receive from tenants is not entirely recorded as rental revenue, but rather a portion is recorded as interest income and a portion is recorded as a reduction to the lease receivable. Under ASC 842, for leases with both land and building components, leases may be bifurcated between operating and sales-type leases. To determine if our real estate leases trigger full or partial sales-type lease treatment we conduct the five lease tests outlined in ASC 842 below. If a lease meets any of the five criteria below, it is accounted for as a sales-type lease.


44


1) Transfer of ownership - The lease transfers ownership of the underlying asset to the lessee by the end of the lease term. This criterion is met in situations in which the lease agreement provides for the transfer of title at or shortly after the end of the lease term in exchange for the payment of a nominal fee, for example, the minimum required by statutory regulation to transfer title.

2) Bargain purchase option - The lease contains a bargain purchase option, which is a provision allowing the lessee, at its option, to purchase the leased property for a price which is sufficiently lower than the expected fair value of the property at the date the option becomes exercisable and that is reasonably certain to be exercised.

3) Lease term - The lease term is for the major part of the remaining economic life of the underlying asset. However, if the commencement date falls at or near the end of the economic life of the underlying asset, this criterion shall not be used for purposes of classifying the lease.

4) Minimum lease payments - The present value of the sum of the lease payments and any residual value guaranteed by the lessee that is not already reflected in the lease payments equals or exceeds substantially all of the fair value of the underlying asset.

5)    Specialized nature - The underlying asset is of such specialized nature that it is expected to have no alternative use to the lessor at the end of the lease term.

Additionally, the adoption of ASC 842 requires us to record right-of-use assets and lease liabilities on balance sheet for the assets we lease from third-party landlords, including equipment and real estate. As a lessee, we utilize our own incremental borrowing rate as the discount rate utilized to determine the initial lease liability and right-of-use asset we record on balance sheet, as well as the lease's classification as an operating or finance lease, using the same tests outlined above. Although both operating and finance leases result in the same right-of-use asset and lease liability being recorded on balance sheet at lease inception, the expense profile of the two lease types differs, in that expense is straight-lined over the term of an operating lease, while the expense profile under a finance lease is front-loaded. Furthermore, expense under the operating lease model is classified simply as lease expense, whereas the finance lease model breaks the expense into the interest expense and asset amortization expense.

The tests outlined above, as well as the resulting calculations, require subjective judgments, such as determining, at lease inception, the fair value of the underlying leased assets, the residual value of the assets at the end of the lease term, the likelihood a tenant will exercise all renewal options (in order to determine the lease term), the estimated remaining economic life of the leased assets, the interest rates implicit in our leases for which we act as the lessor and our own incremental borrowing rates for leases of various maturities and amounts in which we are the lessee. A slight change in estimate or judgment can result in a materially different financial statement presentation.
Income Taxes
We elected on our U.S. federal income tax return for our taxable year that began on January 1, 2014 to be treated as a REIT and we, together with an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, GLP Holdings, Inc., jointly elected to treat each of GLP Holdings, Inc., Louisiana Casino Cruises, Inc. and Penn Cecil Maryland, Inc. as a "taxable REIT subsidiary" effective on the first day of the first taxable year of GLPI as a REIT. We intend to continue to be organized and to operate in a manner that will permit us to qualify as a REIT. To qualify as a REIT, we must meet certain organizational and operational requirements, including a requirement to distribute at least 90% of our annual REIT taxable income to shareholders determined without regard to the dividends paid deduction and excluding any net capital gain, and meet the various other requirements imposed by the Code relating to matters such as operating results, asset holdings, distribution levels, and diversity of stock ownership.
As a REIT, we generally will not be subject to federal income tax on income that we distribute as dividends to our shareholders. If we fail to qualify as a REIT in any taxable year, we will be subject to U.S. federal income tax, including any applicable alternative minimum tax, on our taxable income at regular corporate income tax rates, and dividends paid to our shareholders would not be deductible by us in computing taxable income. Any resulting corporate liability could be substantial and could materially and adversely affect our net income and net cash available for distribution to shareholders. Unless we were entitled to relief under certain Code provisions, we also would be disqualified from re-electing to be taxed as a REIT for the four taxable years following the year in which we failed to qualify to be taxed as a REIT. It is not possible to state whether in all circumstances we would be entitled to this statutory relief.

45


Our TRS Properties are able to engage in activities resulting in income that would not be qualifying income for a REIT. As a result, certain activities of the Company which occur within our TRS Properties are subject to federal and state income taxes.
Real Estate Investments
Real estate investments primarily represent land and buildings leased to the Company's tenants. Real estate investments that we received in connection with the Spin-Off were contributed to us at Penn's historical carrying amount. We record the acquisition of real estate at fair value, including acquisition and closing costs. The cost of properties developed by GLPI includes costs of construction, property taxes, interest and other miscellaneous costs incurred during the development period until the project is substantially complete and available for occupancy. We consider the period of future benefit of the asset to determine the appropriate useful lives. Depreciation is computed using a straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the buildings and building improvements.
We continually monitor events and circumstances that could indicate that the carrying amount of our real estate investments may not be recoverable or realized. The factors considered by the Company in performing these assessments include evaluating whether the tenant is current on their lease payments, the tenant’s rent coverage ratio, the financial stability of the tenant and its parent company, and any other relevant factors. When indicators of potential impairment suggest that the carrying value of a real estate investment may not be recoverable, we estimate the fair value of the investment by calculating the undiscounted future cash flows from the use and eventual disposition of the investment. This amount is compared to the asset's carrying value. If we determine the carrying amount is not recoverable, we would recognize an impairment charge equivalent to the amount required to reduce the carrying value of the asset to its estimated fair value, calculated in accordance with GAAP. We group our real estate investments together by lease, the lowest level for which identifiable cash flows are available, in evaluating impairment. In assessing the recoverability of the carrying value, we must make assumptions regarding future cash flows and other factors. Factors considered in performing this assessment include current operating results, market and other applicable trends and residual values, as well as the effect of obsolescence, demand, competition and other factors. If these estimates or the related assumptions change in the future, we may be required to record an impairment loss.
Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets
Under ASC 350 - Intangibles - Goodwill and Other ("ASC 350"), we are required to test goodwill and other intangible assets for impairment at least annually and whenever events or circumstances indicate that it is more likely than not that goodwill or other intangible assets may be impaired. We have elected to perform our annual goodwill and intangible asset impairment tests as of October 1 of each year. Goodwill is tested at the reporting unit level, which is an operating segment or one level below an operating segment for which discrete financial information is available.
ASC 350 prescribes a two-step goodwill impairment test, the first step which involves the determination of the fair value of each reporting unit and its comparison to the carrying amount. In order to determine the fair value of the Baton Rouge reporting unit, where the Company's goodwill resides, the Company utilizes a discounted cash flow model, which relies on projected EBITDA to determine the reporting unit's future cash flows. If the carrying amount of the reporting unit exceeds the fair value in step 1, then step 2 of the impairment test is performed to determine the implied value of goodwill. If the implied value of goodwill is less than the goodwill allocated to the reporting unit, an impairment loss is recognized.
In accordance with ASC 350, we consider the Hollywood Casino Perryville gaming license an indefinite-lived intangible asset that does not require amortization based on our future expectations to operate this casino indefinitely as well as the gaming industry's historical experience in renewing these intangible assets at minimal cost with various state gaming commissions. Rather, the gaming license is tested annually, or more frequently if indicators of impairment exist, for impairment by comparing the fair value of the recorded asset to its carrying amount. If the carrying amount of the indefinite-life intangible asset exceeds its fair value, an impairment loss is recognized. Hollywood Casino Perryville's gaming license will expire in September 2025, fifteen years from the casino's opening date. We expect to expense any costs related to the gaming license renewal as incurred.
We assess the fair value of our gaming license using the Greenfield Method under the income approach. The Greenfield Method estimates the fair value of the gaming license assuming we built a casino with similar utility to that of the existing facility. The method assumes a theoretical start-up company going into business without any assets other than the intangible asset being valued. As such the value of the license is a function of the following items:
Projected revenues and operating cash flows;
Theoretical construction costs and duration;
Pre-opening expenses;

46


Discounting that reflects the level of risk associated with receiving future cash flows attributable to the license; and
Remaining useful life of the license.
The evaluation of goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets requires the use of estimates about future operating results to determine the estimated fair value of the reporting unit and the indefinite-lived intangible assets. We must make various assumptions and estimates in performing our impairment testing. The implied fair value includes estimates of future cash flows that are based on reasonable and supportable assumptions which represent our best estimates of the cash flows expected to result from the use of the assets. Changes in estimates, increases in our cost of capital, reductions in transaction multiples, changes in operating and capital expenditure assumptions or application of alternative assumptions and definitions could produce significantly different results. Future cash flow estimates are, by their nature, subjective and actual results may differ materially from our estimates. If our ongoing estimates of future cash flows are not met, we may have to record additional impairment charges in future accounting periods. Our estimates of cash flows are based on the current regulatory and economic climates, as well as recent operating information and budgets. These estimates could be negatively impacted by changes in federal, state or local regulations, economic downturns, or other events.
Forecasted cash flows can be significantly impacted by the local economy in which our subsidiaries operate. For example, increases in unemployment rates can result in decreased customer visitations and/or lower customer spend per visit. In addition, new legislation which approves gaming in nearby jurisdictions or further expands gaming in jurisdictions in which we operate can result in increased competition for the property. This generally has a negative effect on profitability once competitors become established, as a certain level of cannibalization occurs absent an overall increase in customer visitations. Lastly, increases in gaming taxes approved by state regulatory bodies can negatively impact forecasted cash flows.
Assumptions and estimates about future cash flow levels are complex and subjective. They are sensitive to changes in underlying assumptions and can be affected by a variety of factors, including external factors, such as industry, geopolitical and economic trends, and internal factors, such as changes in our business strategy, which may reallocate capital and resources to different or new opportunities which management believes will enhance our overall value but may be to the detriment of our existing operations. A change in any of our assumptions or estimates could result in additional impairment charges in future periods.
The Company's adoption of ASU No. 2017-04, Intangibles - Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment on January 1, 2020 (as described in Note 3) is expected to simplify the analysis required under the Company's future goodwill impairment tests.

Results of Operations
 
The following are the most important factors and trends that contribute or may contribute to our operating performance:

The fact that several wholly-owned subsidiaries of Penn lease a substantial number of our properties, pursuant to two master leases and a single property lease and account for a significant portion of our revenue.

The risks related to economic conditions and the effect of such conditions on consumer spending for leisure and gaming activities, which may negatively impact our gaming tenants and operators and the variable rent and annual rent escalators we receive from our tenants as outlined in the long-term triple-net leases with these tenants.
 
The fact that the rules and regulations of U.S. federal income taxation are constantly under review by legislators, the IRS and the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Changes to the tax laws or interpretations thereof, with or without retroactive application, could materially and adversely affect GLPI's investors or GLPI.












47


The consolidated results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 are summarized below:

    
 
Year Ended December 31,
 
2019
 
2018
 
(in thousands)
Total revenues
$
1,153,473

 
$
1,055,727

Total operating expenses
436,050

 
461,917

Income from operations
717,423

 
593,810

Total other expenses
(321,778
)
 
(249,330
)
Income before income taxes
395,645

 
344,480

Income tax expense
4,764

 
4,964

Net income
$
390,881

 
$
339,516


In accordance with the SEC's recent amendments to modernize and simplify Regulation S-K, the Company has omitted the discussion comparing its operating results for the year ended December 31, 2018 to its operating results for the year ended December 31, 2017 from its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019. Readers are directed to Item 7 of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 for these disclosures.

Certain information regarding our results of operations by segment for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 is summarized below:
 
Total Revenues
 
Income (Loss) from Operations
 
Year Ended December 31,
 
Year Ended December 31,
 
2019
 
2018
 
2019
 
2018
 
(in thousands)
GLP Capital
$
1,025,082

 
$
923,182

 
$
694,215

 
$
630,122

TRS Properties
128,391

 
132,545

 
23,208

 
(36,312
)
Total
$
1,153,473

 
$
1,055,727

 
$
717,423

 
$
593,810


FFO, AFFO and Adjusted EBITDA
 
Funds From Operations ("FFO"), Adjusted Funds From Operations ("AFFO") and Adjusted EBITDA are non-GAAP financial measures used by the Company as performance measures for benchmarking against the Company’s peers and as internal measures of business operating performance, which is used as a bonus metric. The Company believes FFO, AFFO and Adjusted EBITDA provide a meaningful perspective of the underlying operating performance of the Company’s current business. This is especially true since these measures exclude real estate depreciation and we believe that real estate values fluctuate based on market conditions rather than depreciating in value ratably on a straight-line basis over time. 

FFO, AFFO and Adjusted EBITDA are non-GAAP financial measures that are considered supplemental measures for the real estate industry and a supplement to GAAP measures. The National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts defines FFO as net income (computed in accordance with GAAP), excluding (gains) or losses from sales of property and real estate depreciation. We define AFFO as FFO excluding stock based compensation expense, the amortization of debt issuance costs, bond premiums and original issuance discounts, other depreciation, amortization of land rights, straight-line rent adjustments, direct financing lease adjustments, losses on debt extinguishment, retirement costs and goodwill and loan impairment charges, reduced by maintenance capital expenditures. Finally, we define Adjusted EBITDA as net income excluding interest, taxes on income, depreciation, (gains) or losses from sales of property, stock based compensation expense, straight-line rent adjustments, direct financing lease adjustments, amortization of land rights, losses on debt extinguishment, retirement costs and goodwill and loan impairment charges.
 
FFO, AFFO and Adjusted EBITDA are not recognized terms under GAAP. These non-GAAP financial measures: (i) do not represent cash flows from operations as defined by GAAP; (ii) should not be considered as an alternative to net income as a measure of operating performance or to cash flows from operating, investing and financing activities; and (iii) are not alternatives to cash flows as a measure of liquidity. In addition, these measures should not be viewed as an indication of our ability to fund our cash needs, including to make cash distributions to our shareholders, to fund capital improvements, or to make interest payments on our indebtedness. Investors are also cautioned that FFO, AFFO and Adjusted EBITDA, as presented, may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other real estate companies, including REITs due to

48


the fact that not all real estate companies use the same definitions. Our presentation of these measures does not replace the presentation of our financial results in accordance with GAAP.

The reconciliation of the Company’s net income per GAAP to FFO, AFFO, and Adjusted EBITDA for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 is as follows:
 
    
 
Year Ended December 31,
 
2019
 
2018
 
(in thousands)
Net income
$
390,881

 
$
339,516

Losses from dispositions of property
92

 
309

Real estate depreciation
230,716

 
125,630

Funds from operations
$
621,689

 
$
465,455

Straight-line rent adjustments
34,574

 
61,888

Direct financing lease adjustments

 
38,459

Other depreciation
9,719

 
11,463

Amortization of land rights
18,536

 
11,272

Amortization of debt issuance costs, bond premiums and original issuance discounts (1)
11,455

 
12,167

Stock based compensation
16,198

 
11,152

Losses on debt extinguishment
21,014

 
3,473

Retirement costs

 
13,149

Loan impairment charges
13,000

 

Goodwill impairment charges

 
59,454

Capital maintenance expenditures
(3,017
)
 
(4,284
)
Adjusted funds from operations
$
743,168

 
$
683,648

Interest, net
300,764

 
245,857

Income tax expense
4,764

 
4,964

Capital maintenance expenditures
3,017

 
4,284

Amortization of debt issuance costs, bond premiums and original issuance discounts (1)
(11,455
)
 
(12,167
)
Adjusted EBITDA
$
1,040,258

 
$
926,586


(1) Such amortization is a non-cash component included in interest, net.















49


The reconciliation of each segment’s net income per GAAP to FFO, AFFO, and Adjusted EBITDA for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 is as follows: 
     
 
 
GLP Capital 
 
TRS Properties
 
 
Year Ended December 31,
 
Year Ended December 31,
 
 
2019
 
2018
 
2019
 
2018
 
 
(in thousands)
Net income (loss)
 
$
382,184

 
$
390,341

 
$
8,697

 
$
(50,825
)
Losses from dispositions of property
 
8

 
76

 
84

 
233

Real estate depreciation
 
230,716

 
125,630

 

 

Funds from operations
 
$
612,908

 
$
516,047

 
$
8,781

 
$
(50,592
)
Straight-line rent adjustments
 
34,574

 
61,888

 

 

Direct financing lease adjustments
 

 
38,459

 

 

Other depreciation
 
1,992

 
2,066

 
7,727

 
9,397

Amortization of land rights
 
18,536

 
11,272

 

 

Amortization of debt issuance costs, bond premiums and original issuance discounts (1)
 
11,455

 
12,167

 

 

Stock based compensation
 
16,198

 
11,152

 

 

Losses on debt extinguishment
 
21,014

 
3,473

 

 

Retirement costs
 

 
13,149

 

 

Loan impairment charges
 
13,000

 

 

 

Goodwill impairment charges
 

 

 

 
59,454

Capital maintenance expenditures
 
(22
)
 
(55
)
 
(2,995
)
 
(4,229
)
Adjusted funds from operations
 
$
729,655

 
$
669,618

 
$
13,513

 
$
14,030

Interest, net (2)
 
290,360

 
235,453

 
10,404

 
10,404

Income tax expense
 
657

 
855

 
4,107

 
4,109

Capital maintenance expenditures
 
22

 
55

 
2,995

 
4,229

Amortization of debt issuance costs, bond premiums and original issuance discounts (1)
 
(11,455
)
 
(12,167
)
 

 

Adjusted EBITDA
 
$
1,009,239

 
$
893,814

 
$
31,019

 
$
32,772

 
 

(1) Such amortization is a non-cash component included in interest, net.

(2) 
Interest expense, net for the GLP Capital segment is net of an intercompany interest elimination of $10.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018.
 
Net income, FFO, AFFO, and Adjusted EBITDA for our GLP Capital segment were $382.2 million, $612.9 million, $729.7 million and $1,009.2 million, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2019. This compared to net income, FFO, AFFO, and Adjusted EBITDA, for our GLP Capital segment of $390.3 million, $516.0 million, $669.6 million and $893.8 million, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2018. The decrease in net income in our GLP Capital segment was primarily driven by a $37.8 million increase in operating expenses and a $72.4 million increase in other expenses, net, partially offset by a $101.9 million increase in income from real estate.

The increase in income from real estate in our GLP Capital segment was primarily due to the Tropicana Transactions, the Penn-Pinnacle Merger, our entry into the Belterra Park Loan, the impact of the rent escalators under our master leases and the partial recognition of income previously deferred under the Penn Master Lease and Meadows Lease. These increases were partially offset by the elimination of the revenue gross-up for real estate taxes paid directly by our tenants under ASC 842 and the first percentage rent reset under the Penn Master Lease, which resulted in a rent decrease.

The increase in operating expenses in our GLP Capital segment was driven by an increase in depreciation expense resulting from the addition of the Tropicana and Plainridge Park real estate assets to our real estate portfolio, the reclassification of the Pinnacle building assets to real estate investments on our balance sheet and the acceleration of depreciation related to the closure of the Resorts Casino Tunica property by our tenant in the second quarter of 2019. Land rights and ground lease

50


expense also increased resulting from the acquisition of rights to six long-term ground leases in connection with the October 2018 Tropicana Acquisition and the acceleration of land rights amortization expense also related to the closure of the Resorts Casino Tunica property. As a result of the Penn-Pinnacle Merger, the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease is treated as an operating lease in its entirety and our investment in the direct financing lease was unwound. Also driving the increase in total operating expenses for the year ended December 31, 2019, as compared to the prior year is a loan impairment charge of $13.0 million related to the Company's write-off of its Casino Queen Loan. These increases were partially offset by a decrease in real estate tax expense, as we are no longer required to gross-up our financial statements for the real estate taxes paid directly by our tenants under ASC 842 and the absence of retirement costs in the current year.

The increase in other expenses, net was driven by an increase in interest expense related to the debt refinancing in the second quarter of 2018 and debt issuances in the third quarter of 2018, the proceeds of which were utilized for the October closings of the Tropicana Transactions and the acquisition of Plainridge Park, as well as the funding of the Belterra Park Loan in connection with the Penn-Pinnacle Merger. Also driving the increase was a $21.0 million loss on the early extinguishment of debt related to the Company's cash tender of a portion of its 2020 Notes and the issuance of $1.1 billion in new unsecured notes during the third quarter of 2019, in connection with our efforts to reduce our borrowing costs and lengthen our average debt maturity.

The changes described above also led to higher FFO for the year ended December 31, 2019, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2018. The increase in AFFO for our GLP Capital segment was primarily driven by the changes described above, as well as higher stock based compensation charges, partially offset by the elimination of direct financing lease adjustments and lower straight-line rent adjustments, all of which are added back for purposes of calculating AFFO. Direct financing lease adjustments represent the portion of cash rent we received from tenants that was applied against our lease receivable and thus not recorded as revenue. These adjustments were eliminated due to the unwinding of the direct financing lease in October 2018, as the cash received is now recorded as rental income and no add-back to AFFO is necessary. The increase in Adjusted EBITDA for our GLP Capital segment was primarily driven by the increases in AFFO described above, as well as, a higher add-back for interest.

The net income of $8.7 million for our TRS Properties segment for the year ended December 31, 2019 as compared to the net loss of $50.8 million for our TRS Properties segment for the year ended December 31, 2018 is primarily related to a goodwill impairment charge of $59.5 million at our Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge property during the year ended December 31, 2018. This charge was the result of general market deterioration in the Baton Rouge region and the smoking ban at all Baton Rouge, Louisiana casinos that went into effect during the second quarter of 2018. The absence of an impairment charge in 2019 also led to higher FFO for our TRS Properties segment for the year ended December 31, 2019, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2018.

Revenues
 
Revenues for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 were as follows (in thousands):
 
 
 
Year Ended December 31,
 
 
 
Percentage
 
 
2019
 
2018
 
Variance
 
Variance
Rental income
 
$
996,166

 
$
747,654

 
$
248,512

 
33.2
 %
Income from direct financing lease
 

 
81,119

 
(81,119
)
 
(100.0
)%
Interest income from real estate loans
 
28,916

 
6,943

 
21,973

 
316.5
 %
Real estate taxes paid by tenants
 

 
87,466

 
(87,466
)
 
(100.0
)%
Total income from real estate
 
1,025,082

 
923,182

 
101,900

 
11.0
 %
Gaming, food, beverage and other
 
128,391

 
132,545

 
(4,154
)
 
(3.1
)%
Total revenues
 
$
1,153,473

 
$
1,055,727

 
$
97,746

 
9.3
 %
 
 
Total income from real estate

For the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, total income from real estate was $1,025.1 million and $923.2 million, respectively, for our GLP Capital segment. In accordance with ASC 842, the Company records revenue for the ground lease rent paid by its tenants with an offsetting expense in land rights and ground lease expense within the consolidated statement of income as the Company has concluded that as the lessee it is the primary obligor under the ground leases. The Company subleases these ground leases back to its tenants, who are responsible for payment directly to the landlord. 


51


Total income from real estate increased $101.9 million, or 11.0%, for the year ended December 31, 2019, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2018, primarily due to the Tropicana Transactions and the Penn-Pinnacle Merger (including the Plainridge Park acquisition, the increased rent under the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease and the Belterra Park Loan) both of which occurred in the fourth quarter of 2018, the impact of the rent escalators under our master leases, the partial recognition of income previously deferred under the Penn Master Lease and Meadows Lease and the recognition of cash rent that was previously applied against the lease receivable on our balance sheet as rental income. As a result of the Penn-Pinnacle Merger, the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease is treated as an operating lease in its entirety and all cash rent received from our tenants is recognized as revenue when earned. These increases were partially offset by the first percentage rent reset on the Penn Master Lease, which resulted in a rent decrease and the elimination of the revenue gross-up for real estate taxes paid directly by our tenants under ASC 842.

Details of the Company's income from real estate for the year ended December 31, 2019 was as follows (in thousands):

Year Ended December 31, 2019
Penn Master Lease
 
Amended Pinnacle Master Lease
 
Eldorado Master Lease and Loan
 
Boyd Master Lease and Mortgage
 
Penn - Meadows Lease
 
Casino Queen Lease
 
Total
Building base rent
$
274,841

 
$
225,842

 
$
61,223

 
$
74,810

 
$
13,803

 
$
9,101

 
$
659,620

Land base rent
93,969

 
71,108

 
13,360

 
11,731

 

 

 
190,168

Percentage rent
86,351

 
31,622

 
13,360

 
11,182

 
11,168

 
5,424

 
159,107

Total cash rental income
$
455,161

 
$
328,572

 
$
87,943

 
$
97,723

 
$
24,971

 
$
14,525

 
$
1,008,895

Straight-line rent adjustments
8,926

 
(25,273
)
 
(11,579
)
 
(8,937
)
 
2,289

 

 
(34,574
)
Ground rent in revenue
3,661

 
7,217

 
8,868

 
1,601

 

 

 
21,347

Other rental revenue

 

 

 

 
498

 

 
498

Total rental income
$
467,748

 
$
310,516

 
$
85,232

 
$
90,387

 
$
27,758

 
$
14,525

 
$
996,166

Interest income from real estate loans

 

 
22,471

 
6,445

 

 

 
28,916

Total income from real estate
$
467,748

 
$
310,516

 
$
107,703

 
$
96,832

 
$
27,758

 
$
14,525

 
$
1,025,082


Gaming, food, beverage and other revenue

Gaming, food, beverage and other revenue for our TRS Properties segment decreased by $4.2 million, or 3.1%, for the year ended December 31, 2019, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2018, due to decreased gaming, food, beverage and other revenues of $3.6 million and $0.6 million at Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge and Hollywood Casino Perryville, respectively. The largest driver of the decrease resulted from general market deterioration in the Baton Rouge region and the smoking ban at all Baton Rouge, Louisiana casinos that went into effect during the second quarter of 2018.

Operating Expenses
 
Operating expenses for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 were as follows (in thousands):
 
 
Year Ended December 31,
 
 
 
Percentage
 
 
2019
 
2018
 
Variance
 
Variance
Gaming, food, beverage and other
 
$
74,700

 
$
77,127

 
$
(2,427
)
 
(3.1
)%
Real estate taxes
 

 
88,757

 
(88,757
)
 
(100.0
)%
Land rights and ground lease expense
 
42,438

 
28,358

 
14,080

 
49.7
 %
General and administrative
 
65,477

 
71,128

 
(5,651
)
 
(7.9
)%
Depreciation
 
240,435

 
137,093

 
103,342

 
75.4
 %
Loan impairment charges
 
13,000

 

 
13,000

 
N/A

Goodwill impairment charges
 

 
59,454

 
(59,454
)
 
(100.0
)%
Total operating expenses
 
$
436,050

 
$
461,917

 
$
(25,867
)
 
(5.6
)%
 

52


Gaming, food, beverage and other expense
 
Gaming, food, beverage and other expense for our TRS Properties segment decreased by approximately $2.4 million, or 3.1%, for the year ended December 31, 2019, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2018, primarily resulting from lower gaming taxes due to lower revenues at both TRS properties.

