VICI Properties (VICI) 10-K2019 FY Annual report

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code)

PART I

In this Annual Report on Form 10-K, the words “VICI,” the “Company,” “we,” “our,” and “us” refer to VICI Properties Inc. and its subsidiaries, on a consolidated basis, unless otherwise stated or the context requires otherwise.

We refer to (i) our Consolidated Financial Statements as our “Financial Statements,” (ii) our Consolidated Balance Sheets as our “Balance Sheet,” (iii) our Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income as our “Statement of Operations,” and (iv) our Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows as our “Statement of Cash Flows.” References to numbered “Notes” refer to the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements.

“2025 Notes” refers to $750.0 million aggregate principal amount of 3.500% senior unsecured notes due 2025 issued by the Operating Partnership and VICI Note Co. Inc., as Co-Issuer, in February 2020.

“2026 Notes” refers to $1.25 billion aggregate principal amount of 4.250% senior unsecured notes due 2026 issued by the Operating Partnership and VICI Note Co. Inc., as Co-Issuer, in November 2019.

“2027 Notes” refers to $750.0 million aggregate principal amount of 3.750% senior unsecured notes due 2027 issued by the Operating Partnership and VICI Note Co. Inc., as Co-Issuer, in February 2020.

“2029 Notes” refers to $1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of 4.625% senior unsecured notes due 2029 issued by the Operating Partnership and VICI Note Co. Inc., as Co-Issuer, in November 2019.

“2030 Notes” refers to $1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of 4.125% senior unsecured notes due 2030 issued by the Operating Partnership and VICI Note Co. Inc., as Co-Issuer, in February 2020.

“Caesars” refers to Caesars Entertainment Corporation, a Delaware corporation, and, as the context requires, its subsidiaries.

“Caesars Entertainment Outdoor” refers to the historical operations of the golf courses that were transferred from CEOC to VICI Golf on the Formation Date.

“Caesars Lease Agreements” refer collectively to the CPLV Lease Agreement, the Non-CPLV Lease Agreement, the Joliet Lease Agreement and the HLV Lease Agreement, unless the context otherwise requires.

“Century Casinos” refers to Century Casinos, Inc., a Delaware corporation, and, as the context requires, its subsidiaries.

“Century Portfolio” refers to the real estate assets associated with the (i) Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort located in New Cumberland, West Virginia, (ii) Century Casino Caruthersville located in Caruthersville, Missouri and (iii) Century Casino Cape Girardeau located in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, which we purchased on December 6, 2019.

“Century Portfolio Lease Agreement” refers to the lease agreement for the Century Portfolio, as amended from time to time.

“CEOC” refers to Caesars Entertainment Operating Company, Inc., a Delaware corporation, and its subsidiaries, prior to the Formation Date, and following the Formation Date, CEOC, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and, as the context requires, its subsidiaries. CEOC is a subsidiary of Caesars.

“CPLV CMBS Debt” refers to $1.55 billion of asset-level real estate mortgage financing of Caesars Palace Las Vegas, incurred by a subsidiary of the Operating Partnership on October 6, 2017 and repaid in full on November 26, 2019.

“CPLV Lease Agreement” refers to the lease agreement for Caesars Palace Las Vegas, as amended from time to time, which will be combined with the HLV Lease Agreement into a single Las Vegas master lease upon the closing of the pending Eldorado/Caesars Merger.

“CRC” refers to Caesars Resort Collection, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company which is a subsidiary of Caesars.

“Eastside Property” refers to 18.4 acres of property located in Las Vegas, Nevada, east of Harrah’s Las Vegas that we sold to Caesars in December 2017.

“Eldorado Transaction” refers to a series of transactions between us and Eldorado in connection with the Eldorado/Caesars Merger, including the acquisition of the Harrah’s New Orleans, Harrah’s Atlantic City and Harrah’s Laughlin properties, modifications to the Caesars Lease Agreements, and rights of first refusal.

“Eldorado” refers to Eldorado Resorts, Inc., a Nevada corporation, and, as the context requires, its subsidiaries.

“Eldorado/Caesars Merger” refers to the merger contemplated under an Agreement and Plan of Merger pursuant to which a subsidiary of Eldorado will merge with and into Caesars, with Caesars surviving as a wholly owned subsidiary of Eldorado.

“February 2020 Senior Unsecured Notes” refers collectively to the 2025 Notes, 2027 Notes and the 2030 Notes.

“Formation Date” refers to October 6, 2017.

“Formation Lease Agreements” refers to the CPLV Lease Agreement, the Joliet Lease Agreement and the Non-CPLV Lease Agreement, collectively.

“Greektown” refers to the real estate assets associated with the Greektown Casino-Hotel, located in Detroit, Michigan, which we purchased on May 23, 2019.

“Greektown Lease Agreement” refers to the lease agreement for Greektown, as amended from time to time.