Real estate taxes

Real estate taxes decreased as we are no longer required to gross-up our financial statements for the real estate taxes paid directly by our tenants under ASC 842. In December 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-20, which clarifies that lessor costs paid directly to a third-party by a lessee on behalf of the lessor, are no longer required to be recognized in the lessor's financial statements. Therefore, upon the adoption of ASU 2016-02 on January 1, 2019, we are no longer required to gross-up our financial statements for real estate taxes paid directly to third-parties by our tenants.

Land rights and ground lease expense

Land rights and ground lease expense includes the amortization of land rights and rent expense related to the Company's long-term ground leases. Land rights and ground lease expense increased by $14.1 million, or 49.7%, for the year ended December 31, 2019, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2018, primarily due to our acquisition of rights to six long-term ground leases in connection with the Tropicana Acquisition, as well as accelerated land rights amortization expense related to the closure of the Resorts Casino Tunica property by our tenant in the second quarter of 2019. In connection with the Tropicana Acquisition, we acquired land rights to long-term leases which are recorded on our consolidated balance sheet as land right assets and amortized over the term of the leases, including renewal options. We also record rent expense related to these ground leases with offsetting revenue recorded within the consolidated statements of income as we have concluded that as the lessee we are the primary obligor under the ground leases. We sublease these ground leases back to our tenants, who are responsible for payment directly to the landlord.
 
General and administrative expense
 
General and administrative expenses include items such as compensation costs (including stock-based compensation awards), professional services and costs associated with development activities. General and administrative expenses decreased by $5.7 million, or 7.9%, for the year ended December 31, 2019, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2018, primarily due to the absence of retirement costs (related to the retirement of our former Chief Financial Officer in 2018), partially offset by higher stock-based compensation charges in the current year.

Depreciation expense

Depreciation expense increased by $103.3 million, or 75.4%, to $240.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2018, primarily resulting from the addition of the Tropicana and Plainridge Park real estate assets to our portfolio, the reclassification of the Pinnacle building assets to real estate investments on our balance sheet as a result of the Penn-Pinnacle Merger, which required the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease to be treated as an operating lease in its entirety and the acceleration of depreciation related to the closure of the Resorts Casino Tunica property by our tenant in the second quarter of 2019.

Loan impairment charges

On March 17, 2017 the Company provided the Casino Queen Loan to CQ Holding Company, to partially finance its acquisition of Lady Luck Casino in Marquette, Iowa. During 2018, the operating results of Casino Queen declined substantially and Casino Queen defaulted under its senior credit agreement and also the Casino Queen Loan. As a result, the operations of Casino Queen were put up for sale during the fourth quarter of 2018. At December 31, 2018, active negotiations for the sale of Casino Queen's operations were taking place and full payment of the principal was still expected, due to the anticipation that the operations were to be sold in the near term for an amount allowing for repayment of the full $13.0 million of loan principal due to GLPI.

During 2019, the operating results of Casino Queen continued to decline, the secured debt of Casino Queen was sold to a third-party casino operator at a discount and the Company no longer expected the loan to be repaid. Thus, because the Company did not expect Casino Queen to be able to repay the $13.0 million of principal due to it under the Casino Queen Loan, the full $13.0 million of principal was written off at March 31, 2019. The Company has recorded an impairment charge of $13.0 million through the consolidated statement of income for the year ended December 31, 2019 to reflect the write-off of the

53


Casino Queen Loan. Additionally, at December 31, 2019, all lease payments due from Casino Queen remain current, however Casino Queen was in violation of the rent coverage ratio required under its lease with the Company and the Company provided notice and a reservation of rights to Casino Queen and its secured lenders of such default.

Goodwill impairment charges

During the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company recorded a goodwill impairment charge of $59.5 million in connection with its operations at Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge. This charge was driven by general market deterioration in the Baton Rouge region and the smoking ban at all Baton Rouge, Louisiana casinos that went into effect during the second quarter of 2018, both of which significantly impacted the Company's forecasted cash flows for this reporting unit. Subsequent to conducting its impairment tests on other long-lived assets, including the gaming license at Hollywood Casino Perryville, the Company performed Step 1 of the goodwill impairment test, which indicated a potential impairment. Step 1 of the goodwill impairment test involved the determination of the fair value of the Baton Rouge reporting unit and its comparison to the reporting unit's carrying amount. Using a discounted cash flow model, which relied on projected EBITDA to determine the reporting unit's future cash flows, the Company calculated a fair value that was less than the reporting unit's carrying value and proceeded to Step 2. In Step 2 of the goodwill impairment test, the Company performed a fair value allocation as if the reporting unit had been acquired in a business combination and assigned the fair value of the reporting unit calculated in Step 1 to all assets and liabilities of the reporting unit, including any unrecognized intangible assets. Any residual fair value was allocated to goodwill to arrive at the implied fair value of goodwill. After completing the Step 2 allocation, the Company determined the goodwill on its Baton Rouge reporting unit had an implied fair value of $16.1 million and recorded the impairment charge of $59.5 million during the fourth quarter of 2018.

Other income (expenses)
 
Other income (expenses) for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 were as follows (in thousands): 
 
 
Year Ended December 31,
 
 
 
Percentage
 
 
2019
 
2018
 
Variance
 
Variance
Interest expense
 
$
(301,520
)
 
$
(247,684
)
 
$
(53,836
)
 
21.7
 %
Interest income
 
756

 
1,827

 
(1,071
)
 
(58.6
)%
Losses on debt extinguishment
 
(21,014
)
 
(3,473
)
 
(17,541
)
 
505.1
 %
Total other expenses
 
$
(321,778
)
 
$
(249,330
)
 
$
(72,448
)
 
29.1
 %
 
 
 Interest expense

For the year ended December 31, 2019, interest expense related to our fixed and variable rate borrowings was $301.5 million, as compared to $247.7 million in the year ended December 31, 2018. Interest expense increased primarily due to the issuance of an aggregate $2.1 billion of new senior unsecured notes during May and September 2018 and to a lesser extent the issuance of $400 million of 3.35% senior unsecured notes due 2024 and $700 million of 4.00% senior unsecured notes due 2030 during the third quarter of 2019. These increases were partially offset by decreases in interest expense related to the termination of the Term Loan A facility, partial repayment of our Term Loan A-1 facility, repayments of borrowing under our revolving credit facility and the 2018 and 2019 Tender Offers (as defined below). The proceeds from the issuance of the senior unsecured notes issued in September 2018 were used to finance the Tropicana Transactions, to purchase Plainridge Park and to fund the Belterra Park Loan, while the proceeds from the unsecured notes issued in 2019 were used to finance the 2019 Tender Offer, repay borrowings under our revolving credit facility and repay a portion of outstanding borrowings under our Term Loan A-1 facility. The 2019 issuances and tender offer were part of our efforts to reduce our borrowing costs and lengthen our average debt maturity.

Losses on debt extinguishment

On September 12, 2019, the Company completed a cash tender offer (the "2019 Tender Offer") to purchase its $1,000 million aggregate principal amount 4.875% Senior Unsecured Notes due 2020 (the "2020 Notes"). The Company received early tenders from the holders of approximately $782.6 million in aggregate principal of the 2020 Notes, or approximately 78% of its outstanding 2020 Notes, in connection with the 2019 Tender Offer at a price of 102.337% of the unpaid principal amount plus accrued and unpaid interest through the settlement date. Subsequent to the early tender deadline, an additional $2.2 million in aggregate principal of the 2020 Notes were tendered at a price of 99.337% of the unpaid principal amount plus accrued and unpaid interest through the settlement date, for a total redemption of $784.8 million of the 2020 Notes. The Company recorded

54


a loss on the early extinguishment of debt related to the 2019 Tender Offer, of approximately $21.0 million, for the difference between the reaquisition price of the tendered 2020 Notes and their net carrying value.

On May 21, 2018, the Company entered into the second amendment to its senior unsecured credit facility (the "Credit Facility"), which increased the Company's revolving commitments, eliminated the Term Loan A facility, required the Company to repay a portion of the Term Loan A-1 facility and extended the maturity date of the revolving credit facility to May 21, 2023. The Company recorded a loss on the early extinguishment of debt, related to the second amendment to the Credit Facility, of approximately $1.0 million for the proportional amount of unamortized debt issuance costs associated with the extinguished Term Loan A facility and related to the banks that are no longer participating in the Credit Facility.

Also on May 21, 2018, the Company completed a cash tender offer (the "2018 Tender Offer") to purchase any and all of the outstanding $550 million aggregate principal of its 4.375% Senior Unsecured Notes due 2018 (the "2018 Notes"). The Company received tenders from the holders of approximately $393.5 million in aggregate principal of the 2018 Notes, or approximately 72% of its outstanding 2018 Notes, in connection with the 2018 Tender Offer at a price of 100.396% of the unpaid principal amount plus accrued and unpaid interest through the settlement date. The Company recorded a loss on the early extinguishment of debt, related to the 2018 Tender Offer of approximately $2.5 million for the difference between the reaquisition price of the tendered 2018 Notes and their net carrying value. On August 16, 2018, the Company redeemed the remaining 2018 Notes for 100% of the principal amount and accrued and unpaid interest to, but not including, the redemption date.

Taxes

Our income tax expense decreased $0.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2018. During the year ended December 31, 2019, we had income tax expense of approximately $4.8 million, compared to income tax expense of $5.0 million during the year ended December 31, 2018. Our income tax expense is primarily driven from the operations of the TRS Properties, which are taxed at the corporate rate. Our effective tax rate (income taxes as a percentage of income before income taxes) was 1.2% and 1.4% for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.



55


Liquidity and Capital Resources
 
Our primary sources of liquidity and capital resources are cash flow from operations, borrowings from banks, and proceeds from the issuance of debt and equity securities.
 
Net cash provided by operating activities was $750.3 million and $654.4 million during the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. The increase in net cash provided by operating activities of $95.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2018 was primarily comprised of an increase in cash receipts from customers/tenants of $151.0 million and a decrease in cash paid to employees of $3.3 million, partially offset by increases in cash paid for interest and operating expenses of $44.8 million and $6.4 million, respectively. The increase in cash receipts collected from our customers and tenants for the year ended December 31, 2019 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2018 was primarily due to the Tropicana Transactions and the Penn-Pinnacle Merger both of which occurred in the fourth quarter of 2018, partially offset by a decrease in our TRS Properties' revenues. The increase in cash paid for interest was related to the Company's September 2018 borrowings which were used to fund the Tropicana Transactions, the acquisition of Plainridge Park and the Belterra Park Loan.
 
Investing activities used net cash of $2.8 million and $1,509.8 million during the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. Net cash used in investing activities during the year ended December 31, 2019 primarily consisted of capital expenditures of $3.0 million, partially offset by proceeds from sales of property and equipment of $0.2 million. Net cash used in investing activities during the year ended December 31, 2018 primarily consisted of cash payments of $1,243.5 million related to the acquisition of five Tropicana properties and Plainridge Park and $304 million of cash paid for the origination of real estate loans to casino owner-operators, partially offset by $38.5 million of rental payments received from tenants and applied against the lease receivable we had on our balance sheet prior to the Penn-Pinnacle Merger.
 
Financing activities used net cash of $746.4 million during the year ended December 31, 2019 and provided net cash of $852.1 million during the year ended December 31, 2018. Net cash used in financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2019 was driven by repayments of long-term debt of $1,477.9 million, dividend payments of $589.1 million, $18.9 million of premium and related costs paid on the tender of senior unsecured notes, taxes paid related to shares withheld for tax purposes on restricted stock award vestings, net of stock option exercises of $9.1 million and financing costs of $10.0 million, partially offset by $1,358.9 million of proceeds from the issuance of long-term debt. During the year ended December 31, 2019, the Company issued $1,100.0 million par value in new senior unsecured notes, completed a cash tender for a portion of our 2020 Notes, partially repaid borrowings under our Term Loan A-1 and revolving credit facilities and launched a $600 million ATM Program.

Net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2018 was driven by proceeds from the issuance of long-term debt of $2,593.4 million and proceeds from stock option exercises, net of taxes paid related to shares withheld for tax purposes on restricted stock award vestings, of $7.5 million, partially offset by dividend payments of $550.4 million, repayments of long-term debt of $1,164.1 million, financing costs of $32.4 million and $1.9 million of premium and related costs paid on the tender of senior unsecured notes. During the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company issued $2,100.0 million par value of new senior unsecured notes, completed a tender and redemption of the 2018 Notes, repaid a portion of the Term Loan A-1 facility and extinguished the Term Loan A facility.
 
Capital Expenditures
 
Capital expenditures are accounted for as either capital project or capital maintenance (replacement) expenditures. Capital project expenditures are for fixed asset additions that expand an existing facility or create a new facility. The cost of properties developed by the Company include costs of construction, property taxes, interest and other miscellaneous costs incurred during the development period until the project is substantially complete and available for occupancy. Capital maintenance expenditures are expenditures to replace existing fixed assets with a useful life greater than one year that are obsolete, worn out or no longer cost effective to repair.

During the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 we spent approximately $3.0 million and $4.3 million, respectively, for capital maintenance expenditures. The majority of the capital maintenance expenditures were for slot machines and slot machine equipment at our TRS Properties. Our tenants are responsible for capital maintenance expenditures at our leased properties.


56


Debt

Senior Unsecured Credit Facility

The Company's Credit Facility consists of a $1,175 million revolving credit facility and a $449 million Term Loan A-1 facility. The revolving credit facility matures on May 21, 2023 and the Term Loan A-1 facility matures on April 28, 2021.

At December 31, 2019, the Credit Facility had a gross outstanding balance of $495 million, consisting of the $449 million Term Loan A-1 facility and $46 million of borrowings under the revolving credit facility. Additionally, at December 31, 2019, the Company was contingently obligated under letters of credit issued pursuant to the Credit Facility with face amounts aggregating approximately $0.4 million, resulting in $1,128.6 million of available borrowing capacity under the revolving credit facility as of December 31, 2019.

The interest rates payable on the loans are, at the Company's option, equal to either a LIBOR rate or a base rate plus an applicable margin, which ranges from 1.0% to 2.0% per annum for LIBOR loans and 0.0% to 1.0% per annum for base rate loans, in each case, depending on the credit ratings assigned to the Credit Facility. At December 31, 2019, the applicable margin was 1.50% for LIBOR loans and 0.50% for base rate loans. In addition, the Company is required to pay a commitment fee on the unused portion of the commitments under the revolving facility at a rate that ranges from 0.15% to 0.35% per annum, depending on the credit ratings assigned to the Credit Facility. At December 31, 2019, the commitment fee rate was 0.25%. The Company is not required to repay any loans under the Credit Facility prior to maturity and may prepay all or any portion of the loans under the Credit Facility prior to maturity without premium or penalty, subject to reimbursement of any LIBOR breakage costs of the lenders. The Company's wholly owned subsidiary, GLP Capital is the primary obligor under the Credit Facility, which is guaranteed by GLPI.

The Credit Facility contains customary covenants that, among other things, restrict, subject to certain exceptions, the ability of GLPI and its subsidiaries to grant liens on their assets, incur indebtedness, sell assets, make investments, engage in acquisitions, mergers or consolidations or pay certain dividends and other restricted payments. The Credit Facility contains the following financial covenants, which are measured quarterly on a trailing four-quarter basis: a maximum total debt to total asset value ratio, a maximum senior secured debt to total asset value ratio, a maximum ratio of certain recourse debt to unencumbered asset value and a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio. In addition, GLPI is required to maintain a minimum tangible net worth and its status as a REIT. GLPI is permitted to pay dividends to its shareholders as may be required in order to maintain REIT status, subject to the absence of payment or bankruptcy defaults. GLPI is also permitted to make other dividends and distributions subject to pro forma compliance with the financial covenants and the absence of defaults. The Credit Facility also contains certain customary affirmative covenants and events of default, including the occurrence of a change of control and termination of the Penn Master Lease (subject to certain replacement rights). The occurrence and continuance of an event of default under the Credit Facility will enable the lenders under the Credit Facility to accelerate the loans and terminate the commitments thereunder. At December 31, 2019, the Company was in compliance with all required financial covenants under the Credit Facility.

Senior Unsecured Notes

At December 31, 2019, the Company had an outstanding balance of $5,290.2 million of senior unsecured notes (the "Senior Notes").

On August 29, 2019, the Company issued $400 million of 3.35% Senior Unsecured Notes maturing on September 1, 2024 at an issue price equal to 99.899% of the principal amount (the "2024 Notes") and $700 million of 4.00% Senior Unsecured Notes maturing on January 15, 2030 at an issue price equal to 99.751% of the principal amount (the "2030 Notes"). Interest on the 2024 Notes is payable semi-annually on March 1 and September 1 of each year, commencing on March 1, 2020. Interest on the 2030 Notes is payable semi-annually on January 15 and July 15 of each year, commencing on January 15, 2020. The net proceeds from the sale of the 2024 Notes and 2030 Notes were used to (i) finance the Company's cash tender offer to purchase its 4.875% Senior Unsecured Notes due 2020 (described below) (ii) repay outstanding borrowings under the Company's revolving credit facility and (iii) repay a portion of the outstanding borrowings under the Company's Term Loan A-1 facility.

On September 12, 2019, the Company completed a cash tender offer (the "2019 Tender Offer") to purchase its $1,000 million aggregate principal amount 4.875% Senior Unsecured Notes due 2020 (the "2020 Notes"). The Company received early tenders from the holders of approximately $782.6 million in aggregate principal of the 2020 Notes, or approximately 78% of its outstanding 2020 Notes, in connection with the 2019 Tender Offer at a price of 102.337% of the unpaid principal amount plus accrued and unpaid interest through the settlement date. Subsequent to the early tender deadline, an additional $2.2 million in

57


aggregate principal of the 2020 Notes were tendered at a price of 99.337% of the unpaid principal amount plus accrued and unpaid interest through the settlement date, for a total redemption of $784.8 million of the 2020 Notes. The Company recorded a loss on the early extinguishment of debt related to the 2019 Tender Offer of approximately $21.0 million for the difference between the reaquisition price of the tendered 2020 Notes and their net carrying value.
The Company may redeem the Senior Notes of any series at any time, and from time to time, at a redemption price of 100% of the principal amount of the Senior Notes redeemed, plus a "make-whole" redemption premium described in the indenture governing the Senior Notes, together with accrued and unpaid interest to, but not including, the redemption date, except that if Senior Notes of a series are redeemed 90 or fewer days prior to their maturity, the redemption price will be 100% of the principal amount of the Senior Notes redeemed, together with accrued and unpaid interest to, but not including, the redemption date. If GLPI experiences a change of control accompanied by a decline in the credit rating of the Senior Notes of a particular series, the Company will be required to give holders of the Senior Notes of such series the opportunity to sell their Senior Notes of such series at a price equal to 101% of the principal amount of the Senior Notes of such series, together with accrued and unpaid interest to, but not including, the repurchase date. The Senior Notes also are subject to mandatory redemption requirements imposed by gaming laws and regulations. 
The Senior Notes were issued by GLP Capital, L.P. and GLP Financing II, Inc. (the "Issuers"), two wholly-owned subsidiaries of GLPI, and are guaranteed on a senior unsecured basis by GLPI. The guarantees of GLPI are full and unconditional. The Senior Notes are the Issuers' senior unsecured obligations and rank pari passu in right of payment with all of the Issuers' senior indebtedness, including the Credit Facility, and senior in right of payment to all of the Issuers' subordinated indebtedness, without giving effect to collateral arrangements. See Note 21 for additional financial information on the parent guarantor and subsidiary issuers of the Senior Notes.
The Senior Notes contain covenants limiting the Company’s ability to: incur additional debt and use its assets to secure debt; merge or consolidate with another company; and make certain amendments to the Penn Master Lease. The Senior Notes also require the Company to maintain a specified ratio of unencumbered assets to unsecured debt. These covenants are subject to a number of important and significant limitations, qualifications and exceptions.
 
At December 31, 2019, the Company was in compliance with all required financial covenants under its Senior Notes.

Finance Lease Liability

The Company assumed the finance lease obligations related to certain assets at its Aurora, Illinois property. GLPI recorded the asset and liability associated with the finance lease on its consolidated balance sheet. The original term of the finance lease is 30 years and it will terminate in 2026.

Distribution Requirements

We generally must distribute annually at least 90% of our REIT taxable income, determined without regard to the dividends paid deduction and excluding any net capital gains, in order to qualify to be taxed as a REIT (assuming that certain other requirements are also satisfied) so that U.S. federal corporate income tax does not apply to earnings that we distribute. To the extent that we satisfy this distribution requirement and qualify for taxation as a REIT but distribute less than 100% of our REIT taxable income, determined without regard to the dividends paid deduction and including any net capital gains, we will be subject to U.S. federal corporate income tax on our undistributed net taxable income. In addition, we will be subject to a 4% nondeductible excise tax if the actual amount that we distribute to our shareholders in a calendar year is less than a minimum amount specified under U.S. federal income tax laws. We intend to make distributions to our shareholders to comply with the REIT requirements of the Code.

LIBOR Transition

The majority of our debt is at fixed rates and our exposure to variable interest rates is currently limited to our revolving credit facility and our Term Loan A-1. Both of these debt instruments are indexed to LIBOR which is expected to be phased out during late 2021. The discontinuance of LIBOR would affect our interest expense and earnings. As the Term Loan A-1 matures in mid-2021, only the borrowings under our revolver will be subject to the expected LIBOR transition. LIBOR is currently expected to transition to a new standard rate, the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”). We are currently monitoring the transition and cannot be certain whether SOFR will become the standard rate for our variable rate debt. However, the transition away from LIBOR rates will likely require us to renegotiate our revolving credit facility, which does not provide for reference rate replacement. We expect to successfully renegotiate this agreement and do not expect the reference rate transition to have a significant impact to our overall operations.


58


Outlook

Based on our current level of operations and anticipated earnings, we believe that cash generated from operations and cash on hand, together with amounts available under our senior unsecured credit facility, will be adequate to meet our anticipated debt service requirements, capital expenditures, working capital needs and dividend requirements. In addition, we expect the majority of our future growth to come from acquisitions of gaming and other properties to lease to third parties. If we consummate significant acquisitions in the future, our cash requirements may increase significantly and we would likely need to raise additional proceeds through a combination of either common equity (including under our ATM Program) and/or debt offerings. Our future operating performance and our ability to service or refinance our debt will be subject to future economic conditions and to financial, business and other factors, many of which are beyond our control. See "Risk Factors-Risks Related to Our Capital Structure" of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a discussion of the risk related to our capital structure.


59


Commitments and Contingencies
Contractual Cash Obligations
The following table presents our contractual obligations at December 31, 2019:
 
Payments Due By Period
 
Total
 
2020
 
2021 - 2022
 
2023 - 2024
 
2025 and After
 
(in thousands)
Senior unsecured credit facility
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Principal
$
495,000

 
$

 
$
449,000

 
$
46,000

 
$

Interest (1)
26,445

 
17,590

 
8,250

 
605

 

4.875% senior unsecured notes due 2020
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Principal
215,174

 
215,174

 

 

 

Interest
10,490

 
10,490

 

 

 

4.375% senior unsecured notes due 2021
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   Principal
400,000

 

 
400,000

 

 

   Interest
26,250

 
17,500

 
8,750

 

 

5.375% senior unsecured notes due 2023
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Principal
500,000

 

 

 
500,000

 

Interest
107,500

 
26,875

 
53,750

 
26,875

 

3.35% senior unsecured notes due 2024
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Principal
400,000

 

 

 
400,000

 

Interest
67,074

 
13,474

 
26,800

 
26,800

 

5.25% senior unsecured notes due 2025
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Principal
850,000

 

 

 

 
850,000

Interest
245,438

 
44,625

 
89,250

 
89,250

 
22,313

5.375% senior unsecured notes due 2026
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   Principal
975,000

 

 

 

 
975,000

   Interest
340,641

 
52,406

 
104,813

 
104,813

 
78,609

5.75% senior unsecured notes due 2028
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   Principal
500,000

 

 

 

 
500,000

   Interest
244,375

 
28,750

 
57,500

 
57,500

 
100,625

5.30% senior unsecured notes due 2029
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   Principal
750,000

 

 

 

 
750,000

   Interest
377,625

 
39,750

 
79,500

 
79,500

 
178,875

4.00% senior unsecured notes due 2030
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   Principal
700,000

 

 

 

 
700,000

   Interest
290,578

 
24,578

 
56,000

 
56,000

 
154,000

Finance lease liability
989

 
129

 
277

 
305

 
278

Operating lease liabilities (2)
712,810

 
14,071

 
27,425

 
27,255

 
644,059

Other liabilities reflected in the Company's consolidated balance sheets (3)
505

 
505

 

 

 

Total
$
8,235,894

 
$
505,917

 
$
1,361,315

 
$
1,414,903

 
$
4,953,759

 

(1) 
The interest rates associated with the variable rate components of our senior unsecured credit facility are estimated, reflected of forward LIBOR curves plus the spread over LIBOR of 150 basis points. The contractual amounts to be paid on our variable rate obligations are affected by changes in market interest rates and changes in our spreads which are based on our leverage ratios. Future changes in such ratios will impact the contractual amounts to be paid. For

60


considerations surrounding the phase out of LIBOR refer to the Liquidity and Capital Resources discussion in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

(2) 
The Company's operating leases liabilities include the fixed payments due under those ground leases for which the Company subleases the land to our tenants who are responsible for payment directly to the landlord, as we are considered the primary obligor under these leases. Variable lease costs, including lease payments tied to a property's performance and changes in an index such as the CPI that are not determinable at lease commencement, are excluded from our operating lease liabilities.

(3)    Primarily represents liabilities associated with reward programs at our TRS Properties that can be redeemed for free
play, merchandise or services.
Other Commercial Commitments
The following table presents our material commercial commitments as of December 31, 2019 for the following future periods:
 
Total Amounts Committed
 
2020
 
2021 - 2022
 
2023 - 2024
 
2025 and After
 
(in thousands)
Letters of credit (1)
$
395

 
$
395

 

 

 

Total
$
395

 
$
395

 

 

 

 

(1) 
The available balance under the revolving credit portion of our senior unsecured credit facility is reduced by outstanding letters of credit.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
We had no off-balance sheet arrangements as of December 31, 2019 and 2018.

ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
 
We face market risk exposure in the form of interest rate risk. These market risks arise from our debt obligations. We have no international operations. Our exposure to foreign currency fluctuations is not significant to our financial condition or results of operations.
 
GLPI’s primary market risk exposure is interest rate risk with respect to its indebtedness of $5,786.2 million at December 31, 2019. Furthermore, $5,290.2 million of our obligations are the senior unsecured notes that have fixed interest rates with maturity dates ranging from less than one year to ten years. An increase in interest rates could make the financing of any acquisition by GLPI more costly, as well as increase the costs of its variable rate debt obligations. Rising interest rates could also limit GLPI’s ability to refinance its debt when it matures or cause GLPI to pay higher interest rates upon refinancing and increase interest expense on refinanced indebtedness. GLPI may manage, or hedge, interest rate risks related to its borrowings by means of interest rate swap agreements. GLPI also expects to manage its exposure to interest rate risk by maintaining a mix of fixed and variable rates for its indebtedness. However, the provisions of the Code applicable to REITs substantially limit GLPI’s ability to hedge its assets and liabilities.
 
The table below provides information at December 31, 2019 about our financial instruments that are sensitive to changes in interest rates. For debt obligations, the table presents notional amounts maturing in each fiscal year and the related weighted-average interest rates by maturity dates. Notional amounts are used to calculate the contractual payments to be exchanged by maturity date and the weighted-average interest rates for our variable rate debt are based on implied forward LIBOR rates at December 31, 2019.
 

61


 
1/01/20- 12/31/20
 
1/01/21- 12/31/21
 
1/01/22- 12/31/22
 
1/01/23- 12/31/23
 
1/01/24- 12/31/24
 
Thereafter
 
Total
 
Fair Value at 12/31/2019
 
(in thousands)
Long-term debt:
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Fixed rate
$
215,174

 
$
400,000

 
$

 
$
500,000

 
$
400,000

 
$
3,775,000

 
$
5,290,174

 
$
5,707,996

Average interest rate
4.88
%
 
4.38
%
 


 
5.38
%
 
3.35
%
 
5.13
%
 
 

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Variable rate
$

 
$
449,000

 
$

 
$
46,000

 
$

 
$

 
$
495,000

 
$
493,533

Average interest rate (1) 


 
3.46
%
 


 
3.38
%
 


 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

(1)           Estimated rate, reflective of forward LIBOR plus the spread over LIBOR applicable to variable-rate borrowing. For considerations surrounding the phase out of LIBOR refer to the Liquidity and Capital Resources discussion in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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ITEM 8.    FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the Shareholders and the Board of Directors of
Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. and Subsidiaries

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. and Subsidiaries (the "Company") as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, the related consolidated statements of income, changes in shareholders’ equity (deficit), and cash flows, for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2019, and the related notes and the schedules listed in the Index at Item 15 (collectively referred to as the "financial statements"). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2019, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2019, based on criteria established in Internal Control -- Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission and our report dated February 20, 2020, expressed an unqualified opinion on the Company's internal control over financial reporting.

Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company's financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Critical Audit Matter
The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current-period audit of the financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that (1) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.
Real Estate Investments - See Note 2 to the financial statements
Critical Audit Matter Description
Real estate investments primarily represent land and buildings leased to the Company's tenants. Single-property lease assets account for $428.8M of the total real estate investment, net, account balance. The Company continually monitors events and circumstances that could indicate that the carrying amount of its real estate investments may not be recoverable or realized. The factors considered by the Company in performing these assessments include evaluating whether the tenant is current on its lease payments, the tenant’s rent coverage ratio, the financial stability of the tenant and its parent company, and any other relevant factors. When indicators of potential impairment suggest that the carrying value of a real estate investment may not be recoverable, the Company estimates the fair value of the investment by calculating the undiscounted future cash flows from the

63


use and eventual disposition of the investment. For the year ended December 31, 2019, no impairment loss has been recognized on these real estate assets.

Auditing the Company’s evaluation of potential impairment indicators of single-property lease assets was highly subjective as it required assessing the financial stability of the tenants, the parent companies’ willingness to fund rent shortfalls should they arise, and the overall market for the tenants’ market offerings in the geographies in which the properties are located. We evaluated whether management appropriately identified events or changes in circumstances that indicated that the carrying amounts of these real estate assets may not be recoverable, which required significant judgment.
How the Critical Audit Matter Was Addressed in the Audit
Our audit procedures related to the evaluation of real estate assets for possible indicators of impairment included the following, among others:
We tested the effectiveness of the controls over management’s identification of possible circumstances that may indicate that the carrying amounts of the single-property lease assets are no longer recoverable or realizable
We obtained and examined internal communications to management and the Board of Directors to identify potential inconsistencies or contradictory information regarding the financial stability of the tenants that may not have been considered in the Company’s assessment
We evaluated management’s impairment analysis by testing the single-property lease assets for possible indicators of impairment, including the identification of events or changes affecting the tenants’ financial stability by searching for adverse asset-specific or market conditions through obtaining gaming industry and regulatory reports

/s/ Deloitte & Touche


New York, New York
February 20, 2020

We have served as the Company's auditor since 2016.









 


64


Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Consolidated Balance Sheets
(in thousands, except share data) 
 
December 31, 2019
 
December 31, 2018
 
 
 
 
Assets
 
 
 
Real estate investments, net
$
7,100,555

 
$
7,331,460

Property and equipment, used in operations, net
94,080

 
100,884

Real estate loans
303,684

 
303,684

Right-of-use assets and land rights, net
838,734

 
673,207

Cash and cash equivalents
26,823

 
25,783

Prepaid expenses
4,228

 
30,967

Goodwill
16,067

 
16,067

Other intangible assets
9,577

 
9,577

Loan receivable

 
13,000

Deferred tax assets
6,056

 
5,178

Other assets
34,494

 
67,486

Total assets
$
8,434,298

 
$
8,577,293

 
 
 
 
Liabilities
 
 
 
Accounts payable
$
1,006

 
$
2,511

Accrued expenses
6,239

 
30,297

Accrued interest
60,695

 
45,261

Accrued salaries and wages
13,821

 
17,010

Gaming, property, and other taxes
944

 
42,879

Lease liabilities
183,971

 

Long-term debt, net of unamortized debt issuance costs, bond premiums and original issuance discounts
5,737,962

 
5,853,497

Deferred rental revenue
328,485

 
293,911

Deferred tax liabilities
279

 
261

Other liabilities
26,651

 
26,059

Total liabilities
6,360,053

 
6,311,686

 
 
 
 
Commitments and Contingencies (Note 11)


 


 
 
 
 
Shareholders’ equity
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Preferred stock ($.01 par value, 50,000,000 shares authorized, no shares issued or outstanding at December 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018)

 

Common stock ($.01 par value, 500,000,000 shares authorized, 214,694,165 and 214,211,932 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively)
2,147

 
2,142

Additional paid-in capital
3,959,383

 
3,952,503

Accumulated deficit
(1,887,285
)
 
(1,689,038
)
Total shareholders’ equity
2,074,245

 
2,265,607

Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity
$
8,434,298

 
$
8,577,293

 
See accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements.


65


Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Consolidated Statements of Income
(in thousands, except per share data)
 
Year ended December 31,
 
2019
 
2018
 
2017
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Revenues
 
 

 
 

 
 
Rental income
 
$
996,166

 
$
747,654

 
$
671,190

Income from direct financing lease
 

 
81,119

 
74,333

Interest income from real estate loans
 
28,916

 
6,943

 

Real estate taxes paid by tenants
 

 
87,466

 
83,698

Total income from real estate
 
1,025,082

 
923,182

 
829,221

Gaming, food, beverage and other
 
128,391

 
132,545

 
142,086

Total revenues
 
1,153,473

 
1,055,727

 
971,307

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Operating expenses
 
 

 
 

 
 

Gaming, food, beverage and other
 
74,700

 
77,127

 
80,487

Real estate taxes
 

 
88,757

 
84,666

Land rights and ground lease expense
 
42,438

 
28,358

 
24,005

General and administrative
 
65,477

 
71,128

 
63,151

Depreciation
 
240,435

 
137,093

 
113,480

Loan impairment charges
 
13,000

 

 

  Goodwill impairment charges
 

 
59,454

 

Total operating expenses
 
436,050

 
461,917

 
365,789

Income from operations
 
717,423

 
593,810

 
605,518

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Other income (expenses)
 
 

 
 

 
 

Interest expense
 
(301,520
)
 
(247,684
)
 
(217,068
)
Interest income
 
756

 
1,827

 
1,935

   Losses on debt extinguishment
 
(21,014
)
 
(3,473
)
 

Total other expenses
 
(321,778
)
 
(249,330
)
 
(215,133
)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Income before income taxes
 
395,645

 
344,480

 
390,385

Income tax expense
 
4,764

 
4,964

 
9,787

Net income
 
$
390,881

 
$
339,516

 
$
380,598

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Earnings per common share:
 
 

 
 

 
 
Basic earnings per common share
 
$
1.82

 
$
1.59

 
$
1.80

Diluted earnings per common share
 
$
1.81

 
$
1.58

 
$
1.79


 
See accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements.


66


Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Consolidated Statements of Changes in Shareholders’ Equity
(in thousands, except share data)

 
Common Stock
 
Additional
Paid-In
Capital
 
Accumulated
Deficit
 
Total
Shareholders’
Equity
 
Shares
 
Amount
 
 
 
Balance, December 31, 2016
207,676,827

 
$
2,077

 
$
3,760,729

 
$
(1,328,937
)
 
$
2,433,869

Issuance of common stock
3,864,872

 
38

 
139,376

 

 
139,414

Stock option activity
1,013,984

 
10

 
20,993

 

 
21,003

Restricted stock activity
161,866

 
2

 
12,731

 

 
12,733

Dividends paid ($2.50 per common share)

 

 

 
(529,370
)
 
(529,370
)
Net income

 

 

 
380,598

 
380,598

Balance, December 31, 2017
212,717,549

 
2,127

 
3,933,829

 
(1,477,709
)
 
2,458,247

Stock option activity
1,007,750

 
10

 
19,805

 

 
19,815

Restricted stock activity
486,633

 
5

 
(1,131
)
 

 
(1,126
)
Dividends paid ($2.57 per common share)

 

 

 
(550,435
)
 
(550,435
)
Adoption of new revenue standard

 

 

 
(410
)
 
(410
)
Net income

 

 

 
339,516

 
339,516

Balance, December 31, 2018
214,211,932

 
2,142

 
3,952,503

 
(1,689,038
)
 
2,265,607

ATM Program offering costs, net of issuance of common stock
1,500

 

 
(255
)
 

 
(255
)
Stock option activity
26,799

 

 
592

 

 
592

Restricted stock activity
453,934

 
5

 
6,543

 

 
6,548

Dividends paid ($2.74 per common share)

 

 

 
(589,128
)
 
(589,128
)
Net income

 

 

 
390,881

 
390,881

Balance, December 31, 2019
214,694,165

 
$
2,147

 
$
3,959,383

 
$
(1,887,285
)
 
$
2,074,245

 
See accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements.


67


Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. and Subsidiaries
 Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(in thousands)
Year ended December 31,
 
2019
 
2018
 
2017
Operating activities
 
 

 
 

 
 
Net income
 
$
390,881

 
$
339,516

 
$
380,598

Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
 
 

 
 

 
 
Depreciation and amortization
 
258,971

 
148,365

 
123,835

Amortization of debt issuance costs, bond premiums and original issuance discounts
 
11,455

 
12,167

 
13,026

Losses on dispositions of property
 
92

 
309

 
530

Deferred income taxes
 
(755
)
 
(522
)
 
(561
)
Stock-based compensation
 
16,198

 
11,152

 
15,636

Straight-line rent adjustments
 
34,574

 
61,888

 
65,971

Losses on debt extinguishment
 
21,014

 
3,473

 

Loan impairment charges
 
13,000

 

 

Goodwill impairment charges
 

 
59,454

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(Increase) decrease,
 
 

 
 

 
 
Prepaid expenses and other assets
 
(6,070
)
 
(673
)
 
(5,332
)
(Decrease), increase
 
 

 
 

 
 
Accounts payable
 
(1,505
)
 
1,796

 
(421
)
Accrued expenses
 
(270
)
 
(126
)
 
411

Accrued interest
 
15,434

 
12,020

 
(502
)
Accrued salaries and wages
 
(3,189
)
 
6,201

 
190

Gaming, property and other taxes
 
(120
)
 
(149
)
 
(517
)
Other liabilities
 
592

 
(438
)
 
5,847

Net cash provided by operating activities
 
750,302

 
654,433

 
598,711

Investing activities
 
 

 
 

 
 
Capital project expenditures
 

 
(20
)
 
(78
)
Capital maintenance expenditures
 
(3,017
)
 
(4,284
)
 
(3,178
)
Proceeds from sale of property and equipment
 
200

 
3,211

 
934

Principal payments on loan receivable
 

 

 
13,200

Acquisition of real estate assets
 

 
(1,243,466
)
 
(83,252
)
   Originations of real estate loans
 

 
(303,684
)
 

   Collections of principal payments on investment in direct financing lease
 

 
38,459

 
73,072

Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities
 
(2,817
)
 
(1,509,784
)
 
698

Financing activities
 
 

 
 

 
 
Dividends paid
 
(589,128
)
 
(550,435
)
 
(529,370
)
Taxes paid related to shares withheld for tax purposes on restricted stock award vestings, net of proceeds from exercise of options
 
(9,058
)
 
7,537

 
18,157

ATM Program offering costs and proceeds from issuance of common stock, net
 
(255
)
 

 
139,414

Proceeds from issuance of long-term debt
 
1,358,853

 
2,593,405

 
100,000

Financing costs
 
(10,029
)
 
(32,426
)
 

Repayments of long-term debt
 
(1,477,949
)
 
(1,164,117
)
 
(335,112
)
Premium and related costs paid on tender of senior unsecured notes
 
(18,879
)
 
(1,884
)
 

Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities
 
(746,445
)
 
852,080

 
(606,911
)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents
 
1,040

 
(3,271
)
 
(7,502
)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period
 
25,783

 
29,054

 
36,556

Cash and cash equivalents at end of period
 
$
26,823

 
$
25,783

 
$
29,054

See Note 20 to the consolidated financial statements for supplemental cash flow information and noncash investing and financing activities.

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Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc.
Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements
 
1.    Business and Basis of Presentation
 
Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. ("GLPI") is a self-administered and self-managed Pennsylvania real estate investment trust ("REIT"). GLPI (together with its subsidiaries, the "Company") was incorporated on February 13, 2013, as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Penn National Gaming, Inc. ("Penn"). On November 1, 2013, Penn contributed to GLPI, through a series of internal corporate restructurings, substantially all of the assets and liabilities associated with Penn’s real property interests and real estate development business, as well as the assets and liabilities of Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge and Hollywood Casino Perryville (which are referred to as the "TRS Properties") and then spun-off GLPI to holders of Penn's common and preferred stock in a tax-free distribution (the "Spin-Off"). The assets and liabilities of GLPI were recorded at their respective historical carrying values at the time of the Spin-Off in accordance with the provisions of Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") 505-60 - Spinoffs and Reverse Spinoffs ("ASC 505").

The Company elected on its United States ("U.S.") federal income tax return for its taxable year that began on January 1, 2014 to be treated as a REIT and GLPI, together with its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, GLP Holdings, Inc., jointly elected to treat each of GLP Holdings, Inc., Louisiana Casino Cruises, Inc. (d/b/a Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge) and Penn Cecil Maryland, Inc. (d/b/a Hollywood Casino Perryville) as a "taxable REIT subsidiary" ("TRS") effective on the first day of the first taxable year of GLPI as a REIT. In connection with the Spin-Off, Penn allocated its accumulated earnings and profits (as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes) for periods prior to the consummation of the Spin-Off between Penn and GLPI. In connection with its election to be taxed as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes, GLPI declared a special dividend to its shareholders to distribute any accumulated earnings and profits relating to the real property assets and attributable to any pre-REIT years, including any earnings and profits allocated to GLPI in connection with the Spin-Off, to comply with certain REIT qualification requirements.

As a result of the Spin-Off, GLPI owns substantially all of Penn’s former real property assets (as of the consummation of the Spin-Off) and leases back most of those assets to Penn for use by its subsidiaries, under a unitary master lease, a triple-net operating lease with an initial term of 15 years (expiring October 31, 2028), with no purchase option, followed by four 5-year renewal options (exercisable by Penn) on the same terms and conditions (the "Penn Master Lease"), and GLPI also owns and operates the TRS Properties through an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, GLP Holdings, Inc. In April 2016, the Company acquired substantially all of the real estate assets of Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. ("Pinnacle") for approximately $4.8 billion. GLPI originally leased these assets back to Pinnacle, under a unitary triple-net lease with an initial term of 10 years (expiring April 30, 2026), with no purchase option, followed by five 5-year renewal options (exercisable by Pinnacle) on the same terms and conditions (the "Pinnacle Master Lease"). On October 15, 2018, the Company completed its previously announced transactions with Penn, Pinnacle and Boyd Gaming Corporation ("Boyd") to accommodate Penn's acquisition of the majority of Pinnacle's operations, pursuant to a definitive agreement and plan of merger between Penn and Pinnacle, dated December 17, 2017 (the "Penn-Pinnacle Merger"). Concurrent with the Penn-Pinnacle Merger, the Company amended the Pinnacle Master Lease to allow for the sale of the operating assets of Ameristar Casino Hotel Kansas City, Ameristar Casino Resort Spa St. Charles and Belterra Casino Resort from Pinnacle to Boyd (the "Amended Pinnacle Master Lease") and entered into a new unitary triple-net master lease agreement with Boyd (the "Boyd Master Lease") for these properties on terms similar to the Company’s Amended Pinnacle Master Lease. The Boyd Master Lease has an initial term of 10 years (from the original April 2016 commencement date of the Pinnacle Master Lease and expiring April 30, 2026), with no purchase option, followed by five 5-year renewal options (exercisable by Boyd) on the same terms and conditions. The Company also purchased the real estate assets of Plainridge Park Casino ("Plainridge Park") from Penn for $250.0 million, exclusive of transaction fees and taxes, and added this property to the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease. The Amended Pinnacle Master Lease was assumed by Penn at the consummation of the Penn-Pinnacle Merger. The Company also entered into a mortgage loan agreement with Boyd in connection with Boyd's acquisition of Belterra Park Gaming & Entertainment Center ("Belterra Park"), whereby the Company loaned Boyd $57.7 million. See Note 18 for further details surrounding the original Pinnacle acquisition and the subsequent acquisition of Pinnacle by Penn.

In addition to the acquisition of Plainridge Park described above, on October 1, 2018, the Company closed its previously announced transaction to acquire certain real property assets from Tropicana Entertainment Inc. ("Tropicana") and certain of its affiliates pursuant to a Purchase and Sale Agreement (the "Real Estate Purchase Agreement") dated April 15, 2018 between Tropicana and GLP Capital L.P., the operating partnership of GLPI ("GLP Capital"), which was subsequently amended on October 1, 2018 (as amended, the "Amended Real Estate Purchase Agreement"). Pursuant to the terms of the Amended Real Estate Purchase Agreement, the Company acquired the real estate assets of Tropicana Atlantic City, Tropicana Evansville, Tropicana Laughlin, Trop Casino Greenville and the Belle of Baton Rouge (the "GLP Assets") from Tropicana for an aggregate cash purchase price of $964.0 million, exclusive of transaction fees and taxes (the "Tropicana Acquisition"). Concurrent with

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the Tropicana Acquisition, Eldorado Resorts, Inc. ("Eldorado") acquired the operating assets of these properties from Tropicana pursuant to an Agreement and Plan of Merger dated April 15, 2018 by and among Tropicana, GLP Capital, Eldorado and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Eldorado (the "Tropicana Merger Agreement") and leased the GLP Assets from the Company pursuant to the terms of a new unitary triple-net master lease with an initial term of 15 years, with no purchase option, followed by four successive 5-year renewal periods (exercisable by Eldorado) on the same terms and conditions (the "Eldorado Master Lease"). Additionally, on October 1, 2018, the Company entered into a loan agreement with Eldorado in connection with Eldorado’s acquisition of Lumière Place, whereby the Company loaned Eldorado $246.0 million (together with the Tropicana Acquisition the, "Tropicana Transactions").

GLPI’s primary business consists of acquiring, financing, and owning real estate property to be leased to gaming operators in triple-net lease arrangements. As of December 31, 2019, GLPI’s portfolio consisted of interests in 44 gaming and related facilities, including the TRS Properties, the real property associated with 32 gaming and related facilities operated by Penn, the real property associated with 5 gaming and related facilities operated by Eldorado, the real property associated with 4 gaming and related facilities operated by Boyd (including one financed facility) and the real property associated with the Casino Queen in East St. Louis, Illinois.  These facilities, including our corporate headquarters building, are geographically diversified across 16 states and contain approximately 22.1 million square feet. As of December 31, 2019, the Company's properties were 100% occupied. GLPI expects to continue growing its portfolio by pursuing opportunities to acquire additional gaming facilities to lease to gaming operators under prudent terms.
The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of GLPI and its subsidiaries. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses for the reporting periods. Actual results may differ from those estimates. 

2.    Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Real Estate Investments
Real estate investments primarily represent land and buildings leased to the Company's tenants. The Company records the acquisition of real estate assets at fair value, including acquisition and closing costs. The cost of properties developed by the Company include costs of construction, property taxes, interest and other miscellaneous costs incurred during the development period until the project is substantially complete and available for occupancy. The Company considers the period of future benefit of the asset to determine the appropriate useful lives. Depreciation is computed using a straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the buildings and building improvements which are generally between 10 to 31 years.
The Company continually monitors events and circumstances that could indicate that the carrying amount of its real estate investments may not be recoverable or realized. The factors considered by the Company in performing these assessments include evaluating whether the tenant is current on their lease payments, the tenant’s rent coverage ratio, the financial stability of the tenant and its parent company, and any other relevant factors. When indicators of potential impairment suggest that the carrying value of a real estate investment may not be recoverable, the Company estimates the fair value of the investment by calculating the undiscounted future cash flows from the use and eventual disposition of the investment. This amount is compared to the asset's carrying value. If the Company determines the carrying amount is not recoverable, it would recognize an impairment charge equivalent to the amount required to reduce the carrying value of the asset to its estimated fair value, calculated in accordance with GAAP. The Company groups its real estate investments together by lease, the lowest level for which identifiable cash flows are available, in evaluating impairment. In assessing the recoverability of the carrying value, the Company must make assumptions regarding future cash flows and other factors. The factors considered by the Company in performing this assessment include current operating results, market and other applicable trends and residual values, as well as the effect of obsolescence, demand, competition and other factors. If these estimates or the related assumptions change in the future, the Company may be required to record an impairment loss.
Property and Equipment Used in Operations
Property and equipment are stated at cost, less accumulated depreciation and represent assets used by the Company's TRS operations and certain corporate assets. Maintenance and repairs that neither add materially to the value of the asset nor appreciably prolong its useful life are charged to expense as incurred. Gains or losses on the disposal of property and equipment are included in the determination of income.

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Depreciation of property and equipment is recorded using the straight-line method over the following estimated useful lives:
            
Land improvements
 
15 years
Building and improvements
 
5 to 31 years
Furniture, fixtures, and equipment
 
3 to 31 years

Leasehold improvements are depreciated over the shorter of the estimated useful life of the improvement or the related lease term. The estimated useful lives are determined based on the nature of the assets as well as the Company's current operating strategy.
The Company reviews the carrying value of its property and equipment for possible impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of an asset may not be recoverable based upon the estimated undiscounted future cash flows expected to result from its use and eventual disposition. If the Company determines the carrying amount is not recoverable, it would recognize an impairment charge equivalent to the amount required to reduce the carrying value of the asset to its estimated fair value, calculated in accordance with GAAP. In estimating expected future cash flows for determining whether an asset is impaired, assets are grouped at the individual property level. In assessing the recoverability of the carrying value of property and equipment, the Company must make assumptions regarding future cash flows and other factors. The factors considered by the Company in performing this assessment include current operating results, market and other applicable trends and residual values, as well as the effect of obsolescence, demand, competition and other factors. If these estimates or the related assumptions change in the future, the Company may be required to record an impairment loss for these assets.
Real Estate Loans and Other Loans Receivable
The Company may periodically loan funds to casino owner-operators for the purchase of gaming related real estate and/or operations. Loans for the purchase of real estate assets of gaming-related properties are classified as real estate loans on the Company's consolidated balance sheets, while loans for an operator's general operations are classified as loans receivable on the Company's consolidated balance sheets. All loans receivable are recorded on the Company's consolidated balance sheets at carrying value which approximates fair value. Interest income related to real estate loans is recorded as interest income from real estate loans within the Company's consolidated statements of income in the period earned, whereas interest income related to other loans receivable is recorded as non-operating interest income within the Company's consolidated statements of income in the period earned.
The Company evaluates loans for impairment when it is probable that it will not be able to collect all amounts due according to the contractual terms of the agreement. All amounts due under the contractual terms of the agreement means that both contractual interest payments and contractual principal payments will be collected as scheduled in the loan agreement. Indicators of impairment may include delinquent payments, a decline in the credit worthiness of a debtor, or a decline in the underlying property/tenant’s performance. The Company measures loan impairment based upon the present value of expected future cash flows discounted at the loan’s original effective interest rate. The determination of whether loans are impaired involves judgments and assumptions based on objective and subjective factors. If an impairment occurs, the Company will reduce the carrying value of the loan and record a corresponding charge to net income.
The Company's adoption of Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") No. 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments ("ASU 2016-13") on January 1, 2020 (as described in Note 3) did not result in the Company recording any allowances against its real estate loans for expected losses.
Lease Assets and Lease Liabilities
The Company determines whether a contract is or contains a lease at its inception. A lease is defined as the right to control the use of identified property, plant, or equipment for a period of time in exchange for consideration. Right-of-use assets and lease liabilities are recorded on the Company's consolidated balance sheet at the lease commencement date for operating leases in which the Company acts as lessee. Right-of-use assets represent the Company's rights to use underlying assets for the term of the lease and lease liabilities represent the Company's future obligations under the lease agreement. Right-of-use assets and lease liabilities are recognized at the lease commencement date based upon the estimated present value of the lease payments. As the rate implicit in the Company's leases (in which the Company acts as lessee) cannot readily be determined, the Company utilizes its own estimated incremental borrowing rates to determine the present value of its lease payments. Consideration is given to the Company's recent debt issuances, as well as publicly available data for instruments with similar characteristics, including tenor, when determining the incremental borrowing rates of the Company's leases.

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The Company includes options to extend a lease in its lease term when it is reasonably certain that the Company will exercise those renewal options. In the instance of the Company's ground leases associated with its tenant occupied properties, the Company has included all available renewal options in the lease term, as it intends to renew these leases indefinitely. The Company accounts for the lease and nonlease components (as necessary) of its leases of all classes of underlying assets as a single lease component. Leases with a term of 12 months or less are not recorded on the Company's consolidated balance sheet.
Land rights, net represent the Company's rights to land subject to long-term ground leases. The Company obtained ground lease rights through the acquisition of several of its rental properties and immediately subleased the land to its tenants. These land rights represent the below market value of the related ground leases. The Company assessed the acquired ground leases to determine if the lease terms were favorable or unfavorable, given market conditions at the acquisition date. Because the market rents to be received under the Company's triple-net tenant leases were greater than the rents to be paid under the acquired ground leases, the Company concluded that the ground leases were below market and were therefore required to be recorded as a definite lived asset (land rights) on its books.
Right-of-use assets and land rights are monitored for potential impairment in much the same way as the Company's real estate assets, using the impairment model in ASC 360 - Property, Plant and Equipment. If the Company determines the carrying amount of a right-of-use asset or land right is not recoverable, it would recognize an impairment charge equivalent to the amount required to reduce the carrying value of the asset to its estimated fair value, calculated in accordance with GAAP.
Cash and Cash Equivalents
The Company considers all cash balances and highly-liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less to be cash and cash equivalents.
Prepaid Expenses and Other Assets
Prepaid expenses consist of expenditures for goods or services before the goods are used or the services are received. These amounts are deferred and charged to operations as the benefits are realized and primarily consist of prepayments for insurance, property taxes and other contracts that will be expensed during the subsequent year. It also includes transaction costs that will be allocated to purchase price upon the closing of an asset acquisition. Other assets primarily consists of accounts receivable and deferred compensation plan assets (See Note 11 for further details on the deferred compensation plan).
Goodwill and Intangible Assets
The Company's goodwill and intangible assets are the result of the contribution of Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge and Hollywood Casino Perryville in connection with the Spin-Off. The Company's goodwill resides on the books of its Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge subsidiary, while the other intangible asset represents a gaming license on the books of its Hollywood Casino Perryville subsidiary. Both subsidiaries are members of the TRS Properties segment and are considered separate reporting units under ASC 350 - Intangibles - Goodwill and Other ("ASC 350"). Goodwill is tested at the reporting unit level, which is an operating segment or one level below an operating segment for which discrete financial information is available
Under ASC 350, the Company is required to test goodwill for impairment at least annually and whenever events or circumstances indicate that it is more likely than not that goodwill may be impaired. The Company has elected to perform its annual goodwill impairment test as of October 1 of each year. In accordance with ASC 350, the Company tests goodwill for impairment subsequent to testing its other long-lived assets for impairment.
ASC 350 prescribes a two-step goodwill impairment test, the first step which involves the determination of the fair value of each reporting unit and its comparison to the carrying amount. In order to determine the fair value of the Baton Rouge reporting unit, the Company utilizes a discounted cash flow model, which relies on projected EBITDA to determine the reporting unit's future cash flows. If the carrying amount exceeds the fair value in step 1, then step 2 of the impairment test is performed to determine the implied fair value of goodwill. If the implied fair value of goodwill is less than the goodwill allocated to the reporting unit, an impairment loss is recognized.
In accordance with ASC 350, the Company considers its Hollywood Casino Perryville gaming license an indefinite-lived intangible asset that does not require amortization based on the Company's future expectations to operate this casino indefinitely, as well as the gaming industry's historical experience in renewing these intangible assets at minimal cost with various state gaming commissions. Rather, the Company's gaming license is tested annually, or more frequently if indicators of impairment exist, for impairment by comparing the fair value of the recorded asset to its carrying amount. If the carrying amount of the indefinite-life intangible asset exceeds its fair value, an impairment loss is recognized. Hollywood Casino Perryville's gaming license will expire in September 2025, fifteen years from the casino's opening date. The Company expects to expense any costs related to the gaming license renewal as incurred.

72


The Company calculates the fair value of its gaming license using the Greenfield Method under the income approach. The Greenfield Method estimates the fair value of the gaming license assuming the Company built a casino with similar utility to that of the existing facility. The method assumes a theoretical start-up company going into business without any assets other than the intangible asset being valued. As such the value of the license is a function of the following items:
Projected revenues and operating cash flows;
Theoretical construction costs and duration;
Pre-opening expenses;
Discounting that reflects the level of risk associated with receiving future cash flows attributable to the license; and
Remaining useful life of the license
The evaluation of goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets requires the use of estimates about future operating results to determine the estimated fair value of the reporting unit and the indefinite-lived intangible assets. The Company must make various assumptions and estimates in performing its impairment testing. The implied fair value includes estimates of future cash flows that are based on reasonable and supportable assumptions, which represent the Company's best estimates of the cash flows expected to result from the use of the assets. Changes in estimates, increases in the Company's cost of capital, reductions in transaction multiples, changes in operating and capital expenditure assumptions or application of alternative assumptions and definitions could produce significantly different results. Future cash flow estimates are, by their nature, subjective and actual results may differ materially from the Company's estimates. If the Company's ongoing estimates of future cash flows are not met, the Company may have to record impairment charges in future accounting periods. The Company's estimates of cash flows are based on the current regulatory and economic climates, as well as recent operating information and budgets. These estimates could be negatively impacted by changes in federal, state or local regulations, economic downturns, or other events.
Forecasted cash flows can be significantly impacted by the local economy in which the Company's subsidiaries operate. For example, increases in unemployment rates can result in decreased customer visitations and/or lower customer spend per visit. In addition, new legislation which approves gaming in nearby jurisdictions or further expands gaming in jurisdictions in which the Company operates can result in increased competition for the property. This generally has a negative effect on profitability once competitors become established, as a certain level of cannibalization occurs absent an overall increase in customer visitations. Lastly, increases in gaming taxes approved by state regulatory bodies can negatively impact forecasted cash flows.
Assumptions and estimates about future cash flow levels are complex and subjective. They are sensitive to changes in underlying assumptions and can be affected by a variety of factors, including external factors, such as industry, geopolitical and economic trends, and internal factors, such as changes in the Company's business strategy, which may reallocate capital and resources to different or new opportunities which management believes will enhance the Company's overall value but may be to the detriment of its existing operations.
The Company's adoption of ASU No. 2017-04, Intangibles - Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment ("ASU 2017-04") on January 1, 2020 (as described in Note 3) is expected to simplify the analysis required under the Company's future goodwill impairment tests.
Debt Issuance Costs and Bond Premiums and Discounts
Debt issuance costs that are incurred by the Company in connection with the issuance of debt are deferred and amortized to interest expense over the contractual term of the underlying indebtedness. In accordance with ASU 2015-03, Interest - Imputation of Interest (Subtopic 835-30): Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs, the Company records long-term debt net of unamortized debt issuance costs on its consolidated balance sheets. Similarly, the Company records long-term debt net of any unamortized bond premiums and original issuance discounts on its consolidated balance sheets. Any original issuance discounts or bond premiums are also amortized to interest expense over the contractual term of the underlying indebtedness.
Fair Value of Financial Assets and Liabilities

Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. Assets and liabilities recorded at fair value are classified based upon the level of judgment associated with the inputs used to measure their fair value. ASC 820 - Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures ("ASC 820") establishes a hierarchy that prioritizes fair value measurements based on the types of inputs used for

73


the various valuation techniques (market approach, income approach, and cost approach). The levels of the hierarchy related to the subjectivity of the valuation inputs are described below:

Level 1: Observable inputs such as quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. 

Level 2: Inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly; these include quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets, such as interest rates and yield curves that are observable at commonly quoted intervals. 

Level 3: Unobservable inputs that reflect the reporting entity's own assumptions, as there is little, if any, related market activity.

        The Company's assessment of the significance of a particular input to the fair value measurement requires judgment and may affect the valuation of assets and liabilities and their placement within the fair value hierarchy.

Revenue Recognition

The Company recognizes rental revenue from tenants, including rental abatements, lease incentives and contractually fixed increases attributable to operating leases, on a straight-line basis over the term of the related leases when collectability is reasonably assured in accordance with ASC 842 - Leases. Additionally, percentage rent that is fixed and determinable at the lease inception date is recorded on a straight-line basis over the lease term, resulting in the recognition of deferred rental revenue on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets. Deferred rental revenue is amortized to rental revenue on a straight-line basis over the remainder of the lease term. The lease term includes the initial non-cancelable lease term and any reasonably assured renewable periods. Contingent rental income that is not fixed and determinable at lease inception is recognized only when the lessee achieves the specified target. Recognition of rental income commences when control of the facility has been transferred to the tenant.

Additionally, in accordance with ASC 842, the Company records revenue for the ground lease rent paid by its tenants with an offsetting expense in land rights and ground lease expense within the consolidated statement of income as the Company has concluded that as the lessee it is the primary obligor under the ground leases. The Company subleases these ground leases back to its tenants, who are responsible for payment directly to the landlord.
The Company may periodically loan funds to casino owner-operators for the purchase of gaming related real estate. Interest income related to real estate loans is recorded as revenue from real estate within the Company's consolidated statements of income in the period earned.
Gaming revenue generated by the TRS Properties mainly consists of revenue from slot machines and to a lesser extent, table game and poker revenue. Gaming revenue from slot machines is the aggregate net difference between gaming wins and losses with liabilities recognized for funds deposited by customers before gaming play occurs, for "ticket-in, ticket-out" coupons in the customers’ possession, and for accruals related to the anticipated payout of progressive jackpots. Progressive slot machines, which contain base jackpots that increase at a progressive rate based on the number of coins played, are charged to revenue as the amount of the jackpots increase. Table game gaming revenue is the aggregate of table drop adjusted for the change in aggregate table chip inventory. Table drop is the total dollar amount of the currency, coins, chips, tokens, outstanding counter checks (markers), and front money that are removed from the live gaming tables. Gaming revenue is recognized net of certain sales incentives, including promotional allowances in accordance with ASC 606 - Revenues from Contracts with Customers. The Company also defers a portion of the revenue received from customers (who participate in the points-based loyalty programs) at the time of play until a later period when the points are redeemed or forfeited. Other revenues at the TRS Properties are derived from the properties' dining, retail and certain other ancillary activities and revenue for these activities is recognized as services are performed.

Stock-Based Compensation
The Company's Amended 2013 Long Term Incentive Compensation Plan (the "2013 Plan") provides for the Company to issue restricted stock awards, including performance-based restricted stock awards, and other equity or cash based awards to employees. Any director, employee or consultant shall be eligible to receive such awards.
The Company accounts for stock compensation under ASC 718 - Compensation - Stock Compensation, which requires the Company to expense the cost of employee services received in exchange for an award of equity instruments based on the grant-date fair value of the award. This expense is recognized ratably over the requisite service period following the date of grant. The fair value of the Company's time-based restricted stock awards is equivalent to the closing stock price on the day

74


prior to grant. The Company utilizes a third-party valuation firm to measure the fair value of performance-based restricted stock awards at grant date using the Monte Carlo model.
 
The unrecognized compensation cost relating to restricted stock awards and performance-based restricted stock awards is recognized as expense over the awards’ remaining vesting periods.

See Note 13 for further information related to stock-based compensation.
Income Taxes
The TRS Properties are able to engage in activities resulting in income that would not be qualifying income for a REIT. As a result, certain activities of the Company which occur within its TRS Properties are subject to federal and state income taxes. 
The Company accounts for income taxes in accordance with ASC 740 - Income Taxes ("ASC 740"). Under ASC 740, deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on the differences between the financial statement carrying amounts and the tax bases of existing assets and liabilities and are measured at the prevailing enacted tax rates that will be in effect when these differences are settled or realized. ASC 740 also requires that deferred tax assets be reduced by a valuation allowance if it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. The realizability of the deferred tax assets is evaluated by assessing the valuation allowance and by adjusting the amount of the allowance, if any, as necessary. The factors used to assess the likelihood of realization are the forecast of future taxable income.
ASC 740 also creates a single model to address uncertainty in tax positions, and clarifies the accounting for uncertainty in income taxes recognized in an enterprise's financial statements by prescribing the minimum recognition threshold a tax position is required to meet before being recognized in an enterprise's financial statements. It also provides guidance on derecognition, measurement, classification, interest and penalties, accounting in interim periods, disclosure and transition. The Company did not have any uncertain tax positions for the three years ended December 31, 2019.
The Company is required under ASC 740 to disclose its accounting policy for classifying interest and penalties, the amount of interest and penalties charged to expense each period, as well as the cumulative amounts recorded in the consolidated balance sheets. If and when they occur, the Company will classify any income tax-related penalties and interest accrued related to unrecognized tax benefits in taxes on income within the consolidated statements of income. During the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, the Company recognized no penalties and interest, net of deferred income taxes.
The Company elected on its U.S. federal income tax return for its taxable year that began on January 1, 2014 to be treated as a REIT and the Company, together with an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, GLP Holdings, Inc., jointly elected to treat each of GLP Holdings, Inc., Louisiana Casino Cruises, Inc. and Penn Cecil Maryland, Inc. as a "taxable REIT subsidiary" effective on the first day of the first taxable year of GLPI as a REIT. The Company continues to be organized and to operate in a manner that will permit the Company to qualify as a REIT. To qualify as a REIT, the Company must meet certain organizational and operational requirements, including a requirement to distribute at least 90% of its annual REIT taxable income to shareholders. As a REIT, the Company generally will not be subject to federal, state or local income tax on income that it distributes as dividends to its shareholders, except in those jurisdictions that do not allow a deduction for such distributions. If the Company fails to qualify as a REIT in any taxable year, it will be subject to U.S. federal, state and local income tax, including any applicable alternative minimum tax, on its taxable income at regular corporate income tax rates, and dividends paid to its shareholders would not be deductible by the Company in computing taxable income. Any resulting corporate liability could be substantial and could materially and adversely affect the Company's net income and net cash available for distribution to shareholders. Unless the Company was entitled to relief under certain Internal Revenue Code provisions, the Company also would be disqualified from re-electing to be taxed as a REIT for the 4 taxable years following the year in which it failed to qualify to be taxed as a REIT.
Earnings Per Share
 
The Company calculates earnings per share ("EPS") in accordance with ASC 260 - Earnings Per Share. Basic EPS is computed by dividing net income applicable to common stock by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding during the period, excluding net income attributable to participating securities (unvested restricted stock awards). Diluted EPS reflects the additional dilution for all potentially-dilutive securities such as stock options, unvested restricted shares and unvested performance-based restricted shares. See Note 15 for further details on the Company's earnings per share calculations.


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Segment Information
 
Consistent with how the Company’s Chief Operating Decision Maker (as such term is defined in ASC 280 - Segment Reporting) reviews and assesses the Company’s financial performance, the Company has two reportable segments, GLP Capital, L.P. (a wholly-owned subsidiary of GLPI through which GLPI owns substantially all of its real estate assets) and the TRS Properties. The GLP Capital reportable segment consists of the leased real property and represents the majority of the Company’s business. The TRS Properties reportable segment consists of Hollywood Casino Perryville and Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge. See Note 17 for further information with respect to the Company’s segments.
Concentration of Credit Risk
Concentrations of credit risk arise when a number of operators, tenants, or obligors related to the Company's investments are engaged in similar business activities, or activities in the same geographic region, or have similar economic features that would cause their ability to meet contractual obligations, including those to the Company, to be similarly affected by changes in economic conditions. Additionally, concentrations of credit risk may arise when revenues of the Company are derived from a small number of tenants. As of December 31, 2019, substantially all of the Company's real estate properties were leased to Penn, Eldorado and Boyd. During the year ended December 31, 2019, approximately 79%, 11% and 9% of the Company's collective income from real estate was derived from tenant leases and real estate loans with Penn, Eldorado and Boyd, respectively. Revenues from our tenants are reported in the Company's GLP Capital, L.P. reportable segment. Penn, Eldorado and Boyd are publicly traded companies that are subject to the informational filing requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are required to file periodic reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). Readers are directed to Penn, Eldorado and Boyd's respective websites for further financial information on these companies. Other than the Company's tenant concentration, management believes the Company's portfolio was reasonably diversified by geographical location and did not contain any other significant concentrations of credit risk. As of December 31, 2019, the Company's portfolio of 44 properties is diversified by location across 16 states.
Financial instruments that subject the Company to credit risk consist of cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, real estate loans and other loans receivable. The Company's policy is to limit the amount of credit exposure to any one financial institution and place investments with financial institutions evaluated as being creditworthy, or in short-term money market and tax-free bond funds which are exposed to minimal interest rate and credit risk. At times, the Company has bank deposits and overnight repurchase agreements that exceed federally-insured limits.
3.    New Accounting Pronouncements

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

In February 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842) ("ASU 2016-02"). This ASU primarily provides new guidance for lessees on the accounting treatment of operating leases. Under the new guidance, lessees are required to recognize assets and liabilities arising from operating leases on the balance sheet. ASU 2016-02 also aligns lessor accounting with the revenue recognition guidance in Topic 606 of the Accounting Standards Codification. Generally speaking, ASU 2016-02 more significantly impacted the accounting for leases in which GLPI is the lessee by requiring the Company to record a right-of-use asset and lease liability on its consolidated balance sheet for these leases. The Company's accounting treatment of its triple-net tenant leases, which are the primary source of revenues to the Company, were not significantly impacted by the adoption of ASU 2016-02, other than to eliminate the real estate tax gross-up discussed below.

In July 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-11, Leases (Topic 842): Targeted Improvements ("ASU 2018-11") which permits companies to apply the transition provisions of ASU 2016-02 at its effective date (i.e. comparative financial statements are not required). Furthermore, in December 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-20, Leases (Topic 842): Narrow Scope Improvements for Lessors ("ASU 2018-20"). ASU 2018-20 clarifies that lessor costs paid directly to a third-party by a lessee on behalf of the lessor are no longer required to be recognized in the lessor's financial statements. Therefore, upon the adoption of ASU 2016-02, the Company no longer grosses-up its financial statements for real estate taxes paid directly to third-parties by its tenants. The Company notes, however, that ground leases for which the tenant pays the landlord directly on the Company's behalf are still required to be grossed-up within its consolidated financial statements upon the adoption of ASU 2016-02 as these are not considered lessor costs. On January 1, 2019, the Company adopted ASU 2016-02 using the new transition option available under ASU 2018-11 and recorded right-of-use assets and related lease liabilities of $203 million on its consolidated balance sheet to represent its rights to underlying assets and its future lease obligations. Also in connection with the adoption of ASC 842 - Leases ("ASC 842"), the land rights recorded on balance sheet in conjunction with the Company's assumption of below market leases at the time it acquired the related land and building assets are now required to be

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reported in the aggregate with the Company's operating lease right-of-use assets, reflected as right-of-use assets and land rights, net on the consolidated balance sheet. Furthermore, the Company elected the package of practical expedients, which among other things, did not require the Company to reassess the lease classification of its existing leases and the practical expedient related to land easements, which allowed the Company to bypass the reassessment of existing or expired land easements for the existence of a lease under ASC 842. See Note 7 for further disclosures related to the adoption of ASU 2016-02.

Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted

In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-15, Intangibles - Goodwill and Other - Internal Use Software (Subtopic 350-40: Customer's Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement that is a Service Contract (a consensus of the FASB Emerging Issues Task Force) ("ASU 2018-15"). This ASU clarifies that entities should follow the guidance for capitalizing implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software to account for implementation costs of cloud computing arrangements that are service contracts. ASU 2018-15 does not change the accounting for the service component of a cloud computing arrangement. The Company adopted ASU 2018-15 on January 1, 2020 and does not expect the adoption of ASU 2018-15 to have a significant impact on its consolidated financial statements.

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-04. This ASU simplifies an entity's goodwill impairment test by eliminating Step 2 from the test. The new guidance also amends the definition of impairment to a condition that exists when the carrying amount of goodwill exceeds its fair value. By eliminating Step 2 from the test, entities are no longer required to determine the implied fair value of goodwill by computing the fair value (at impairment testing date) of all assets and liabilities in a manner similar to that required in conjunction with business combinations. Upon the adoption of ASU 2017-04, an impairment charge is simply recorded as the difference between carrying value and fair value, when carrying value exceeds fair value. The Company adopted ASU 2017-04 on January 1, 2020 and expects the new guidance to simplify the analysis required under its future goodwill impairment tests.

In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-13. This ASU introduces a new model for estimating credit losses for certain types of financial instruments, including mortgage, real estate and other loans receivable, amongst other financial instruments.  ASU 2016-13 sets forth an "expected credit loss" impairment model to replace the current "incurred loss" method of recognizing credit losses, which is intended to improve financial reporting by requiring timely recording of credit losses on loans and other financial instruments. The Company adopted ASU 2016-13 on January 1, 2020 and did not record any allowances against its financial instruments subject to the new guidance.

4.    Real Estate Investments
 
Real estate investments, net, represent investments in 42 rental properties and the corporate headquarters building and is summarized as follows:
 
 
December 31,
2019
 
December 31,
2018
 
(in thousands)
Land and improvements
$
2,552,285

 
$
2,552,475

Building and improvements
5,749,211

 
5,762,071

Total real estate investments
8,301,496

 
8,314,546

Less accumulated depreciation
(1,200,941
)
 
(983,086
)
Real estate investments, net
$
7,100,555

 
$
7,331,460



On June 30, 2019, the Resorts Casino Tunica property was closed by the Company's tenant, resulting in the acceleration of $10.3 million of depreciation expense related to the building at this property. The net book value of this building is zero at December 31, 2019. The Company entered into an agreement to terminate the long-term ground lease for this property, which will be effective in February 2020, at which time such ground lease will be removed from the Penn Master Lease.


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5.    Property and Equipment Used in Operations
 
Property and equipment used in operations, net, consists of the following and primarily represents the assets utilized at the TRS Properties 
 
December 31,
2019
 
December 31,
2018
 
(in thousands)
Land and improvements
$
30,492

 
$
30,431

Building and improvements
116,904

 
116,776

Furniture, fixtures, and equipment
118,766

 
117,247

Construction in progress
120

 
284

Total property and equipment
266,282

 
264,738

Less accumulated depreciation
(172,202
)
 
(163,854
)
Property and equipment, net
$
94,080

 
$
100,884



6. Receivables

Real Estate Loans

At December 31, 2019, the Company has two loans, the proceeds of which were used to acquire real estate by the respective casino owner-operators. On October 1, 2018, Eldorado purchased the real estate assets of Lumière Place Casino and Hotel from Tropicana for a cash purchase price of $246.0 million, exclusive of transaction fees. Financing for the transaction was provided by the Company in the form of $246.0 million real estate loan (the "Eldorado Loan"). The Eldorado Loan bears interest at a rate equal to (i) 9.09% until October 1, 2019 and (ii) 9.27% until its maturity. On the one-year anniversary of the Eldorado Loan, the mortgage evidenced by a deed of trust on the Lumière Place property terminated and the loan became unsecured and will remain unsecured until its final maturity on the two-year anniversary of the closing. The parties anticipate that the Eldorado Loan will be fully repaid on or prior to maturity by way of substitution of one or more additional Eldorado properties acceptable to Eldorado and the Company, which will be transferred to the Company and added to the Eldorado Master Lease.

On October 15, 2018, Boyd purchased the real estate assets of Belterra Park from Pinnacle for a cash purchase price of $57.7 million, exclusive of transaction fees. Financing for the transaction was provided by the Company in the form of $57.7 million secured mortgage loan on Belterra Park (the "Belterra Park Loan"). The Belterra Park Loan's initial interest rate was equal to 11.11% and the loan matures in connection with the expiration of the Boyd Master Lease (as may be extended at the tenant's option to April 30, 2051). At December 31, 2019, the interest rate on the Belterra Park Loan had increased to 11.20%.

At December 31, 2019, the Company does not have any allowances recorded against its real estate loans as the collection of the remaining principal and interest payments is reasonable assured.
Other Loans Receivable

In January 2014, the Company completed the asset acquisition of the real property associated with the Casino Queen in East St. Louis, Illinois. GLPI leases the property back to Casino Queen on a triple-net basis on terms similar to those in the Company's existing master leases. The lease has an initial term of 15 years and the tenant has an option to renew it at the same terms and conditions for four successive 5-year periods (the "Casino Queen Lease").  

Simultaneously with the Casino Queen acquisition, GLPI provided Casino Queen with a $43.0 million, five-year term loan at 7% interest, pre-payable at any time, which, together with the sale proceeds, completely refinanced and retired all of Casino Queen’s outstanding long-term debt obligations. On March 13, 2017, the outstanding principal and interest on this loan was repaid in full and GLPI simultaneously provided a new unsecured $13.0 million, 5.5-year term loan (the "Casino Queen Loan") to CQ Holding Company, Inc., an affiliate of Casino Queen ("CQ Holding Company"), to partially finance its acquisition of Lady Luck Casino in Marquette, Iowa. The Casino Queen Loan bears an interest rate of 15% and is pre-payable at any time.

On June 12, 2018, the Company received a Notice of Event of Default under the senior credit agreement of CQ Holding Company from the secured lender under such agreement, which reported a covenant default under its senior secured agreement. Under the terms of that agreement, when an event of default occurs, CQ Holding Company is prohibited from

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making cash payments to unsecured lenders such as GLPI. Therefore, beginning in June 2018 and through December 31, 2019, the interest due from CQ Holding Company under the Company's unsecured loan was paid in kind. In addition to the covenant violation noted above under its senior credit agreement, CQ Holding Company also had a payment default under the senior credit agreement. Furthermore, the Company notified Casino Queen of events of default under the Company's unsecured loan with CQ Holding Company, related to financial covenant violations during the year ended December 31, 2018.
At December 31, 2018, active negotiations for the sale of Casino Queen's operations were taking place. Despite the payment and covenant defaults noted above, at that time, full payment of the principal was still expected, due to the anticipation that the operations were to be sold in the near term for an amount allowing for repayment of the full $13.0 million of loan principal due to GLPI. However, the paid-in-kind interest due to the Company at December 31, 2018 was not expected to be collected, resulting in an impairment charge of $1.5 million during the fourth quarter of 2018. The Company did not recognize the paid-in-kind interest income due to the Company for the quarter ended December 31, 2018 and took a charge for the previously recognized paid-in-kind interest income through the Company’s consolidated statement of earnings as a reversal of the paid-in-kind interest income recognized earlier in the year.
During 2019, the operating results of Casino Queen continued to decline, the secured debt of Casino Queen was sold to a third-party casino operator at a discount and the Company no longer expected the loan to be repaid. Thus, because the Company did not expect Casino Queen to be able to repay the $13.0 million of principal due to the Company under the Casino Queen Loan, the full $13.0 million of principal was written off at March 31, 2019. The Company has recorded an impairment charge of $13.0 million through the consolidated statement of income for the year ended December 31, 2019 to reflect the write-off of the Casino Queen Loan.
At December 31, 2019, all lease payments due from Casino Queen remain current, however Casino Queen was in violation of the rent coverage ratio required under its lease with the Company and the Company provided notice and a reservation of rights to Casino Queen and its secured lenders of such default.

7. Lease Assets and Lease Liabilities

Lease Assets

The Company is subject to various operating leases as lessee for both real estate and equipment, the majority of which are ground leases related to properties the Company leases to its tenants under triple-net operating leases. These ground leases may include fixed rent, as well as variable rent based upon an individual property’s performance or changes in an index such as the CPI and have maturity dates ranging from 2028 to 2108, when considering all renewal options. For certain of these ground leases, the Company’s tenants are responsible for payment directly to the third-party landlord. Under ASC 842, the Company is required to gross-up its consolidated financial statements for these ground leases as the Company is considered the primary obligor. In conjunction with the adoption of ASU 2016-02 on January 1, 2019, the Company recorded right-of-use assets and related lease liabilities on its consolidated balance sheet to represent its rights to use the underlying leased assets and its future lease obligations, respectively, including for those ground leases paid directly by our tenants. Because the right-of-use asset relates, in part, to the same leases which resulted in the land right assets the Company recorded on its consolidated balance sheet in conjunction with the Company's assumption of below market leases at the time it acquired the related land and building assets, the Company is required to report the right-of-use assets and land rights in the aggregate on the consolidated balance sheet.

Land rights, net represent the Company's rights to land subject to long-term ground leases. The Company obtained ground lease rights through the acquisition of several of its rental properties and immediately subleased the land to its tenants. These land rights represent the below market value of the related ground leases. The Company assessed the acquired ground leases to determine if the lease terms were favorable or unfavorable, given market conditions at the acquisition date. Because the market rents to be received under the Company's triple-net tenant leases were greater than the rents to be paid under the acquired ground leases, the Company concluded that the ground leases were below market and were therefore required to be recorded as a definite lived asset (land rights) on its books.

Components of the Company's right-of use assets and land rights, net are detailed below (in thousands):
 
December 31, 2019
Right-of use assets - operating leases
$
184,063

Land rights, net
654,671

Right-of-use assets and land rights, net
$
838,734




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On June 30, 2019, the Resorts Casino Tunica property was closed by the Company's tenant, resulting in the acceleration of $6.3 million of land right amortization expense related to the long-term ground lease at this property and bringing the net book value of this land right to zero at December 31, 2019. Subsequent to the property's closure, the Company entered into an agreement to terminate the long-term ground lease for the Resorts Casino Tunica property, which will be effective in February 2020. In connection with the exercised termination option, the Company remeasured the lease liability and adjusted the right-of-use asset it had recorded on its consolidated balance sheet for this lease to align with the new termination date.

Land Rights

The land rights are amortized over the individual lease term of the related ground lease, including all renewal options, which ranged from 10 years to 92 years at their respective acquisition dates. Land rights net, consist of the following:

 
December 31,
2019
 
December 31,
2018
 
(in thousands)
Land rights
$
694,077

 
$
700,997

Less accumulated amortization
(39,406
)
 
(27,790
)
Land rights, net
$
654,671

 
$
673,207



As of December 31, 2019, estimated future amortization expense related to the Company’s land rights by fiscal year is as follows (in thousands):

Year ending December 31,
 
2020
$
12,081

2021
12,081

2022
12,081

2023
12,081

2024
12,081

Thereafter
594,266

Total
$
654,671



Lease Liabilities

At December 31, 2019, maturities of the Company's operating lease liabilities were as follows (in thousands):

Year ending December 31,
 
2020
$
14,071

2021
13,766

2022
13,659

2023
13,638

2024
13,617

Thereafter
644,059

Total lease payments
$
712,810

Less: interest
(528,839
)
Present value of lease liabilities
$
183,971



As a result of transitioning from the guidance in ASC 840 to ASC 842, the Company's annual minimum lease payments did not change.




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Lease Expense

Operating lease costs represent the entire amount of expense recognized for operating leases that are recorded on the consolidated balance sheet. Variable lease costs are not included in the measurement of the lease liability and include both lease payments tied to a property's performance and changes in an index such as the CPI that are not determinable at lease commencement, while short-term lease costs are costs for those operating leases with a term of 12 months or less.

The components of lease expense were as follows:
 
Year Ended December 31, 2019
 
(in thousands)
Operating lease cost
$
15,482

Variable lease cost
9,048

Short-term lease cost
1,060

Amortization of land right assets
18,536

Total lease cost
$
44,126



Amortization expense related to the land right intangibles, as well as variable lease costs and the majority of the Company's operating lease costs are recorded within land rights and ground lease expense in the consolidated statements of income. The Company's short-term lease costs are recorded in both gaming, food, beverage and other expense and general and administrative expense in the consolidated statements of income, while a small portion of operating lease costs is also recorded in both gaming, food, beverage and other expense and general and administrative expense in the consolidated statements of income. Amortization expense related to the land right intangibles totaled $11.3 million and $10.4 million, respectively, for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017. Other lease costs totaled $18.9 million and $15.8 million, respectively, for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017.

Supplemental Disclosures Related to Leases

Supplemental balance sheet information related to the Company's operating leases was as follows:
 
December 31, 2019
Weighted average remaining lease term - operating leases
53.51 years
Weighted average discount rate - operating leases
6.7%


Supplemental cash flow information related to the Company's operating leases was as follows:
 
Year Ended December 31, 2019
 
(in thousands)
Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of leases liabilities:
 
  Operating cash flows from operating leases (1)
$
2,226

 
 
Right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for new lease obligations:
 
   Operating leases
$
293


(1) The Company's cash paid for operating leases is significantly less than the lease cost for the same period due to the majority of the Company's ground lease rent being paid directly to the landlords by the Company's tenants. Although GLPI expends no cash related to these leases, they are required to be grossed up in the Company's financial statements under ASC 842.

8. Goodwill and Intangible Assets

Goodwill is an asset representing the future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized. The only goodwill of the Company is the goodwill recorded on the books of Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge, in connection with Penn's purchase of this entity prior to the Spin-

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Off. The original assets and liabilities of GLPI, including goodwill and intangible assets were recorded at their respective historical carrying values at the time of the Spin-Off in accordance with the provisions of ASC 505. There is no goodwill recorded on the Company's GLP Capital segment, which holds the Company's REIT operations.

Changes in the carrying amount of goodwill for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 are as follows:

 
TRS Properties Business Segment
 
(in thousands)
Balance at December 31, 2017
$
75,521

    Acquisitions

    Impairment losses
(59,454
)
Balance at December 31, 2018
$
16,067

    Acquisitions

    Impairment losses

Balance at December 31, 2019
$
16,067



During the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company recorded a goodwill impairment charge of $59.5 million in connection with its operations at Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge. This charge was driven by general market deterioration in the Baton Rouge region and the smoking ban at all Baton Rouge, Louisiana casinos that went into effect during the second quarter of 2018, both of which significantly impacted the Company's forecasted cash flows for this reporting unit. Subsequent to conducting its impairment tests on other long-lived assets, including the gaming license described below, the Company performed Step 1 of the goodwill impairment test, which indicated a potential impairment. Step 1 of the goodwill impairment test involved the determination of the fair value of the Baton Rouge reporting unit and its comparison to the reporting unit's carrying amount. Using a discounted cash flow model, which relied on projected EBITDA to determine the reporting unit's future cash flows, the Company calculated a fair value that was less than the reporting unit's carrying value and proceeded to Step 2. In Step 2 of the goodwill impairment test, the Company performed a fair value allocation as if the reporting unit had been acquired in a business combination and assigned the fair value of the reporting unit calculated in Step 1 to all assets and liabilities of the reporting unit, including any unrecognized intangible assets. Any residual fair value was allocated to goodwill to arrive at the implied fair value of goodwill. After completing the Step 2 allocation, the Company determined the goodwill on its Baton Rouge reporting unit had an implied fair value of $16.1 million and recorded the impairment charge of $59.5 million during the fourth quarter of 2018.

In accordance with ASC 350, the Company considers its gaming license at the Hollywood Casino Perryville property an indefinite-lived intangible asset that does not require amortization based on the Company's future expectations to operate this casino indefinitely, as well as the gaming industry's historical experience in renewing these intangible assets at minimal cost with various state gaming commissions. Rather, the Company's gaming license is tested annually, or more frequently if indicators of impairment exist, for impairment by comparing the fair value of the recorded asset to its carrying amount. If the carrying amount of the indefinite-life intangible asset exceeds its fair value, an impairment loss is recognized. Hollywood Casino Perryville's gaming license will expire in September 2025, fifteen years from the casino's opening date. The Company expects to expense any costs related to the gaming license renewal as incurred. The Company conducted its annual impairment assessment of the gaming license on October 1, 2019 using the Greenfield Method which estimates the fair value of the gaming license assuming the Company built a casino with similar utility to that of the existing facility. This method also assumes a theoretical start-up company going into business without any assets other than the intangible asset being valued. Based upon these assumptions and the Company's current forecasted cash flows for this reporting unit, the gaming license was not impaired. At both December 31, 2019 and 2018, the gaming license had a carrying value of $9.6 million.


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9.    Long-term Debt
 
Long-term debt, net of current maturities and unamortized debt issuance costs is as follows: 
 
December 31,
2019
 
December 31,
2018
 
(in thousands)
Unsecured $1,175 million revolver
$
46,000

 
$
402,000

Unsecured term loan A-1
449,000

 
525,000

$1,000 million 4.875% senior unsecured notes due November 2020
215,174

 
1,000,000

$400 million 4.375% senior unsecured notes due April 2021
400,000

 
400,000

$500 million 5.375% senior unsecured notes due November 2023
500,000

 
500,000

$400 million 3.35% senior unsecured notes due September 2024
400,000

 

$850 million 5.250% senior unsecured notes due June 2025
850,000

 
850,000

$975 million 5.375% senior unsecured notes due April 2026
975,000

 
975,000

$500 million 5.750% senior unsecured notes due June 2028
500,000

 
500,000

$750 million 5.30% senior unsecured notes due January 2029
750,000

 
750,000

$700 million 4.00% senior unsecured notes due January 2030
700,000

 

Finance lease liability
989

 
1,112

Total long-term debt
5,786,163

 
5,903,112

Less: unamortized debt issuance costs, bond premiums and original issuance discounts
(48,201
)
 
(49,615
)
Total long-term debt, net of unamortized debt issuance costs, bond premiums and original issuance discounts
$
5,737,962

 
$
5,853,497



The following is a schedule of future minimum repayments of long-term debt as of December 31, 2019 (in thousands): 

2020
$
215,303

2021
849,135

2022
142

2023
546,149

2024
400,156

Over 5 years
3,775,278

Total minimum payments
$
5,786,163



Senior Unsecured Credit Facility

The Company's senior unsecured credit facility (the "Credit Facility"), consists of a $1,175 million revolving credit facility and a $449 million Term Loan A-1 facility. The revolving credit facility matures on May 21, 2023 and the Term Loan A-1 facility matures on April 28, 2021.

At December 31, 2019, the Credit Facility had a gross outstanding balance of $495 million, consisting of the $449 million Term Loan A-1 facility and $46 million of borrowings under the revolving credit facility. Additionally, at December 31, 2019, the Company was contingently obligated under letters of credit issued pursuant to the Credit Facility with face amounts aggregating approximately $0.4 million, resulting in $1,128.6 million of available borrowing capacity under the revolving credit facility as of December 31, 2019.

The interest rates payable on the loans are, at the Company's option, equal to either a LIBOR rate or a base rate plus an applicable margin, which ranges from 1.0% to 2.0% per annum for LIBOR loans and 0.0% to 1.0% per annum for base rate loans, in each case, depending on the credit ratings assigned to the Credit Facility. At December 31, 2019, the applicable margin was 1.50% for LIBOR loans and 0.50% for base rate loans. In addition, the Company is required to pay a commitment fee on the unused portion of the commitments under the revolving facility at a rate that ranges from 0.15% to 0.35% per annum, depending on the credit ratings assigned to the Credit Facility. At December 31, 2019, the commitment fee rate was 0.25%. The Company is not required to repay any loans under the Credit Facility prior to maturity and may prepay all or any portion of the loans under the Credit Facility prior to maturity without premium or penalty, subject to reimbursement of any

83


LIBOR breakage costs of the lenders. The Company's wholly owned subsidiary, GLP Capital is the primary obligor under the Credit Facility, which is guaranteed by GLPI.

The Credit Facility contains customary covenants that, among other things, restrict, subject to certain exceptions, the ability of GLPI and its subsidiaries to grant liens on their assets, incur indebtedness, sell assets, make investments, engage in acquisitions, mergers or consolidations or pay certain dividends and other restricted payments. The Credit Facility contains the following financial covenants, which are measured quarterly on a trailing four-quarter basis: a maximum total debt to total asset value ratio, a maximum senior secured debt to total asset value ratio, a maximum ratio of certain recourse debt to unencumbered asset value and a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio. In addition, GLPI is required to maintain a minimum tangible net worth and its status as a REIT. GLPI is permitted to pay dividends to its shareholders as may be required in order to maintain REIT status, subject to the absence of payment or bankruptcy defaults. GLPI is also permitted to make other dividends and distributions subject to pro forma compliance with the financial covenants and the absence of defaults. The Credit Facility also contains certain customary affirmative covenants and events of default, including the occurrence of a change of control and termination of the Penn Master Lease (subject to certain replacement rights). The occurrence and continuance of an event of default under the Credit Facility will enable the lenders under the Credit Facility to accelerate the loans and terminate the commitments thereunder. At December 31, 2019, the Company was in compliance with all required financial covenants under the Credit Facility.

Senior Unsecured Notes

At December 31, 2019, the Company had an outstanding balance of $5,290.2 million of senior unsecured notes (the "Senior Notes").

On August 29, 2019, the Company issued $400 million of 3.35% Senior Unsecured Notes maturing on September 1, 2024 at an issue price equal to 99.899% of the principal amount (the "2024 Notes") and $700 million of 4.00% Senior Unsecured Notes maturing on January 15, 2030 at an issue price equal to 99.751% of the principal amount (the "2030 Notes"). Interest on the 2024 Notes is payable semi-annually on March 1 and September 1 of each year, commencing on March 1, 2020. Interest on the 2030 Notes is payable semi-annually on January 15 and July 15 of each year, commencing on January 15, 2020. The net proceeds from the sale of the 2024 Notes and 2030 Notes were used to (i) finance the Company's cash tender offer to purchase its 4.875% Senior Unsecured Notes due 2020 (described below) (ii) repay outstanding borrowings under the Company's revolving credit facility and (iii) repay a portion of the outstanding borrowings under the Company's Term Loan A-1 facility.

On September 12, 2019, the Company completed a cash tender offer (the "2019 Tender Offer") to purchase its $1,000 million aggregate principal amount 4.875% Senior Unsecured Notes due 2020 (the "2020 Notes"). The Company received early tenders from the holders of approximately $782.6 million in aggregate principal of the 2020 Notes, or approximately 78% of its outstanding 2020 Notes, in connection with the 2019 Tender Offer at a price of 102.337% of the unpaid principal amount plus accrued and unpaid interest through the settlement date. Subsequent to the early tender deadline, an additional $2.2 million in aggregate principal of the 2020 Notes were tendered at a price of 99.337% of the unpaid principal amount plus accrued and unpaid interest through the settlement date, for a total redemption of $784.8 million of the 2020 Notes. The Company recorded a loss on the early extinguishment of debt related to the 2019 Tender Offer, of approximately $21.0 million, for the difference between the reaquisition price of the tendered 2020 Notes and their net carrying value.
The Company may redeem the Senior Notes of any series at any time, and from time to time, at a redemption price of 100% of the principal amount of the Senior Notes redeemed, plus a "make-whole" redemption premium described in the indenture governing the Senior Notes, together with accrued and unpaid interest to, but not including, the redemption date, except that if Senior Notes of a series are redeemed 90 or fewer days prior to their maturity, the redemption price will be 100% of the principal amount of the Senior Notes redeemed, together with accrued and unpaid interest to, but not including, the redemption date. If GLPI experiences a change of control accompanied by a decline in the credit rating of the Senior Notes of a particular series, the Company will be required to give holders of the Senior Notes of such series the opportunity to sell their Senior Notes of such series at a price equal to 101% of the principal amount of the Senior Notes of such series, together with accrued and unpaid interest to, but not including, the repurchase date. The Senior Notes also are subject to mandatory redemption requirements imposed by gaming laws and regulations. 
The Senior Notes were issued by GLP Capital, L.P. and GLP Financing II, Inc. (the "Issuers"), two wholly-owned subsidiaries of GLPI, and are guaranteed on a senior unsecured basis by GLPI. The guarantees of GLPI are full and unconditional. The Senior Notes are the Issuers' senior unsecured obligations and rank pari passu in right of payment with all of the Issuers' senior indebtedness, including the Credit Facility, and senior in right of payment to all of the Issuers'

84


subordinated indebtedness, without giving effect to collateral arrangements. See Note 21 for additional financial information on the parent guarantor and subsidiary issuers of the Senior Notes.
The Senior Notes contain covenants limiting the Company’s ability to: incur additional debt and use its assets to secure debt; merge or consolidate with another company; and make certain amendments to the Penn Master Lease. The Senior Notes also require the Company to maintain a specified ratio of unencumbered assets to unsecured debt. These covenants are subject to a number of important and significant limitations, qualifications and exceptions.
 
At December 31, 2019, the Company was in compliance with all required financial covenants under its Senior Notes.

Finance Lease Liability

The Company assumed the finance lease obligations related to certain assets at its Aurora, Illinois property. GLPI recorded the asset and liability associated with the finance lease on its consolidated balance sheet. The original term of the finance lease is 30 years and it will terminate in 2026.

10. Fair Value of Financial Assets and Liabilities

Assets and Liabilities Measured at Fair Value on a Recurring Basis
 
The following methods and assumptions are used to estimate the fair value of each class of financial instruments for which it is practicable to estimate:

Cash and Cash Equivalents
 
The fair value of the Company’s cash and cash equivalents approximates the carrying value of the Company’s cash and cash equivalents, due to the short maturity of the cash equivalents.

Deferred Compensation Plan Assets

The Company's deferred compensation plan assets consist of open-ended mutual funds and as such the fair value measurement of the assets is considered a Level 1 measurement as defined under ASC 820. Deferred compensation plan assets are included within other assets on the consolidated balance sheets.

Real Estate Loans

The fair value of the real estate loans approximates the carrying value of the Company's real estate loans, as collection on the outstanding loan balances is reasonably assured. The fair value measurement of the real estate loans is considered a Level 3 measurement as defined under ASC 820.

Long-term Debt
 
The fair value of the Senior Notes and senior unsecured credit facility is estimated based on quoted prices in active markets and as such is a Level 1 measurement as defined under ASC 820.
 
The estimated fair values of the Company’s financial instruments are as follows (in thousands):
 
December 31, 2019
 
December 31, 2018
 
Carrying
Amount
 
Fair
Value
 
Carrying
Amount
 
Fair
Value
Financial assets:
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Cash and cash equivalents
$
26,823

 
$
26,823

 
$
25,783

 
$
25,783

Deferred compensation plan assets
28,855

 
28,855

 
22,709

 
22,709

Real estate loans
303,684

 
303,684

 
303,684

 
303,684

Financial liabilities:
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Long-term debt:
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Senior unsecured credit facility
495,000

 
493,533

 
927,000

 
909,308

Senior unsecured notes
5,290,174

 
5,707,996

 
4,975,000

 
4,958,455



85



Assets and Liabilities Measured at Fair Value on a Nonrecurring Basis
Certain assets and liabilities are measured at fair value on a nonrecurring basis in periods subsequent to initial recognition. Assets measured at fair value on a nonrecurring basis during the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 are categorized in the tables below based upon the lowest level of significant input to the valuation. There were no liabilities measured at fair value on a nonrecurring basis during the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018.
 
Level 1
 
Level 2
 
Level 3
 
Total Impairment Charges Recorded during the Year Ended December 31, 2019
 
(in thousands)
Assets:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Loan receivable
$

 
$

 
$

 
$
13,000

Total assets measured at fair value on a nonrecurring basis
$

 
$

 
$

 
$
13,000

 
Level 1
 
Level 2
 
Level 3
 
Total Impairment Charges Recorded during the Year Ended December 31, 2018
 
(in thousands)
Assets:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Goodwill
$

 
$

 
$
16,067

 
$
59,454

Loan receivable

 

 
13,000

 
1,500

Total assets measured at fair value on a nonrecurring basis
$

 
$

 
$
29,067

 
$
60,954


Loan Receivable

During the first quarter of 2019, the Company recorded an impairment charge of $13.0 million related to the write-off of the principal due to the Company under its unsecured loan to CQ Holding Company. During 2019, the operating results of Casino Queen continued to decline, the secured debt of Casino Queen was sold to a third-party casino operator at a discount and the Company no longer expected the loan to be repaid.

During the fourth quarter of 2018, the Company recorded an impairment charge of $1.5 million related to the paid-in-kind interest income on its Casino Queen Loan. The Company determined, based upon facts and circumstances existing at December 31, 2018, that the paid-in-kind interest due to the Company at December 31, 2018 is not expected to be collected. Therefore, the Company did not recognize the paid-in-kind interest income due to the Company for the quarter ended December 31, 2018 and took a charge for the previously recognized paid-in-kind interest income through the Company’s consolidated statement of earnings as a reversal of the paid-in-kind interest income recognized earlier in the year. See Note 6 for further details surrounding the Casino Queen Loan.

Goodwill

During the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company recorded goodwill impairment charges of $59.5 million on its Baton Rouge reporting unit, resulting from a significant reduction in the long-term earnings forecast of this property. The Company utilized the income approach to measure the fair value of goodwill, which involves a number of key assumptions, such as cash flow forecasts and discount rates. See Note 8 for additional information regarding the calculation of the impairment charge.


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11.    Commitments and Contingencies
 
Separation and Distribution Agreements

Pursuant to a Separation and Distribution Agreement between Penn and GLPI, any liability arising from or relating to legal proceedings involving the businesses and operations of Penn’s real property holdings prior to the Spin-Off (other than any liability arising from or relating to legal proceedings where the dispute arises from the operation or ownership of the TRS Properties) will be retained by Penn, and Penn will indemnify GLPI (and its subsidiaries, directors, officers, employees and agents and certain other related parties) against any losses it may incur arising from or relating to such legal proceedings. Similarly, pursuant to a Separation and Distribution Agreement between Pinnacle's operating company and GLPI (as successor to Pinnacle Entertainment), any liability arising from or relating to legal proceedings involving the business and operations of Pinnacle's real property holdings prior to the Pinnacle Merger will be retained by Pinnacle, and Pinnacle will indemnify GLPI (and its subsidiaries, directors, officers, employees and agents and certain other related parties) against any losses it may incur arising from or relating to such legal proceedings. Effective October 15, 2018, Penn assumed all obligations of Pinnacle pursuant to a merger of Pinnacle with and into a subsidiary of Penn. There can be no assurance that Penn will be able to fully satisfy these indemnification obligations. Moreover, even if the Company ultimately succeeds in recovering from Penn any amounts for which the Company is liable, it may be temporarily required to bear those losses.

Litigation

The Company is subject to various legal and administrative proceedings relating to personal injuries, employment matters, commercial transactions, and other matters arising in the normal course of business. The Company does not believe that the final outcome of these matters will have a material adverse effect on the Company’s consolidated financial position or results of operations. In addition, the Company maintains what it believes is adequate insurance coverage to further mitigate the risks of such proceedings. However, such proceedings can be costly, time consuming, and unpredictable and, therefore, no assurance can be given that the final outcome of such proceedings may not materially impact the Company’s financial condition or results of operations. Further, no assurance can be given that the amount or scope of existing insurance coverage will be sufficient to cover losses arising from such matters. 
Employee Benefit Plans
The Company maintains a defined contribution plan under the provisions of Section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, which covers all eligible employees. The plan enables participating employees to defer a portion of their salary and/or their annual bonus in a retirement fund to be administered by the Company. The Company makes a discretionary match contribution of 50% of employees' elective salary deferrals, up to a maximum of 6% of eligible employee compensation. The matching contributions for the defined contribution plan were $0.3 million for each of the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017.
The Company maintains a non-qualified deferred compensation plan that covers most management and other highly-compensated employees. The plan allows the participants to defer, on a pre-tax basis, a portion of their base annual salary and/or their annual bonus, and earn tax-deferred earnings on these deferrals. The plan also provides for matching Company contributions that vest over a five-year period. The Company has established a Trust, and transfers to the Trust, on a periodic basis, an amount necessary to provide for its respective future liabilities with respect to participant deferral and Company contribution amounts. The Company's matching contributions for the non-qualified deferred compensation plan for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017 were $0.6 million, $0.7 million and $0.6 million, respectively. The Company's deferred compensation liability, which was included in other liabilities within the consolidated balance sheet, was $25.2 million and $22.8 million at December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. Assets held in the Trust were $28.9 million and $22.7 million at December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively, and are included in other assets within the consolidated balance sheet.
Labor Agreements
Some of Hollywood Casino Perryville's employees are currently represented by labor unions. The Seafarers Entertainment and Allied Trade Union represents 145 of Hollywood Casino Perryville's employees under an agreement that expires in January 2032. Additionally, United Industrial Service Transportation Professional and Government Workers of North America and Local No. 27 United Food and Commercial Workers represent certain employees under collective bargaining agreements that expire in 2020 and 2032, respectively, neither of which represents more than 50 of Hollywood Casino Perryville's employees. If the Company fails to renew or modify existing agreements on satisfactory terms, this failure could have a material adverse effect on Hollywood Casino Perryville's business, financial condition and results of operations. There can be no assurance that Hollywood Casino Perryville will be able to maintain these agreements.


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12. Revenue Recognition

Revenues from Real Estate

As of December 31, 2019, 19 of the Company’s real estate investment properties were leased to a subsidiary of Penn under the Penn Master Lease, an additional 12 of the Company's real estate investment properties were leased to a subsidiary of Penn under the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease, 5 of the Company's real estate investment properties were leased to a subsidiary of Eldorado under the Eldorado Master Lease and 3 of the Company's real estate investment properties were leased to a subsidiary of Boyd under the Boyd Master Lease. Additionally, the Meadows real estate assets are leased to Penn under a single property triple-net lease (the "Meadows Lease") and the Casino Queen real estate assets are leased back to the operator under an additional single property triple-net lease.

The obligations under the Penn and Amended Pinnacle Master Leases, as well as the Meadows Lease are guaranteed by Penn and, with respect to each lease, jointly and severally by Penn's subsidiaries that occupy and operate the facilities covered by such lease. Similarly, the obligations under the Eldorado Master Lease are jointly and severally guaranteed by Eldorado and by most of Eldorado's subsidiaries that occupy and operate the facilities leased under the Eldorado Master Lease. The obligations under the Boyd Master Leases are jointly and severally guaranteed by Boyd's subsidiaries that occupy and operate the facilities leased under the Boyd Master Lease.
The rent structure under the Penn Master Lease includes a fixed component, a portion of which is subject to an annual 2% escalator if certain rent coverage ratio thresholds are met, and a component that is based on the performance of the facilities, which is adjusted, subject to certain floors (i) every five years to an amount equal to 4% of the average net revenues of all facilities under the Penn Master Lease (other than Hollywood Casino Columbus and Hollywood Casino Toledo) during the preceding five years, and (ii) monthly by an amount equal to 20% of the net revenues of Hollywood Casino Columbus and Hollywood Casino Toledo during the preceding month.

Similar to the Penn Master Lease, the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease also includes a fixed component, a portion of which is subject to an annual 2% escalator if certain rent coverage ratio thresholds are met and a component that is based on the performance of the facilities, which is adjusted, subject to certain floors every two years to an amount equal to 4% of the average annual net revenues of all facilities under the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease during the preceding two years.

The Eldorado Master Lease includes a fixed component, a portion of which is subject to an annual 2% escalator if certain rent coverage ratio thresholds are met and a component that is based on the performance of the facilities, which is adjusted, subject to certain floors every two years to an amount equal to 4% of the average annual net revenues of all facilities under the Eldorado Master Lease during the preceding two years.

 The Boyd Master Lease includes a fixed component, a portion of which is subject to an annual 2% escalator if certain rent coverage ratio thresholds are met, and a component that is based on the performance of the facilities, which is adjusted, subject to certain floors every two years to an amount equal to 4% of the average annual net revenues of all facilities under the Boyd Master Lease during the preceding two years.

The Meadows Lease contains a fixed component, subject to annual escalators, and a component that is based on the performance of the facility, which is reset every two years to an amount determined by multiplying (i) 4% by (ii) the average annual net revenues of the facility for the trailing two-year period. The Meadows Lease contains an annual escalator provision for up to 5% of the base rent, if certain rent coverage ratio thresholds are met, which remains at 5% until the earlier of ten years or the year in which total rent is $31.0 million, at which point the escalator will be reduced to 2% annually thereafter.

The rent structure under the Casino Queen Lease also includes a fixed component, a portion of which is subject to an annual 2% escalator if certain rent coverage ratio thresholds are met, and a component that is based on the performance of the facility, which is reset every five years to an amount equal to the greater of (i) the annual amount of non-fixed rent applicable for the lease year immediately preceding such rent reset year and (ii) an amount equal to 4% of the average annual net revenues of the facility for the trailing five-year period.

Furthermore, the Company's master leases provide for a floor on the percentage rent described above, should the Company's tenants acquire or commence operating a competing facility within a restricted area (typically 60 miles from a property under the existing master lease with such tenant). These clauses provide landlord protections by basing the percentage rent floor for any affected facility on the net revenues of such facility for the calendar year immediately preceding the year in which the competing facility is acquired or first operated by the tenant. In June 2019, a percentage rent floor was triggered on

88


Penn's Hollywood Casino Toledo property, as a result of Penn's purchase of the operations of the Greektown Casino-Hotel in Detroit, Michigan.

In addition to rent, as triple-net lessees, all of the Company's tenants are required to pay the following executory costs: (1) all facility maintenance, (2) all insurance required in connection with the leased properties and the business conducted on the leased properties, including coverage of the landlord's interests, (3) taxes levied on or with respect to the leased properties (other than taxes on the income of the lessor) and (4) all utilities and other services necessary or appropriate for the leased properties and the business conducted on the leased properties.

The Company determined, based on facts and circumstances prevailing at the time of each lease's inception, that neither Penn nor Casino Queen could continue as a going concern without the property(ies) that are leased to them under the respective master lease agreement (in the instance of Penn) and single property lease (in the instance of Casino Queen) with the Company. At lease inception, all of Casino Queen's revenues and substantially all of Penn's revenues were generated from operations in connection with the leased properties. There are also various legal restrictions in the jurisdictions in which Penn, and Casino Queen operate that limit the availability and location of gaming facilities, which makes relocation or replacement of the leased gaming facilities restrictive and potentially impracticable or unavailable. Moreover, under the terms of the master lease, Penn must make renewal elections with respect to all of the leased property together; the tenant is not entitled to selectively renew certain of the leased property while not renewing other property. Accordingly, the Company concluded that failure by Penn or Casino Queen to renew the lease would impose a significant penalty on such tenant such that renewal of all lease renewal options appeared at lease inception to be reasonably assured. Therefore, the Company concluded that the term of Penn Master Lease and the Casino Queen Lease is 35 years, equal to the initial 15-year term plus all four of the 5-year renewal options.

As discussed in Note 18, on October 15, 2018, in conjunction with the Penn-Pinnacle Merger, the Pinnacle Master Lease was amended by a fourth amendment to allow for the sale of the operating assets of Ameristar Casino Hotel Kansas City, Ameristar Casino Resort Spa St. Charles and Belterra Casino Resort from Pinnacle to Boyd. As a result of this amendment, the Company reassessed the lease's classification and determined the new lease agreement qualified for operating lease treatment under ASC 840. Therefore, subsequent to the Penn-Pinnacle Merger, the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease is treated as an operating lease in its entirety. Because the properties under the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease did not represent a meaningful portion of Penn's business at the time Penn assumed the lease, the Company concluded that the lease term of the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease is 10 years, equal to the initial 10-year term only.

Because the Meadows Lease was a single property lease operated by a large multi-property operator, GLPI concluded it was not reasonably assured at lease inception that the operator would elect to exercise all lease renewal options. Therefore, the Company concluded that the lease term of the Meadows Lease is 10 years, equal to the initial 10-year term only. In conjunction with the Penn-Pinnacle Merger, Penn assumed the Meadows Lease from Pinnacle. The accounting for the Meadows Lease, including the lease term was not impacted by the change in tenant. Based upon similar fact patterns, the Company concluded it was not reasonably assured at lease inception that Eldorado or Boyd would elect to exercise all lease renewal options under their respective master leases. The properties under each of the master leases did not represent a meaningful portion of either tenant's business at lease inception; therefore the Company concluded that the lease term of the Eldorado Master Lease is 15 years and the lease term of the Boyd Master Lease is 10 years, equal to the initial terms of such master leases only.


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Details of the Company's rental income for the year ended December 31, 2019 was as follows (in thousands):
 
Year Ended December 31, 2019
Building base rent (1)
$
659,620

Land base rent
190,168

Percentage rent
159,107

Total cash rental income
$
1,008,895

Straight-line rent adjustments
(34,574
)
Ground rent in revenue
21,347

Other rental revenue
498

Total rental income
$
996,166



(1) Building base rent is subject to the annual rent escalators described above.

As of December 31, 2019, the future minimum rental income from the Company's rental properties under non-cancelable operating leases, including any reasonably assured renewal periods, was as follows (in thousands):
Year ending December 31,
Future Rental Payments Receivable
 
Straight-Line Rent Adjustments
 
Future Base Ground Rents Receivable
 
Future Income to be Recognized Related to Operating Leases
2020
$
959,603

 
$
(2,567
)
 
$
12,223

 
$
969,259

2021
926,874

 
21,786

 
12,045

 
960,705

2022
926,874

 
21,786

 
12,051

 
960,711

2023
920,236

 
21,786

 
12,057

 
954,079

2024
887,046

 
21,786

 
12,063

 
920,895

Thereafter
10,984,406

 
243,908

 
72,882

 
11,301,196

Total
$
15,605,039

 
$
328,485

 
$
133,321

 
$
16,066,845


The table above presents the cash rent the Company expects to receive from its tenants, offset by adjustments to recognize this rent on a straight-line basis over the lease term. The Company also includes the future non-cash revenue it expects to recognize from the fixed portion of tenant paid ground leases in the table above. For further details on these tenant paid ground leases, refer to Note 7.
The Company may periodically loan funds to casino owner-operators for the purchase of real estate. Interest income related to real estate loans is recorded as revenue from real estate within the Company's consolidated statements of income in the period earned. At December 31, 2019, the Company has two loans, the proceeds of which were used to acquire real estate, the Belterra Park Loan and the Eldorado Loan. During the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, the Company recognized interest income from these real estate loans of $28.9 million and $6.9 million, respectively.
Gaming, Food, Beverage and Other Revenues
Gaming revenue generated by the TRS Properties mainly consists of revenue from slot machines, and to a lesser extent, table game and poker revenue. Gaming revenue is recognized net of certain sales incentives, including promotional allowances in accordance with ASC 606. The Company also defers a portion of the revenue received from customers (who participate in the points-based loyalty programs) at the time of play until a later period when the points are redeemed or forfeited. Other revenues at our TRS Properties are derived from our dining, retail and certain other ancillary activities. During the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, the Company recognized gaming, food, beverage and other revenue of $128.4 million and $132.5 million, respectively.


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13.    Stock-Based Compensation
As of December 31, 2019, the Company had 1,750,857 shares available for future issuance under the Amended 2013 Long Term Incentive Compensation Plan (the "2013 Plan"). The 2013 Plan provides for the Company to issue restricted stock awards, including performance-based restricted stock awards and other equity or cash based awards to employees. Any director, employee or consultant shall be eligible to receive such awards. The Company issues new authorized common shares to satisfy stock option exercises and restricted stock award releases.
As of December 31, 2019, there was $5.1 million of total unrecognized compensation cost for restricted stock awards that will be recognized over the grants' remaining weighted average vesting period of 1.62 years. For the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, the Company recognized $7.5 million, $4.7 million and $6.0 million, respectively, of compensation expense associated with these awards. The total fair value of awards released during the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, was $10.1 million, $10.0 million and $7.3 million, respectively.

The following table contains information on restricted stock award activity for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018:

        
 
Number of
Award
Shares
 
Weighted Average Grant-Date Fair Value
Outstanding at December 31, 2017
344,744

 
$
29.69

Granted
283,183

 
$
23.34

Released
(273,286
)
 
$
18.16

Canceled
(54,999
)
 
$
33.34

Outstanding at December 31, 2018
299,642

 
$
33.53

Granted
317,290

 
$
22.69

Released
(299,961
)
 
$
21.47

Canceled

 
$

Outstanding at December 31, 2019
316,971

 
$
34.10



Performance-based restricted stock awards have a three-year cliff vesting with the amount of restricted shares vesting at the end of the three-year period determined based upon the Company’s performance as measured against its peers. More specifically, the percentage of shares vesting at the end of the measurement period will be based on the Company’s three-year total shareholder return measured against the three-year total shareholder return of the companies included in the MSCI US REIT index and the Company's stock performance ranking among a group of triple-net REIT peer companies. The triple-net measurement group includes publicly traded REITs, which the Company believes derive at least 75% of revenues from triple-net leases and meet a minimum market capitalization. As of December 31, 2019, there was $8.9 million of total unrecognized compensation cost for performance-based restricted stock awards, which will be recognized over the awards' remaining weighted average vesting period of 1.67 years.  For the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, the Company recognized $8.7 million, $6.4 million and $9.7 million, respectively, of compensation expense associated with these awards. The total fair value of performance-based stock awards released during the years ended December 31, 2019, and 2018 was $14.7 million and $20.1 million, respectively. No performance-based stock awards were released during the year ended December 31, 2017.


91


The following table contains information on performance-based restricted stock award activity for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018:

        
 
Number of  Performance-Based Award Shares
 
Weighted Average Grant-Date Fair Value
Outstanding at December 31, 2017
1,664,000

 
$
17.49

Granted
556,000

 
$
20.64

Released
(548,000
)
 
$
17.29

Canceled
(330,000
)
 
$
18.60

Outstanding at December 31, 2018
1,342,000

 
$
18.60

Granted
512,000

 
$
17.85

Released
(447,334
)
 
$
17.22

Canceled
(23,332
)
 
$
18.63

Outstanding at December 31, 2019
1,383,334

 
$
18.77



14.    Income Taxes
The Company elected on its U.S. federal income tax return for its taxable year that began on January 1, 2014 to be treated as a REIT. The benefits of the intended REIT conversion on the Company's tax provision and effective income tax rate are reflected in the tables below. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are provided for the effects of temporary differences between the tax basis of an asset or liability and its reported amount in the consolidated balance sheets. These temporary differences result in taxable or deductible amounts in future years. As a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the corporate tax rate was permanently lowered from the previous maximum rate of 35% to 21%, effective for tax years including or commencing January 1, 2018. As a result of the reduction of the corporate tax rate, U.S. generally accepted accounting principles required companies to re-value their deferred tax assets and liabilities as of the date of the enactment, with resulting tax effects accounted for in the reported period of enactment. As such, the Company revalued its net deferred tax asset at December 31, 2017. This revaluation resulted in a reduction in the value of its net deferred tax asset of approximately $1.8 million, which was recorded as additional income tax expense in the Company’s consolidated statement of income for the year ended December 31, 2017.
The components of the Company's deferred tax assets and liabilities, related to its TRS, are as follows:
Year ended December 31,
2019
 
2018
 
(in thousands)
Deferred tax assets:
 

 
 

Accrued expenses
$
1,597

 
$
1,416

Property and equipment
5,844

 
5,405

Interest expense
596

 
313

Net deferred tax assets
8,037

 
7,134

Deferred tax liabilities:
 

 
 

Property and equipment
(624
)
 
(757
)
Intangibles
(1,636
)
 
(1,460
)
Net deferred tax liabilities
(2,260
)
 
(2,217
)
Net:
$
5,777

 
$
4,917



92


The provision for income taxes charged to operations for years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017 was as follows:
Year ended December 31,
2019

2018

2017
 
(in thousands)
Current tax expense
 


 


 

Federal
$
3,005

 
$
2,856

 
$
7,039

State
2,514

 
2,630

 
3,309

Total current
5,519

 
5,486

 
10,348

Deferred tax (benefit) expense
 


 


 

Federal
(667
)
 
(512
)
 
(166
)
State
(88
)
 
(10
)
 
(395
)
Total deferred
(755
)
 
(522
)
 
(561
)
Total provision
$
4,764

 
$
4,964

 
$
9,787


The following tables reconcile the statutory federal income tax rate to the actual effective income tax rate for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017:
Year ended December 31,
2019

2018

2017
Percent of pretax income
 


 


 

U.S. federal statutory income tax rate
21.0
 %
 
21.0
 %
 
35.0
 %
State and local income taxes
0.5
 %
 
0.6
 %
 
0.6
 %
Federal tax rate change
 %
 
 %
 
0.5
 %
REIT conversion benefit
(20.3
)%
 
(23.8
)%
 
(33.6
)%
Goodwill impairment charges
 %
 
3.6
 %
 
 %

1.2
 %
 
1.4
 %
 
2.5
 %
 

Year ended December 31,
2019
 
2018
 
2017
 
(in thousands)
Amount based upon pretax income
 

 
 

 
 

U.S. federal statutory income tax
$
83,086

 
$
72,341

 
$
136,636

State and local income taxes
2,051

 
2,246

 
2,284

Federal tax rate change

 

 
1,818

REIT conversion benefit
(80,397
)
 
(82,151
)
 
(130,876
)
Goodwill impairment charges

 
12,485

 

Permanent differences
23

 
19

 
49

Other miscellaneous items
1

 
24

 
(124
)
 
$
4,764

 
$
4,964

 
$
9,787


The Company is still subject to federal income tax examinations for its years ended December 31, 2016 and forward.


93


15. Earnings Per Share

The following table reconciles the weighted-average common shares outstanding used in the calculation of basic EPS to the weighted-average common shares outstanding used in the calculation of diluted EPS for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017
 
Year Ended December 31,
 
2019
 
2018
 
2017
 
(in thousands)
Determination of shares:
 

 
 

 
 
Weighted-average common shares outstanding
214,667

 
213,720

 
210,705

Assumed conversion of employee stock-based awards

 
206

 
644

Assumed conversion of restricted stock awards
117

 
80

 
155

Assumed conversion of performance-based restricted stock awards
1,002

 
773

 
1,248

Diluted weighted-average common shares outstanding
215,786

 
214,779

 
212,752



The following table presents the calculation of basic and diluted EPS for the Company’s common stock for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017
 
Year Ended December 31,
 
2019
 
2018
 
2017
 
(in thousands, except per share and share amounts)
Calculation of basic EPS:
 

 
 

 
 
Net income
$
390,881

 
$
339,516

 
$
380,598

Less: Net income allocated to participating securities
(576
)
 
(475
)
 
(622
)
Net income attributable to common shareholders
$
390,305

 
$
339,041

 
$
379,976

Weighted-average common shares outstanding
214,667

 
213,720

 
210,705

Basic EPS
$
1.82

 
$
1.59

 
$
1.80

 
 
 
 
 
 
Calculation of diluted EPS:
 

 
 

 
 
Net income
$
390,881

 
$
339,516

 
$
380,598

Diluted weighted-average common shares outstanding
215,786

 
214,779

 
212,752

Diluted EPS
$
1.81

 
$
1.58

 
$
1.79

 
 
 
 
 
 
Antidilutive securities excluded from the computation of diluted earnings per share (in shares)

 
13,335

 
3,483



16.     Shareholders' Equity

Common Stock

ATM Program

On August 14, 2019, the Company commenced a continuous equity offering under which the Company may sell up to an aggregate of $600 million of its common stock from time to time through a sales agent in "at the market" offerings (the "2019 ATM Program"). Actual sales will depend on a variety of factors, including market conditions, the trading price of the Company's common stock and determinations of the appropriate sources of funding. The Company may sell the shares in amounts and at times to be determined by the Company, but has no obligation to sell any of the shares in the 2019 ATM Program. The 2019 ATM Program also allows the Company to enter into forward sale agreements. In no event will the aggregate number of shares sold under the 2019 ATM Program (whether under any forward sale agreement or through a sales agent), have an aggregate sales price in excess of $600 million. The Company expects, that if it enters into a forward sale contract, to physically settle each forward sale agreement with the forward purchaser on one or more dates specified by the Company prior to the maturity date of that particular forward sale agreement, in which case the aggregate net cash proceeds at settlement will equal the number of shares underlying the particular forward sale agreement multiplied by the relevant forward sale price. However, the Company may also elect to cash settle or net share settle a particular forward sale agreement, in which case proceeds may or may not be received or cash may be owed to the forward purchaser.

94


In connection with the 2019 ATM Program, the Company engaged a sales agent who may receive compensation of up to 2% of the gross sales price of the shares sold. Similarly, in the event the Company enters into a forward sale agreement, it will pay the relevant forward seller a commission of up to 2% of the sales price of all borrowed shares of common stock sold during the applicable selling period of the forward sale agreement.
During the year ended December 31, 2019, GLPI sold 1,500 shares of its common stock at an average price of $43.17 per share under the 2019 ATM Program, which generated gross proceeds of approximately $65 thousand. The Company incurred legal and other fees in connection with the ATM Program, which resulted in net costs of $255 thousand. During the year ended December 31, 2017, GLPI sold 3,864,872 shares of its common stock at an average price of $36.22 per share under a previously authorized ATM Program, which generated gross proceeds of approximately $140.0 million (net proceeds of approximately $139.4 million). The Company used the net proceeds from the 2017 sales to partially fund its acquisition of the Tunica Properties' real estate assets. As of December 31, 2019, the Company had $599.9 million remaining for issuance under the 2019 ATM Program and had not entered into any forward sale agreements.

The following table lists the regular dividends declared and paid by the Company during the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017:

Declaration Date
 
Shareholder Record Date
 
Securities Class
 
Dividend Per Share
 
Period Covered
 
Distribution Date
 
Dividend Amount
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(in thousands)
2019
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
February 19, 2019
 
March 8, 2019
 
Common Stock
 
$
0.68

 
First Quarter 2019
 
March 22, 2019
 
$
145,954

May 28, 2019
 
June 14, 2019
 
Common Stock
 
$
0.68

 
Second Quarter 2019
 
June 28, 2019
 
$
145,978

August 20, 2019
 
September 6, 2019
 
Common Stock
 
$
0.68

 
Third Quarter 2019
 
September 20, 2019
 
$
145,984

November 26, 2019
 
December 13, 2019
 
Common Stock
 
$
0.70

 
Fourth Quarter 2019
 
December 27, 2019
 
$
150,285

2018
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
February 1, 2018
 
March 9, 2018
 
Common Stock
 
$
0.63

 
First Quarter 2018
 
March 23, 2018
 
$
134,490

April 24, 2018
 
June 15, 2018
 
Common Stock
 
$
0.63

 
Second Quarter 2018
 
June 29, 2018
 
$
134,631

July 31, 2018
 
September 7, 2018
 
Common Stock
 
$
0.63

 
Third Quarter 2018
 
September 21, 2018
 
$
134,844

October 12, 2018
 
December 14, 2018
 
Common Stock
 
$
0.68

 
Fourth Quarter 2018
 
December 28, 2018
 
$
145,627

2017
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
February 1, 2017
 
March 13, 2017
 
Common Stock
 
$
0.62

 
First Quarter 2017
 
March 24, 2017
 
$
129,007

April 25, 2017
 
June 16, 2017
 
Common Stock
 
$
0.62

 
Second Quarter 2017
 
June 30, 2017
 
$
131,554

July 25, 2017
 
September 8, 2017
 
Common Stock
 
$
0.63

 
Third Quarter 2017
 
September 22, 2017
 
$
133,936

October 19, 2017
 
December 1, 2017
 
Common Stock
 
$
0.63

 
Fourth Quarter 2017
 
December 15, 2017
 
$
133,942



In addition for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, dividend payments were made to or accrued for GLPI restricted stock award holders and for both GLPI and Penn unvested employee stock options in the amount of $0.9 million, $0.8 million and $0.9 million, respectively.


95


A summary of the Company's common stock distributions for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017 is as follows (unaudited):

 
Year Ended December 31,
 
2019
 
2018
 
2017
 
(in dollars per share)
Qualified dividends
$
0.0387

 
$
0.0391

 
$
0.0543

Non-qualified dividends
2.2649

 
2.2955

 
2.2436

Capital gains
0.0353

 
0.0270

 
0.0371

Non-taxable return of capital
0.4011

 
0.2084

 
0.1650

Total distributions per common share
$
2.74

 
$
2.57

 
$
2.50

 
 
 
 
 
 
Percentage classified as qualified dividends
1.41
%
 
1.52
%
 
2.17
%
Percentage classified as non-qualified dividends
82.66
%
 
89.32
%
 
89.75
%
Percentage classified as capital gains
1.29
%
 
1.05
%
 
1.48
%
Percentage classified as non-taxable return of capital
14.64
%
 
8.11
%
 
6.60
%
 
100.00
%
 
100.00
%
 
100.00
%




96


17.    Segment Information
 
The following tables present certain information with respect to the Company’s segments. Intersegment revenues between the Company’s segments were not material in any of the periods presented below.
 
 
 
GLP Capital (1)
 
TRS Properties
 
Total
 
 
(in thousands)
For the year ended December 31, 2019
 
 
 
 
 
 
Total revenues
 
$
1,025,082

 
$
128,391

 
$
1,153,473

Income from operations
 
694,215

 
23,208

 
717,423

Interest expense
 
291,114

 
10,406

 
301,520

Income before income taxes
 
382,841

 
12,804

 
395,645

Income tax expense
 
657

 
4,107

 
4,764

Net income
 
382,184

 
8,697

 
390,881

Depreciation
 
232,708

 
7,727

 
240,435

Capital project expenditures
 

 

 

Capital maintenance expenditures
 
22

 
2,995

 
3,017

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For the year ended December 31, 2018
 
 
 
 
 
 
Total revenues
 
$
923,182

 
$
132,545

 
$
1,055,727

Income (loss) from operations
 
630,122

 
(36,312
)
 
593,810

Interest expense
 
237,278

 
10,406

 
247,684

Income (loss) before income taxes
 
391,196

 
(46,716
)
 
344,480

Income tax expense
 
855

 
4,109

 
4,964

Net income (loss)
 
390,341

 
(50,825
)
 
339,516

Depreciation
 
127,696

 
9,397

 
137,093

Capital project expenditures
 
20

 

 
20

Capital maintenance expenditures
 
55

 
4,229

 
4,284

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For the year ended December 31, 2017
 
 
 
 
 
 
Total revenues
 
$
829,221

 
$
142,086

 
$
971,307

Income from operations
 
578,661

 
26,857

 
605,518

Interest expense
 
206,662

 
10,406

 
217,068

Income before income taxes
 
373,931

 
16,454

 
390,385

Income tax expense
 
1,099

 
8,688

 
9,787

Net income
 
372,832

 
7,766

 
380,598

Depreciation
 
102,652

 
10,828

 
113,480

Capital project expenditures
 
78

 

 
78

Capital maintenance expenditures
 

 
3,178

 
3,178

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Balance sheet at December 31, 2019
 
 
 
 
 
 
Total assets
 
$
8,299,143

 
$
135,155

 
$
8,434,298

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Balance sheet at December 31, 2018
 
 
 
 
 
 
Total assets
 
$
8,441,345

 
$
135,948

 
$
8,577,293

 

(1)              Interest expense is net of intercompany interest eliminations of $10.4 million for each of the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017.


97


18.    Acquisitions

The Company accounts for its acquisitions of real estate assets as asset acquisitions under ASC 805 - Business Combinations. Under asset acquisition accounting, transaction costs incurred to acquire the purchased assets are also included as part of the asset cost.

Prior Year Acquisitions

2018

On October 15, 2018, in conjunction with the Penn-Pinnacle Merger the Company acquired the real property assets of Plainridge Park from Penn for approximately $250.9 million. This property was added to the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease via the fourth amendment to the Pinnacle Master Lease and is leased to Penn who will continue to operate the property. The initial annual cash rent of $25.0 million for Plainridge Park will not be subject to rent escalators or adjustments.

Also in conjunction with the Penn-Pinnacle Merger, the Pinnacle Master Lease was amended via the fourth amendment to such lease to allow for the sale of the operating assets of Ameristar Casino Hotel Kansas City, Ameristar Casino Resort Spa St. Charles and Belterra Casino Resort from Pinnacle to Boyd and to increase fixed rent under the lease by an additional $13.9 million annually. The Company entered into a new unitary triple-net master lease agreement with Boyd for these properties on terms similar to the Company’s existing master leases. As a result of the fourth amendment to the Pinnacle Master Lease, the Company reassessed the lease's classification and determined the new lease agreement qualified for operating lease treatment under ASC 840. Therefore, subsequent to the Penn-Pinnacle Merger, the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease is treated as an operating lease in its entirety, the building assets of $2.6 billion previously recorded as an investment in direct financing lease on the Company's consolidated balance sheet were recorded as real estate assets on the Company's consolidated balance sheet and all rent received under the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease is recorded as rental income on the Company's consolidated statement of income. The Amended Pinnacle Master Lease was assumed by Penn at the consummation of the Penn-Pinnacle Merger.

On October 1, 2018, the Company acquired the real property assets of five casino properties from Tropicana and certain of its affiliates for approximately $992.5 million, pursuant to the Real Estate Purchase Agreement dated April 15, 2018 between Tropicana and GLP Capital, which was subsequently amended on October 1, 2018. Pursuant to the terms of the Amended Real Estate Purchase Agreement, the Company acquired the real estate assets of Tropicana Atlantic City, Tropicana Evansville, Tropicana Laughlin, Trop Casino Greenville and the Belle of Baton Rouge and the rights to six long-term ground leases for land on which the operations of the acquired Tropicana properties reside. Concurrent with the Tropicana Acquisition, Eldorado acquired the operating assets of these properties from Tropicana pursuant to the Tropicana Merger Agreement and leased the GLP Assets from the Company pursuant to the terms of a new unitary triple-net master lease with an initial term of 15 years, with no purchase option, followed by four successive 5-year renewal periods (exercisable by Eldorado) on the same terms and conditions. Initial annual rent under the Eldorado Master Lease was $87.6 million and is subject to annual rent escalators and biennial percentage rent adjustments.
Purchase price allocations are primarily based on the fair values of assets acquired and liabilities assumed at the time of acquisition. The following table summarizes the purchase price allocation of the assets acquired in the Tropicana Acquisition (in thousands):
Real estate investments, net
$
948,217

Land rights, net
44,331

Total purchase price
$
992,548


2017

On May 1, 2017, the Company acquired the real property assets of Bally's Casino Tunica (subsequently re-branded as the 1st Jackpot Casino) and Resorts Casino Tunica (the "Tunica Properties") for $82.9 million. The Company acquired both Bally's Casino Tunica and Resorts Casino Tunica, as well as the Resorts Hotel and land at Bally's Casino Tunica. Land rights to three long-term ground leases related to the Tunica Properties were also acquired in the transaction. Penn purchased the operating assets of the Tunica Properties directly from the seller and originally operated both properties and leased the real assets from the Company under the Penn Master Lease. On June 30, 2019, Penn closed the Resorts Casino Tunica property. The closure of this property resulted in the acceleration of depreciation and amortization of the building and land right assets, which the Company recorded on its books in conjunction with the acquisition of this property.

98


Subsequent to the property's closure, the Company also entered into an agreement to terminate the long-term ground lease for the Resorts Casino Tunica property, which will be effective in February 2020. In connection with the exercised termination option, the Company remeasured the lease liability and adjusted the right-of-use asset it had recorded on its consolidated balance sheet for this lease to align with the new termination date. The closure, however, has no impact on the rent collected from Penn under the Penn Master Lease, as the Company's lease with Penn is unitary cross-collateralized and does not allow for rent reductions for individual property closures. Furthermore, the rent under Company's ground lease is currently paid by the tenant but is required to be reported on a gross basis on our financial statements under ASC 842.

19.    Summarized Quarterly Data (Unaudited)
The following table summarizes the quarterly results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018:
 
Fiscal Quarter
 
 
 
First
 
Second
 
Third
 
Fourth
 
 
 
(in thousands, except per share data)
 
 
2019
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
Total revenues
$
287,864

 
$
289,013

 
$
287,612

 
$
288,984

(1 
) 
(2 
) 
Income from operations
170,775

 
170,767

 
187,625

 
188,256

(2 
) 
 
Net income
93,010

 
93,033

 
90,547

 
114,291

(3 
) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Earnings per common share:
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
Basic earnings per common share
$
0.43

 
$
0.43

 
$
0.42

 
$
0.53

 
 
Diluted earnings per common share
$
0.43

 
$
0.43

 
$
0.42

 
$
0.53

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2018
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
Total revenues
$
244,050

 
$
254,221

 
$
254,139

 
$
303,317

(1 
) 
(2 
) 
Income from operations
151,851

 
153,241

 
164,834

 
123,884

(2 
) 
 
Net income
96,772

 
91,998

 
104,815

 
45,931

(4 
) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Earnings per common share:
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
Basic earnings per common share
$
0.45

 
$
0.43

 
$
0.49

 
$
0.21

 
 
Diluted earnings per common share
$
0.45

 
$
0.43

 
$
0.49

 
$
0.21

 
 


(1)    In conjunction with the adoption of ASU 2016-02 on January 1, 2019, the Company is no longer required to gross-
up its revenues for real estate taxes paid directly by its tenants. This change had no impact to the Company's operating results as these revenue gross-ups were offset with a gross-up to our operating expenses.

(2)    During October 2018, the Company acquired the real property assets of five casino properties from Tropicana and
leased these assets to Eldorado under the Eldorado Master Lease. Also during October 2018, in conjunction with the Penn-Pinnacle Merger, the Company acquired the real property assets of Plainridge Park and added this property to the
Amended Pinnacle Master Lease. These transactions, in addition to the treatment of the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease as an operating lease in its entirety, as detailed in Note 18 were the primary drivers for the Company's improved operating results in 2019 as compared to 2018.

(3)    During March 2019, the Company recorded a $13.0 million loan impairment charge related to the write-off of the
Casino Queen Loan. During June 2019, the Company recorded accelerated depreciation and amortization expense in the aggregate amount of $16.6 million related to the closure of the Resorts Casino Tunica property by our tenant. In September 2019, the Company recorded a loss on the early extinguishment of debt related to the 2019 Tender Offer of approximately $21.0 million. The absence of any unusual charges in the fourth quarter is the driving factor in increased net income for the period.

(4)    During the fourth quarter of 2018, the Company recorded an impairment charge of $59.5 million, related to the

99


goodwill recorded on the books of its subsidiary, Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge. This was the largest driver of the decrease in the Company's net income during the fourth quarter of 2018. For further information on the impairment charge see Note 8.

20.    Supplemental Disclosures of Cash Flow Information and Noncash Activities

Supplemental disclosures of cash flow information are as follows:

Year ended December 31,
2019
 
2018
 
2017
 
(in thousands)
Cash paid for income taxes, net of refunds received
$
5,554

 
$
5,389

 
$
11,646

Cash paid for interest
274,530

 
229,779

 
204,442



Noncash Investing and Financing Activities

On January 1, 2019, in conjunction with its adoption of ASU 2016-02, the Company recorded right-of-use assets and related lease liabilities of $203 million on its consolidated balance sheet to represent its rights to underlying assets and future lease obligations. In conjunction with the October 2018 Penn-Pinnacle Merger, the Company reassessed the classification of the Pinnacle Master Lease and determined the new lease agreement qualified for operating lease treatment in its entirety. Therefore, on October 15, 2018, the building assets of $2.6 billion previously recorded as an investment in direct financing lease on the Company's consolidated balance sheet were reclassified to real estate assets on the Company's consolidated balance sheet. The Company did not engage in any other noncash investing and financing activities during the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017.

21.    Supplementary Consolidating Financial Information of Parent Guarantor and Subsidiary Issuers
 
GLPI guarantees the Senior Notes issued by its subsidiaries, GLP Capital and GLP Financing II, Inc. Each of the subsidiary issuers is 100% owned by GLPI. The guarantees of GLPI are full and unconditional. GLPI is not subject to any material or significant restrictions on its ability to obtain funds from its subsidiaries by dividend or loan or to transfer assets from such subsidiaries, except as provided by applicable law. None of GLPI's other subsidiaries guarantee the Senior Notes.
 
Summarized balance sheet information as of December 31, 2019 and 2018 and summarized income statement and cash flow information for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017 for GLPI as the parent guarantor, for GLP Capital, L.P. and GLP Financing II, Inc. as the subsidiary issuers and the other subsidiary non-issuers is presented below.

100


At December 31, 2019
Consolidating Balance Sheet
 
Parent 
Guarantor
 
Subsidiary 
Issuers
 
Other 
Subsidiary 
Non-Issuers
 
Eliminations
 
Consolidated
 
 
(in thousands)
Assets
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Real estate investments, net
 
$

 
$
2,514,806

 
$
4,585,749

 
$

 
$
7,100,555

Property and equipment, used in operations, net
 

 
16,607

 
77,473

 

 
94,080

Real estate loans
 

 
246,000

 
57,684

 

 
303,684

Right-of-use assets and land rights, net
 

 
181,593

 
657,141

 

 
838,734

Cash and cash equivalents
 

 
4,281

 
22,542

 

 
26,823

Prepaid expenses
 

 
1,243

 
2,222

 
763

 
4,228

Goodwill
 

 

 
16,067

 

 
16,067

Other intangible assets
 

 

 
9,577

 

 
9,577

Intercompany loan receivable
 

 
193,595

 

 
(193,595
)
 

Intercompany transactions and investment in subsidiaries
 
2,074,245

 
5,082,624

 
2,498,577

 
(9,655,446
)
 

Deferred tax assets
 

 

 
6,056

 

 
6,056

Other assets
 

 
31,766

 
2,728

 

 
34,494

Total assets
 
$
2,074,245

 
$
8,272,515

 
$
7,935,816

 
$
(9,848,278
)
 
$
8,434,298

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Liabilities
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Accounts payable
 
$

 
$
817

 
$
189

 
$

 
$
1,006

Accrued expenses
 

 
706

 
5,533

 

 
6,239

Accrued interest
 

 
60,695

 

 

 
60,695

Accrued salaries and wages
 

 
10,798

 
3,023

 

 
13,821

Gaming, property, and other taxes
 

 
480

 
464

 

 
944

Income taxes
 

 
(51
)
 
(712
)
 
763

 

Lease liabilities
 

 
89,856

 
94,115

 

 
183,971

Long-term debt, net of unamortized debt issuance costs, bond premiums and original issuance discounts
 

 
5,737,962

 

 

 
5,737,962

Intercompany loan payable
 

 

 
193,595

 
(193,595
)
 

Deferred rental revenue
 

 
271,837

 
56,648

 

 
328,485

Deferred tax liabilities
 

 

 
279

 


 
279

Other liabilities
 

 
25,170

 
1,481

 

 
26,651

Total liabilities
 

 
6,198,270

 
354,615

 
(192,832
)
 
6,360,053

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Shareholders’ equity (deficit)
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Preferred stock ($.01 par value, 50,000,000 shares authorized, no shares issued or outstanding at December 31, 2019)
 

 

 

 

 

Common stock ($.01 par value, 500,000,000 shares authorized, 214,694,165 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2019)
 
2,147

 
2,147

 
2,147

 
(4,294
)
 
2,147

Additional paid-in capital
 
3,959,383

 
3,959,384

 
9,839,709

 
(13,799,093
)
 
3,959,383

Retained accumulated (deficit) earnings
 
(1,887,285
)
 
(1,887,286
)
 
(2,260,655
)
 
4,147,941

 
(1,887,285
)
Total shareholders’ equity (deficit)
 
2,074,245

 
2,074,245

 
7,581,201

 
(9,655,446
)
 
2,074,245

Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity (deficit)
 
$
2,074,245

 
$
8,272,515

 
$
7,935,816

 
$
(9,848,278
)
 
$
8,434,298


101


Year ended December 31, 2019
Consolidating Statement of Income
 
Parent 
Guarantor
 
Subsidiary 
Issuers
 
Other 
Subsidiary 
Non-Issuers
 
Eliminations
 
Consolidated
 
 
(in thousands)
Revenues
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Rental income
 
$

 
$
552,980

 
$
443,186

 
$

 
$
996,166

Interest income from real estate loans
 

 
22,471

 
6,445

 

 
28,916

Total income from real estate
 

 
575,451

 
449,631

 

 
1,025,082

Gaming, food, beverage and other
 

 

 
128,391

 

 
128,391

Total revenues
 

 
575,451

 
578,022

 

 
1,153,473

Operating expenses
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Gaming, food, beverage and other
 

 

 
74,700

 

 
74,700

Land rights and ground lease expense
 

 
24,375

 
18,063

 

 
42,438

General and administrative
 

 
42,505

 
22,972

 

 
65,477

Depreciation
 

 
124,401

 
116,034

 

 
240,435

   Loan impairment charges
 

 

 
13,000

 

 
13,000

Total operating expenses
 

 
191,281

 
244,769

 

 
436,050

Income from operations
 

 
384,170

 
333,253

 

 
717,423

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Other income (expenses)
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Interest expense
 

 
(301,520
)
 

 

 
(301,520
)
Interest income
 

 
755

 
1

 

 
756

Losses on debt extinguishment
 

 
(21,014
)
 

 

 
(21,014
)
Intercompany dividends and interest
 

 
494,179

 
7,726

 
(501,905
)
 

Total other income (expenses)
 

 
172,400

 
7,727

 
(501,905
)
 
(321,778
)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Income before income taxes
 

 
556,570

 
340,980

 
(501,905
)
 
395,645

Income tax expense
 

 
657

 
4,107

 

 
4,764

Net income
 
$

 
$
555,913

 
$
336,873

 
$
(501,905
)
 
$
390,881


102


Year ended December 31, 2019
Consolidating Statement of Cash Flows
 
Parent
Guarantor
 
Subsidiary
Issuers
 
Other
Subsidiary
Non-Issuers
 
Eliminations
 
Consolidated
 
 
(in thousands)
Operating activities
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Net income
 
$

 
$
555,913

 
$
336,873

 
$
(501,905
)
 
$
390,881

Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities:
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
Depreciation and amortization
 

 
133,693

 
125,278

 

 
258,971

Amortization of debt issuance costs, bond premiums and original issuance discounts
 

 
11,455

 

 

 
11,455

Losses on dispositions of property
 

 
8

 
84

 

 
92

Deferred income taxes
 

 

 
(755
)
 

 
(755
)
Stock-based compensation
 

 
16,198

 

 

 
16,198

Straight-line rent adjustments
 

 
2,653

 
31,921

 

 
34,574

Losses on debt extinguishment
 

 
21,014

 

 

 
21,014

Loan impairment charges
 

 

 
13,000

 

 
13,000

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(Increase) decrease,
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
Prepaid expenses and other assets
 

 
(5,101
)
 
(1,217
)
 
248

 
(6,070
)
Intercompany
 

 
(430
)
 
430

 

 

(Decrease) increase,
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
Accounts payable
 

 
(1,652
)
 
147

 

 
(1,505
)
Accrued expenses
 

 
(58
)
 
(212
)
 

 
(270
)
Accrued interest
 

 
15,434

 

 

 
15,434

Accrued salaries and wages
 

 
(3,830
)
 
641

 

 
(3,189
)
Gaming, property and other taxes
 

 
51

 
(171
)
 

 
(120
)
Income taxes
 

 
(49
)
 
297

 
(248
)
 

Other liabilities
 

 
634

 
(42
)
 

 
592

Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities
 

 
745,933

 
506,274

 
(501,905
)
 
750,302

Investing activities
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Capital maintenance expenditures
 

 
(22
)
 
(2,995
)
 

 
(3,017
)
Proceeds from sale of property and equipment
 

 
182

 
18

 

 
200

Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities
 

 
160

 
(2,977
)
 

 
(2,817
)
Financing activities
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Dividends paid
 
(589,128
)
 

 

 

 
(589,128
)
Taxes paid related to shares withheld for tax purposes on restricted stock award vestings, net of proceeds from exercise of options
 
(9,058
)
 

 

 

 
(9,058
)
ATM Program offering costs and proceeds from issuance of common stock, net
 
(255
)
 

 

 

 
(255
)
Proceeds from issuance of long-term debt
 

 
1,358,853

 

 

 
1,358,853

Financing costs
 

 
(10,029
)
 

 

 
(10,029
)
Repayments of long-term debt
 

 
(1,477,949
)
 

 

 
(1,477,949
)
Premium and related costs paid on tender of senior unsecured notes
 

 
(18,879
)
 

 

 
(18,879
)
Intercompany financing
 
598,441

 
(598,440
)
 
(501,906
)
 
501,905

 

Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities
 

 
(746,444
)
 
(501,906
)
 
501,905

 
(746,445
)
Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents
 

 
(351
)
 
1,391

 

 
1,040

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period
 

 
4,632

 
21,151

 

 
25,783

Cash and cash equivalents at end of period
 
$

 
$
4,281

 
$
22,542

 
$

 
$
26,823


103


At December 31, 2018
Consolidating Balance Sheet
 
Parent
Guarantor
 
Subsidiary
Issuers
 
Other
Subsidiary
Non-Issuers
 
Eliminations
 
Consolidated
 
 
(in thousands)
Assets
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Real estate investments, net
 
$

 
$
2,637,404

 
$
4,694,056

 
$

 
$
7,331,460

Land rights, net
 

 
100,938

 
572,269

 

 
673,207

Property and equipment, used in operations, net
 

 
18,577

 
82,307

 

 
100,884

Real estate loans
 

 
246,000

 
57,684

 

 
303,684

Cash and cash equivalents
 

 
4,632

 
21,151

 

 
25,783

Prepaid expenses
 

 
27,071

 
2,885

 
1,011

 
30,967

Goodwill
 

 

 
16,067

 

 
16,067

Other intangible assets
 

 

 
9,577

 

 
9,577

Loan receivable
 

 

 
13,000

 

 
13,000

Intercompany loan receivable
 

 
193,595

 

 
(193,595
)
 

Intercompany transactions and investment in subsidiaries
 
2,265,607

 
5,247,229

 
2,697,241

 
(10,210,077
)
 

Deferred tax assets
 

 

 
5,178

 

 
5,178

Other assets
 

 
47,378

 
20,108

 

 
67,486

Total assets
 
$
2,265,607

 
$
8,522,824

 
$
8,191,523

 
$
(10,402,661
)
 
$
8,577,293

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Liabilities
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Accounts payable
 
$

 
$
2,469

 
$
42

 
$

 
$
2,511

Accrued expenses
 

 
23,587

 
6,710

 

 
30,297

Accrued interest
 

 
45,261

 

 

 
45,261

Accrued salaries and wages
 

 
14,628

 
2,382

 

 
17,010

Gaming, property, and other taxes
 

 
24,055

 
18,824

 

 
42,879

Income taxes
 

 
(2
)
 
(1,009
)
 
1,011

 

Long-term debt, net of unamortized debt issuance costs, bond premiums and original issuance discounts
 

 
5,853,497

 

 

 
5,853,497

Intercompany loan payable
 

 

 
193,595

 
(193,595
)
 

Deferred rental revenue
 

 
269,185

 
24,726

 

 
293,911

Deferred tax liabilities
 

 

 
261

 

 
261

Other liabilities
 

 
24,536

 
1,523

 

 
26,059

Total liabilities
 

 
6,257,216

 
247,054

 
(192,584
)
 
6,311,686

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Shareholders’ equity (deficit)
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Preferred stock ($.01 par value, 50,000,000 shares authorized, no shares issued or outstanding at December 31, 2018)
 

 

 

 

 

Common stock ($.01 par value, 500,000,000 shares authorized, 214,211,932 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2018)
 
2,142

 
2,142

 
2,142

 
(4,284
)
 
2,142

Additional paid-in capital
 
3,952,503

 
3,952,506

 
9,832,830

 
(13,785,336
)
 
3,952,503

Retained accumulated (deficit) earnings
 
(1,689,038
)
 
(1,689,040
)
 
(1,890,503
)
 
3,579,543

 
(1,689,038
)
Total shareholders’ equity (deficit)
 
2,265,607

 
2,265,608

 
7,944,469

 
(10,210,077
)
 
2,265,607

Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity (deficit)
 
$
2,265,607

 
$
8,522,824

 
$
8,191,523

 
$
(10,402,661
)
 
$
8,577,293


104


Year ended December 31, 2018
Consolidating Statement of Income
 
Parent
Guarantor
 
Subsidiary
Issuers
 
Other
Subsidiary
Non-
Issuers
 
Eliminations
 
Consolidated
 
 
(in thousands)
Revenues
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Rental income
 
$

 
$
437,211

 
$
310,443

 
$

 
$
747,654

Income from direct financing lease
 

 

 
81,119

 

 
81,119

Interest income from real estate loans
 

 
5,590

 
1,353

 

 
6,943

Real estate taxes paid by tenants
 

 
46,327

 
41,139

 

 
87,466

Total income from real estate
 

 
489,128

 
434,054

 

 
923,182

Gaming, food, beverage and other
 

 

 
132,545

 

 
132,545

Total revenues
 

 
489,128

 
566,599

 

 
1,055,727

Operating expenses
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
Gaming, food, beverage and other
 

 

 
77,127

 

 
77,127

Real estate taxes
 

 
46,443

 
42,314

 

 
88,757

Land rights and ground lease expense
 

 
10,156

 
18,202

 

 
28,358

General and administrative
 

 
49,161

 
21,967

 

 
71,128

Depreciation
 

 
97,632

 
39,461

 

 
137,093

  Goodwill impairment charges
 

 

 
59,454

 

 
59,454

Total operating expenses
 

 
203,392

 
258,525

 

 
461,917

Income from operations
 

 
285,736

 
308,074

 

 
593,810

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Other income (expenses)
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
Interest expense
 

 
(247,684
)
 

 

 
(247,684
)
Interest income
 

 
1,355

 
472

 

 
1,827

Losses on debt extinguishment
 

 
(3,473
)
 

 

 
(3,473
)
Intercompany dividends and interest
 

 
460,044

 
10,280

 
(470,324
)
 

Total other income (expenses)
 

 
210,242

 
10,752

 
(470,324
)
 
(249,330
)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Income before income taxes
 

 
495,978

 
318,826

 
(470,324
)
 
344,480

Income tax expense
 

 
855

 
4,109

 

 
4,964

Net income
 
$

 
$
495,123

 
$
314,717

 
$
(470,324
)
 
$
339,516























105


Year ended December 31, 2018
Consolidating Statement of Cash Flows
 
Parent
Guarantor
 
Subsidiary
Issuers
 
Other
Subsidiary
Non-Issuers
 
Eliminations
 
Consolidated
 
 
(in thousands)
Operating activities
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Net income
 
$

 
$
495,123

 
$
314,717

 
$
(470,324
)
 
$
339,516

Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities:
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
Depreciation
 

 
99,678

 
48,687

 

 
148,365

Amortization of debt issuance costs, bond premiums and original issuance discounts
 

 
12,167

 

 

 
12,167

Losses on dispositions of property
 

 
75

 
234

 

 
309

Deferred income taxes
 

 

 
(522
)
 

 
(522
)
Stock-based compensation
 

 
11,152

 

 

 
11,152

Straight-line rent adjustments
 

 
49,166

 
12,722

 

 
61,888

Losses on debt extinguishment
 

 
3,473

 

 

 
3,473

Goodwill impairment charges
 

 

 
59,454

 

 
59,454

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Decrease (increase),
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
Prepaid expenses and other assets
 

 
(1,777
)
 
477

 
627

 
(673
)
     Intercompany
 

 
66

 
(66
)
 

 

(Decrease) increase,
 
0

 
0

 
 

 
0

 
 
Accounts payable
 

 
1,851

 
(55
)
 

 
1,796

Accrued expenses
 

 
(205
)
 
79

 

 
(126
)
Accrued interest
 

 
12,020

 

 

 
12,020

Accrued salaries and wages
 

 
6,796

 
(595
)
 

 
6,201

Gaming, property and other taxes
 

 
(78
)
 
(71
)
 

 
(149
)
Income taxes
 

 
304

 
323

 
(627
)
 

Other liabilities
 

 
55

 
(493
)
 

 
(438
)
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities
 

 
689,866

 
434,891

 
(470,324
)
 
654,433

Investing activities
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Capital project expenditures
 

 
(20
)
 

 

 
(20
)
Capital maintenance expenditures
 

 
(55
)
 
(4,229
)
 

 
(4,284
)
Proceeds from sale of property and equipment
 

 
3,195

 
16

 

 
3,211

Acquisition of real estate assets
 

 
(985,750
)
 
(257,716
)
 

 
(1,243,466
)
Originations of real estate loans
 

 
(246,000
)
 
(57,684
)
 

 
(303,684
)
Collection of principal payments on investment in direct financing lease
 

 

 
38,459

 

 
38,459

Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities
 

 
(1,228,630
)
 
(281,154
)
 

 
(1,509,784
)
Financing activities
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Dividends paid
 
(550,435
)
 

 

 

 
(550,435
)
Proceeds from exercise of options, net of taxes paid related to shares withheld for tax purposes on restricted stock award vestings
 
7,537

 

 

 

 
7,537

  Proceeds from issuance of long-term debt, net of unamortized debt issuance costs,bond premium and original issuance discounts
 

 
2,593,405

 

 

 
2,593,405

Financing costs
 

 
(32,426
)
 

 

 
(32,426
)
Repayments of long-term debt
 

 
(1,164,117
)
 

 

 
(1,164,117
)
  Premium and related costs paid on tender of senior unsecured notes
 

 
(1,884
)
 

 

 
(1,884
)
Intercompany financing
 
542,898

 
(858,316
)
 
(154,906
)
 
470,324

 

Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities
 

 
536,662

 
(154,906
)
 
470,324

 
852,080

Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents
 

 
(2,102
)
 
(1,169
)
 

 
(3,271
)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period
 

 
6,734

 
22,320

 

 
29,054

Cash and cash equivalents at end of period
 
$

 
$
4,632

 
$
21,151

 
$

 
$
25,783



106



Year ended December 31, 2017
Consolidating Statement of Income
 
Parent
Guarantor
 
Subsidiary
Issuers
 
Other
Subsidiary
Non-
Issuers
 
Eliminations
 
Consolidated
 
 
(in thousands)
Revenues
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Rental income
 
$

 
$
398,070

 
$
273,120

 
$

 
$
671,190

Income from direct financing lease
 

 

 
74,333

 

 
74,333

Real estate taxes paid by tenants
 

 
43,672

 
40,026

 

 
83,698

Total income from real estate
 

 
441,742

 
387,479

 

 
829,221

Gaming, food, beverage and other
 

 

 
142,086

 

 
142,086

Total revenues
 

 
441,742

 
529,565

 

 
971,307

Operating expenses
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
Gaming, food, beverage and other
 

 

 
80,487

 

 
80,487

Real estate taxes
 

 
43,755

 
40,911

 

 
84,666

Land rights and ground lease expense
 

 
5,895

 
18,110

 

 
24,005

General and administrative
 

 
39,863

 
23,288

 

 
63,151

Depreciation
 

 
93,948

 
19,532

 

 
113,480

Total operating expenses
 

 
183,461

 
182,328

 

 
365,789

Income from operations
 

 
258,281

 
347,237

 

 
605,518

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Other income (expenses)
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
Interest expense
 

 
(217,068
)
 

 

 
(217,068
)
Interest income
 

 

 
1,935

 

 
1,935

Intercompany dividends and interest
 

 
451,295

 
12,318

 
(463,613
)
 

Total other income (expenses)
 

 
234,227

 
14,253

 
(463,613
)
 
(215,133
)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Income before income taxes
 

 
492,508

 
361,490

 
(463,613
)
 
390,385

Income tax expense
 

 
1,099

 
8,688

 

 
9,787

Net income
 
$

 
$
491,409

 
$
352,802

 
$
(463,613
)
 
$
380,598






















107


Year ended December 31, 2017
Consolidating Statement of Cash Flows
 
Parent
Guarantor
 
Subsidiary
Issuers
 
Other
Subsidiary
Non-Issuers
 
Eliminations
 
Consolidated
 
 
(in thousands)
Operating activities
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Net income
 
$

 
$
491,409

 
$
352,802

 
$
(463,613
)
 
$
380,598

Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities:
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 


Depreciation and amortization
 

 
95,058

 
28,777

 

 
123,835

Amortization of debt issuance costs
 

 
13,026

 

 

 
13,026

Losses on dispositions of property
 

 

 
530

 

 
530

Deferred income taxes
 

 

 
(561
)
 

 
(561
)
Stock-based compensation
 

 
15,636

 

 

 
15,636

Straight-line rent adjustments
 

 
56,815

 
9,156

 

 
65,971

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(Increase) decrease,
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
Prepaid expenses and other assets
 

 
(5,703
)
 
1,268

 
(897
)
 
(5,332
)
     Intercompany
 

 
317

 
(317
)
 

 

Increase (decrease),
 
0

 
0

 
 

 
0

 
 
Accounts payable
 

 
148

 
(569
)
 

 
(421
)
Accrued expenses
 

 
103

 
308

 

 
411

Accrued interest
 

 
(502
)
 

 

 
(502
)
Accrued salaries and wages
 

 
(79
)
 
269

 

 
190

Gaming, property and other taxes
 

 
(505
)
 
(12
)
 

 
(517
)
Income taxes
 

 
(325
)
 
(572
)
 
897

 

Other liabilities
 

 
6,591

 
(744
)
 

 
5,847

Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities
 

 
671,989

 
390,335

 
(463,613
)
 
598,711

Investing activities
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Capital project expenditures
 

 
(78
)
 

 

 
(78
)
Capital maintenance expenditures
 

 

 
(3,178
)
 

 
(3,178
)
Proceeds from sale of property and equipment
 

 
10

 
924

 

 
934

Principal payments on loan receivable
 

 

 
13,200

 

 
13,200

Acquisition of real estate assets
 

 
(82,866
)
 
(386
)
 

 
(83,252
)
  Collection of principal payments on investment in direct financing lease
 

 

 
73,072

 

 
73,072

Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities
 

 
(82,934
)
 
83,632

 

 
698

Financing activities
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Dividends paid
 
(529,370
)
 

 

 

 
(529,370
)
Proceeds from exercise of options, net of taxes paid related to shares withheld for tax purposes on restricted stock award vestings
 
18,157

 

 

 

 
18,157

  Proceeds from issuance of common stock, net of issuance costs
 
139,414

 

 

 

 
139,414

Proceeds from issuance of long-term debt
 

 
100,000

 

 

 
100,000

Repayments of long-term debt
 

 
(335,112
)
 

 

 
(335,112
)
Intercompany financing
 
371,799

 
(358,983
)
 
(476,429
)
 
463,613

 

Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities
 

 
(594,095
)
 
(476,429
)
 
463,613

 
(606,911
)
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents
 

 
(5,040
)
 
(2,462
)
 

 
(7,502
)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period
 

 
11,774

 
24,782

 

 
36,556

Cash and cash equivalents at end of period
 
$

 
$
6,734

 
$
22,320

 
$

 
$
29,054



108


SCHEDULE III
REAL ESTATE ASSETS AND ACCUMULATED DEPRECIATION
December 31, 2019
(in thousands)

 
 
 
 
 
 
Initial Cost to Company
 
Net Capitalized Costs (Retirements) Subsequent to Acquisition
 
Gross Amount at which Carried at Close of Period
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Life on
which
Depreciation
in Latest
Income
Statement is
Computed
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Original
Date of
Construction /
Renovation
 
 
 
Description
 
Location
 
Encumbrances
 
Land and Improvements
 
Buildings and
Improvements
 
 
Land and Improvements
 
Buildings and
Improvements
 
Total (6)
 
Accumulated
Depreciation
 
 
Date Acquired
 
Rental Properties:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Hollywood Casino Lawrenceburg
 
Lawrenceburg, IN
 
$

 
$
15,251

 
$
342,393

 
$
(30
)
 
$
15,222

 
$
342,392

 
$
357,614

 
$
150,315

 
1997/2009
 
11/1/2013
 
31
Hollywood Casino Aurora
 
Aurora, IL
 

 
4,937

 
98,378

 
(383
)
 
4,936

 
97,996

 
102,932

 
68,924

 
1993/2002/ 2012
 
11/1/2013
 
30
Hollywood Casino Joliet
 
Joliet, IL
 

 
19,214

 
101,104

 
(20
)
 
19,194

 
101,104

 
120,298

 
61,511

 
1992/2003/ 2010
 
11/1/2013
 
31
Argosy Casino Alton
 
Alton, IL
 

 

 
6,462

 

 

 
6,462

 
6,462

 
4,599

 
1991/1999
 
11/1/2013
 
31
Hollywood Casino Toledo
 
Toledo, OH
 

 
12,003

 
144,093

 
(201
)
 
11,802

 
144,093

 
155,895

 
40,111

 
2012
 
11/1/2013
 
31
Hollywood Casino Columbus
 
Columbus, OH
 

 
38,240

 
188,543

 
105

 
38,266

 
188,622

 
226,888

 
52,883

 
2012
 
11/1/2013
 
31
Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races
 
Charles Town, WV
 

 
35,102

 
233,069

 

 
35,102

 
233,069

 
268,171

 
138,278

 
1997/2010
 
11/1/2013
 
31
Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course
 
Grantville, PA
 

 
25,500

 
161,810

 

 
25,500

 
161,810

 
187,310

 
81,702

 
2008/2010
 
11/1/2013
 
31
M Resort
 
Henderson,  NV
 

 
66,104

 
126,689

 
(436
)
 
65,668

 
126,689

 
192,357

 
40,605

 
2009/2012
 
11/1/2013
 
30
Hollywood Casino Bangor
 
Bangor, ME
 

 
12,883

 
84,257

 

 
12,883

 
84,257

 
97,140

 
35,033

 
2008/2012
 
11/1/2013
 
31
Zia Park Casino
 
Hobbs, NM
 

 
9,313

 
38,947

 

 
9,313

 
38,947

 
48,260

 
21,456

 
2005
 
11/1/2013
 
31
Hollywood Casino Gulf Coast
 
Bay St. Louis, MS
 

 
59,388

 
87,352

 
(229
)
 
59,176

 
87,335

 
146,511

 
53,256

 
1992/2006/ 2011
 
11/1/2013
 
40
Argosy Casino Riverside
 
Riverside, MO
 

 
23,468

 
143,301

 
(77
)
 
23,391

 
143,301

 
166,692

 
67,802

 
1994/2007
 
11/1/2013
 
37
Hollywood Casino Tunica
 
Tunica, MS
 

 
4,634

 
42,031

 

 
4,634

 
42,031

 
46,665

 
28,362

 
1994/2012
 
11/1/2013
 
31
Boomtown Biloxi
 
Biloxi, MS
 

 
3,423

 
63,083

 
(137
)
 
3,286

 
63,083

 
66,369

 
49,446

 
1994/2006
 
11/1/2013
 
15
Hollywood Casino St. Louis
 
Maryland Heights, MO
 

 
44,198

 
177,063

 
(3,239
)
 
40,959

 
177,063

 
218,022

 
87,157

 
1997/2013
 
11/1/2013
 
13
Hollywood Casino at Dayton Raceway (1)
 
Dayton, OH
 

 
3,211

 

 
86,288

 
3,211

 
86,288

 
89,499

 
14,949

 
2014
 
11/1/2013
 
31
Hollywood Casino at Mahoning Valley Race Track (1)
 
Youngstown, OH
 

 
5,683

 

 
94,314

 
5,833

 
94,164

 
99,997

 
16,065

 
2014
 
11/1/2013
 
31
Resorts Casino Tunica (2)
 
Tunica, MS
 

 

 
12,860

 
(12,860
)
 

 

 

 

 
1994/1996/ 2005/2014
 
5/1/2017
 
N/A
1st Jackpot Casino
 
Tunica, MS
 

 
161

 
10,100

 

 
161

 
10,100

 
10,261

 
982

 
1995
 
5/1/2017
 
31
Ameristar Black Hawk (3)
 
Black Hawk, CO
 

 
243,092

 
334,024

 

 
243,092

 
334,024

 
577,116

 
13,617

 
2000
 
4/28/2016
 
31
Ameristar East Chicago (3)
 
East Chicago, IN
 

 
4,198

 
123,430

 

 
4,198

 
123,430

 
127,628

 
5,788

 
1997
 
4/28/2016
 
31
Belterra Casino Resort (3)
 
Florence, IN
 

 
63,420

 
172,875

 

 
63,420

 
172,875

 
236,295

 
10,014

 
2000
 
4/28/2016
 
31

109


Ameristar Council Bluffs (3)
 
Council Bluffs, IA
 

 
84,009

 
109,027

 

 
84,009

 
109,027

 
193,036

 
5,332

 
1996
 
4/28/2016
 
31
L'Auberge Baton Rouge (3)
 
Baton Rouge, LA
 

 
205,274

 
178,426

 

 
205,274

 
178,426

 
383,700

 
7,747

 
2012
 
4/28/2016
 
31
Boomtown Bossier City (3)
 
Bossier City, LA
 

 
79,022

 
107,067

 

 
79,022

 
107,067

 
186,089

 
4,829

 
2002
 
4/28/2016
 
31
L'Auberge Lake Charles (3)
 
Lake Charles, LA
 

 
14,831

 
310,877

 

 
14,831

 
310,877

 
325,708

 
15,412

 
2005
 
4/28/2016
 
31
Boomtown New Orleans (3)
 
Boomtown, LA
 

 
46,019

 
58,258

 

 
46,019

 
58,258

 
104,277

 
2,866

 
1994
 
4/28/2016
 
31
Ameristar Vicksburg (3)
 
Vicksburg, MS
 

 
128,068

 
96,106




128,068


96,106


224,174


5,631

 
1994
 
4/28/2016
 
31
River City Casino & Hotel (3)
 
St Louis, MO
 

 
8,117

 
221,038

 

 
8,117

 
221,038

 
229,155

 
9,924

 
2010
 
4/28/2016
 
31
Ameristar Kansas City (3)
 
Kansas City, MO
 

 
239,111

 
271,598

 

 
239,111

 
271,598

 
510,709

 
13,663

 
1997
 
4/28/2016
 
31
Ameristar St. Charles (3)
 
St. Charles, MO
 

 
375,597

 
437,908

 

 
375,596

 
437,908

 
813,504

 
18,220

 
1994
 
4/28/2016
 
31
Jackpot Properties (3)
 
Jackpot, NV
 

 
48,785

 
61,550

 

 
48,785

 
61,550

 
110,335

 
4,596

 
1954
 
4/28/2016
 
31
Plainridge Park Casino
 
Plainridge, MA
 

 
127,068

 
123,850

 

 
127,068

 
123,850

 
250,918

 
4,827

 
2015
 
10/15/2018
 
31
The Meadows Racetrack and Casino
 
Washington, PA
 

 
181,532

 
141,370

 
386

 
181,918

 
141,370

 
323,288

 
18,630

 
2006
 
9/9/2016
 
31
Casino Queen
 
East St. Louis, IL
 

 
70,716

 
70,014

 

 
70,716

 
70,014

 
140,730

 
16,615

 
1999
 
1/23/2014
 
31
Tropicana Atlantic City
 
Atlantic City, NJ
 

 
166,974

 
392,923

 

 
166,974

 
392,923

 
559,897

 
15,386

 
1981
 
10/1/2018
 
31
Tropicana Evansville
 
Evansville, IN
 

 
47,439

 
146,930

 

 
47,439

 
146,930

 
194,369

 
5,727

 
1995
 
10/1/2018
 
31
Tropicana Laughlin
 
Laughlin, NV
 

 
20,671

 
80,530

 

 
20,671

 
80,530

 
101,201

 
3,517

 
1988
 
10/1/2018
 
27
Trop Casino Greenville
 
Greenville, MS
 

 

 
21,680

 

 

 
21,680

 
21,680

 
845

 
2012
 
10/1/2018
 
31
Belle of Baton Rouge
 
Baton Rouge, LA
 

 
11,873

 
52,400

 

 
11,873

 
52,400

 
64,273

 
3,160

 
1994
 
10/1/2018
 
31
 
 
 
 
$

 
$
2,548,529

 
$
5,573,416

 
$
163,481

 
$
2,544,738

 
$
5,740,687

 
$
8,285,425

 
$
1,199,782

 
 
 
 
 
 
Headquarters Property:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
GLPI Corporate Office (4)
 
Wyomissing, PA
 
$

 
$
750

 
$
8,465

 
$
58

 
$
750

 
$
8,523

 
$
9,273

 
$
1,159

 
2014/2015
 
9/19/2014
 
31
Other Properties
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Other owned land (5)
 
various
 
$

 
$
6,798

 
$

 
$

 
$
6,798

 
$

 
$
6,798

 
$

 
 
 
10/1/18
 
N/A
 
 
 
 
$

 
$
2,556,077


$
5,581,881


$
163,539


$
2,552,286


$
5,749,210


$
8,301,496


$
1,200,941

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

(1)Hollywood Casino at Dayton Raceway and Hollywood Casino at Mahoning Valley Race Course were jointly developed with Penn National Gaming, Inc. The costs capitalized subsequent to acquisition represent the capital expenditures incurred by the Company subsequent to the transfer of the development properties at Spin-Off. Both properties commenced operations and began paying rent during the year ended December 31, 2014.

(2)     We currently lease 86.6 acres in Tunica, Mississippi, where the Resorts Casino Tunica is located. This property is leased to Penn as part of the Penn Master Lease, however, the casino and hotel were closed by Penn in June 2019. As a result of the property closure, the Company entered into an agreement to terminate the long-term ground lease for this property, which will be effective in February 2020, at which time such ground lease will be removed from the Penn Master Lease.


110




(3)    During April 2016, the Company acquired substantially all of the real estate assets of Pinnacle and subsequently leased the assets back to Pinnacle. As discussed further in the footnotes to the consolidated financial statements, the Pinnacle Master Lease was originally bifurcated between an operating lease and a direct financing lease, resulting in the land that was subject to operating lease treatment being recorded as a real estate asset on the Company's consolidated balance sheet, while the building assets that triggered direct financing lease treatment were recorded as an investment in direct financing lease on the Company's consolidated balance sheet.

In conjunction with the Penn-Pinnacle Merger, on October 15, 2018, the Pinnacle Master Lease was amended via the fourth amendment to such lease to allow for the sale of the operating assets of Ameristar Casino Hotel Kansas City, Ameristar Casino Resort Spa St. Charles and Belterra Casino Resort from Pinnacle to Boyd. As a result of this amendment, the Company reassessed the lease's classification and determined the new lease agreement qualified for operating lease treatment under ASC 840. Therefore, subsequent to the Penn-Pinnacle Merger, the Amended Pinnacle Master Lease is treated as an operating lease in its entirety and the building assets previously recorded as an investment in direct financing lease on the Company's consolidated balance sheet were recorded as real estate assets on the Company's consolidated balance sheet.

(4)    The Company's corporate headquarters building was completed in October 2015. The land was purchased on September 19, 2014 and construction on the building occurred through October 2015.


(5)    This includes undeveloped land the Company owns at locations other than its tenant occupied properties.

(6)    The aggregate cost for federal income tax purposes of the properties listed above was $7.95 billion at December 31, 2019. This amount includes the tax basis of all real property assets acquired from Pinnacle, including building assets.
























111



A summary of activity for real estate and accumulated depreciation for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017 is as follows:

 
Year Ended December 31,
 
2019
 
2018
 
2017
Real Estate:
(in thousands)
Balance at the beginning of the period
$
8,314,546

 
$
4,519,501

 
$
4,495,972

Acquisitions

 
1,199,135

 
23,507

Reclass of assets from investment in direct financing lease to real estate investments (1)

 
2,599,180

 

Capital expenditures and assets placed in service

 

 
32

Dispositions
(13,050
)
 
(3,270
)
 
(10
)
Balance at the end of the period
$
8,301,496

 
$
8,314,546

 
$
4,519,501

Accumulated Depreciation:
 
 
 
 
 
Balance at the beginning of the period
$
(983,086
)
 
$
(857,456
)
 
$
(756,881
)
Depreciation expense
(230,716
)
 
(125,630
)
 
(100,576
)
Dispositions
12,861

 

 
1

Balance at the end of the period
$
(1,200,941
)
 
$
(983,086
)
 
$
(857,456
)




112


SCHEDULE IV
MORTGAGE LOANS ON REAL ESTATE
December 31, 2019
(in thousands)


Description
 
Interest Rate
 
Final Maturity Date
 
Periodic Payment Terms
 
Prior Liens
 
Face Amount of Mortgage
 
Carrying Amount of Mortgage (3)
 
Principal Amount of Loans Subject to Delinquent Principal or Interest
Belterra Park Loan
 
11.20%
 
4/3/2051 (1)
 
interest paid monthly
 

 
57,684

 
57,684

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
$
57,684

 
$
57,684

 


(1) The Belterra Park Loan matures in connection with the expiration of the Boyd Master Lease (as may be extended at the tenant's option to April 30, 2051).

(3) The aggregate cost for federal income tax purposes of the mortgage loan listed above was approximately $58 million at December 31, 2019.
 
Year Ended December 31, 2019
 
Year Ended December 31, 2018
 
(in thousands)
Mortgage Loans:
 
 
 
Balance at the beginning of the period
$
303,684

 
$

  Additions during the period:
 
 
 
      New mortgage loans

 
303,684

  Deductions during the period:
 
 
 
      Collections of principal

 

      Other deductions (1)
(246,000
)
 

Balance at the end of the period
$
57,684

 
$
303,684


(1) On October 1, 2019, the one-year anniversary of the Eldorado Loan, the mortgage evidenced by a deed of trust on the Lumière Place property terminated and the loan became unsecured and will remain unsecured until its final maturity on the two-year anniversary of the closing.

113


ITEM 9.  CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE
None.
ITEM 9A.    CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
The Company's management, under the supervision and with the participation of the principal executive officer and principal financial officer, has evaluated the effectiveness of the Company's disclosure controls and procedures, as such term is defined under Rule 13a-15(e) promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), as of December 31, 2019, which is the end of the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K. In designing and evaluating the disclosure controls and procedures, management recognized that any controls and procedures, no matter how well-designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving the desired control objectives, and management was required to apply its judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of possible controls and procedures. Based on this evaluation, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer concluded that as of December 31, 2019 the Company's disclosure controls and procedures were effective to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Company in reports it files or submits under the Exchange Act is (i) recorded, processed, summarized, evaluated and reported, as applicable, within the time periods specified in the United States Securities and Exchange Commission's rules and forms and (ii) accumulated and communicated to the Company's management, including the Company's principal executive officer and principal financial officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosures.
Management's Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
The Company's management is responsible for establishing and maintaining an adequate system of internal control over financial reporting, as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f). The Company's management conducted an assessment of the Company's internal control over financial reporting and concluded it was effective as of December 31, 2019. In making this assessment, management used the criteria established by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013).
Deloitte & Touche LLP, the Company's independent registered accounting firm, issued an audit report on the effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2019, which is included on the following page of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
There have been no changes in the Company's internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) that occurred during the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2019, that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company's internal control over financial reporting. During the year ended December 31, 2019, the Company implemented new controls to ensure continued compliance with the new leasing guidance in ASC 842 that was adopted on January 1, 2019.


114


REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the Shareholders and the Board of Directors of
Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. and Subsidiaries

Opinion on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

We have audited the internal control over financial reporting of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. and Subsidiaries (the "Company") as of December 31, 2019, based on criteria established in Internal Control -- Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). In our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2019, based on criteria established in Internal Control -- Integrated Framework (2013) issued by COSO.

We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the consolidated financial statements and financial statement schedules as of and for the year ended December 31, 2019, of the Company and our report dated February 20, 2020, expressed an unqualified opinion on those financial statements.

Basis for Opinion

The Company's management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company's internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk, and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Definition and Limitations of Internal Control over Financial Reporting

A company's internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company's internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company's assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.



/s/ Deloitte & Touche

New York, New York
February 20, 2020


115


ITEM 9B.    OTHER INFORMATION
None

116


PART III

ITEM 10.    DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
The information required by this item concerning directors is hereby incorporated by reference to the Company's definitive proxy statement for its 2020 Annual Meeting of Shareholders (the "2020 Proxy Statement"), to be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after December 31, 2019, pursuant to Regulation 14A under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Information required by this item concerning executive officers is included in Part I of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
ITEM 11.    EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
The information called for in this item is hereby incorporated by reference to the 2020 Proxy Statement.

ITEM 12.    SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDERS MATTERS
The information called for in this item is hereby incorporated by reference to the 2020 Proxy Statement.

ITEM 13.    CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE
The information called for in this item is hereby incorporated by reference to the 2020 Proxy Statement.
ITEM 14.    PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES
The information called for in this item is hereby incorporated by reference to the 2020 Proxy Statement.

117


PART IV
ITEM 15.    EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
(a)    1. Financial Statements. The following is a list of the Consolidated Financial Statements of the Company and its subsidiaries and supplementary data filed as part of Item 8 hereof:
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2019 and 2018
Consolidated Statements of Income for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017
Consolidated Statements of Changes in Shareholders' Equity for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017
2. Financial Statement Schedules:
Schedule III. Real Estate and Accumulated Depreciation as of December 31, 2019
Schedule IV. Mortgage Loans on Real Estate as of December 31, 2019
3. Exhibits, Including Those Incorporated by Reference.
The exhibits to this Report are listed on the accompanying index to exhibits and are incorporated herein by reference or are filed as part of this annual report on Form 10-K.

ITEM 16.    FORM 10-K SUMMARY

None.

118


EXHIBIT INDEX
Exhibit
 
Description of Exhibit
2.1

 
 
 
 
2.2

 
 
 
 
2.3

 
 
 
 
2.4

 
 
 
 
2.5

 
 
 
 
2.6

 
 
 
 
2.7

 
 
 
 
3.1

 
 
 
 
3.2

 
 
 
 
4.1

 
 
 
 
4.2

 
 
 
 
4.3

 
 
 
 
4.4

 
 
 
 
4.5

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

119


Exhibit
 
Description of Exhibit
4.6

 
 
 
 
4.7

 
 
 
 
4.8

 
 
 
 
4.9

 
 
 
 
4.10

 
 
 
 
4.11

 
 
 
 
4.12

 
 
 
 
4.13

 
 
 
 
4.14

 
 
 
 
4.15

 
 
 
 
4.16

 
 
 
 
4.17

 
 
 
 
4.18

 
 
 
 
4.19

 
 
 
 
4.20*

 
 
 
 
10.1

 
 
 
 

120


Exhibit
 
Description of Exhibit
10.2

 
 
 
 
10.3

 
 
 
 
10.4

 
 
 
 
10.5

 
 
 
 
10.6

 
 
 
 
10.7

 
 
 
 
10.8

 
 
 
 
10.9

 
 
 
 
10.10

 
 
 
 
10.11

 
 
 
 
10.12

 
 
 
 
10.13

 
 
 
 
10.14

 
 
 
 
10.15

 
 
 
 

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Exhibit
 
Description of Exhibit
10.16

 
 
 
 
10.17

 
 
 
 
10.18

 
 
 
 
10.19

 
 
 
 
10.20

 
 
 
 
10.21

 
 
 
 
10.22

 
 
 
 
10.23

 
 
 
 
10.24

 
 
 
 
10.25

 
 
 
 
10.26

 
 
 
 
10.27

 
 
 
 
10.28

 
 
 
 
10.29

 
 
 
 
10.30

 
 
 
 
10.31 #

 

122


 
 
 
Exhibit
 
Description of Exhibit
10.32#

 
 
 
 
10.33 #

 
 
 
 
10.34 #

 
 
 
 
10.35 #

 
 
 
 
10.36 #

 
 
 
 
10.37 #

 
 
 
 
10.38 #

 
 
 
 
10.39 #

 
 
 
 
10.40

 
 
 
 
21*

 
 
 
 
23*

 
 
 
 
31.1*

 
 
 
 
31.2*

 
 
 
 
32.1*

 
 
 
 
32.2*

 
 
 
 
101

 
The following financial information from Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc.'s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, formatted in Inline XBRL: (i) Consolidated Balance Sheets, ii) Consolidated Statements of Income, (iii) Consolidated Statements of Changes in Shareholders’ Equity, (iv) Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows and (v) Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
 
 
 
104

 
The cover page from the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, formatted in Inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit 101.
#    Compensation plans and arrangements for executives and others.
*    Filed herewith.

123


SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
 
 
GAMING AND LEISURE PROPERTIES, INC.
 
 
By:
 
/s/ PETER M. CARLINO
 
 
 
 
Peter M. Carlino
 Chairman of the Board and
Chief Executive Officer

Dated: February 21, 2020
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
Signature
 
Title
 
Date
 
 
 
 
 
/s/ PETER M. CARLINO
 
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer)
 
February 21, 2020
Peter M. Carlino
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
/s/  STEVEN T. SNYDER
 
Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial Officer)
 
February 21, 2020
Steven T. Snyder
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
/s/ DESIREE A. BURKE
 
Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer (Principal Accounting Officer)
 
February 21, 2020
Desiree A. Burke
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
/s/ CAROL LYNTON
 
Director
 
February 21, 2020
Carol Lynton
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
/s/ JOSEPH W. MARSHALL
 
Director
 
February 21, 2020
Joseph W. Marshall
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
/s/ JAMES B. PERRY
 
Director
 
February 21, 2020
James B. Perry
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
/s/ BARRY F. SCHWARTZ
 
Director
 
February 21, 2020
Barry F. Schwartz
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
/s/ EARL C. SHANKS
 
Director
 
February 21, 2020
Earl C. Shanks
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
/s/ E. SCOTT URDANG
 
Director
 
February 21, 2020
E. Scott Urdang
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


124