“Hard Rock” means Hard Rock International, and, as the context requires, its subsidiary and affiliate entities.

“Hard Rock Cincinnati” refers to the casino-entitled land and real estate and related assets associated with the Hard Rock Cincinnati Casino, located in Cincinnati, Ohio, which we purchased on September 20, 2019 (and previously referred to in our prior filings as JACK Cincinnati).

“Hard Rock Cincinnati Lease Agreement” refers to the lease agreement for Hard Rock Cincinnati, as amended from time to time.

“HLV Lease Agreement” refers to the lease agreement for the Harrah’s Las Vegas facilities, as amended from time to time, which will be combined with the CPLV Lease Agreement into a single Las Vegas master lease upon the closing of the Eldorado/Caesars Merger.

“JACK Entertainment” refers to JACK Ohio LLC, and, as the context requires, its subsidiary and affiliate entities.

“JACK Cleveland/Thistledown” refers to the casino-entitled land and real estate and related assets associated with the JACK Cleveland Casino located in Cleveland, Ohio, and the video lottery gaming and pari-mutuel wagering authorized land and real estate and related assets of JACK Thistledown Racino located in North Randall, Ohio, which we purchased on January 24, 2020.

“JACK Cleveland/Thistledown Lease Agreement” refers to the lease agreement for JACK Cleveland/Thistledown, as amended from time to time.

“Joliet Lease Agreement” refers to the lease agreement for the facilities in Joliet, Illinois, as amended from time to time.

“Lease Agreements” refer collectively to the Caesars Lease Agreements, the Penn National Lease Agreements, the Hard Rock Cincinnati Lease Agreement, the Century Portfolio Lease Agreement and, from and after January 24, 2020, the JACK Cleveland/Thistledown Lease Agreement, unless the context otherwise requires.

“Margaritaville” refers to the real estate of Margaritaville Resort Casino, located in Bossier City, Louisiana, which we purchased on January 2, 2019.

“Margaritaville Lease Agreement” refers to the lease agreement for Margaritaville, as amended from time to time.

“Master Transaction Agreement” refers to the master transaction agreement with Eldorado relating to the Eldorado Transaction.

“Non-CPLV Lease Agreement” refers to the lease agreement for the regional properties leased to Caesars other than the facilities in Joliet, Illinois, as amended from time to time.

“November 2019 Senior Unsecured Notes” refer collectively to the 2026 Notes and the 2029 Notes.

“Operating Partnership” refers to VICI Properties L.P., a Delaware limited partnership and a wholly owned subsidiary of VICI.

“Penn National” refers to Penn National Gaming, Inc. and, as the context requires, its subsidiaries.

“Penn National Lease Agreements” refer collectively to the Margaritaville Lease Agreement and the Greektown Lease Agreement, unless the context otherwise requires.

“Revolving Credit Facility” refers to the five-year first lien revolving credit facility entered into by VICI PropCo, as amended from time to time.

“Second Lien Notes” refers to $766.9 million aggregate principal amount of 8.0% second priority senior secured notes due 2023 issued by a subsidiary of the Operating Partnership in October 2017, of which approximately $498.5 million aggregate principal amount remained outstanding as of December 31, 2019, and which were redeemed in full on February 20, 2020.

“Seminole Hard Rock” means Seminole Hard Rock Entertainment, Inc.

“Term Loan B Facility” refers to the seven-year senior secured first lien term loan B facility entered into by VICI PropCo in December 2017.

We are an owner and acquirer of experiential real estate assets across leading gaming, hospitality, entertainment and leisure destinations. Our national, geographically diverse portfolio currently consists of 28 market leading properties, including Caesars Palace Las Vegas and Harrah’s Las Vegas, two of the most iconic entertainment facilities on the Las Vegas Strip. Our entertainment facilities are leased to leading brands that seek to drive consumer loyalty and value with guests through superior services, experiences, products and continuous innovation. Across approximately 40 million square feet, our well-maintained properties are currently located across urban, destination and drive-to markets in twelve states, contain approximately 15,600 hotel rooms and feature over 180 restaurants, bars and nightclubs.

Our portfolio also includes approximately 34 acres of undeveloped or underdeveloped land on and adjacent to the Las Vegas Strip that is leased to Caesars, which we may look to monetize as appropriate. We also own and operate four championship golf courses located near certain of our properties, two of which are in close proximity to the Las Vegas Strip.

We believe we have mutually beneficial relationships with Caesars, Penn National, Hard Rock, Century Casinos and JACK Entertainment, all of which are leading owners and operators of gaming, entertainment and leisure properties. Our long-term triple-net Lease Agreements with subsidiaries of our operators provide us with a highly predictable revenue stream with embedded growth potential. We believe our geographic diversification limits the effect of changes in any one market on our overall performance. We are focused on driving long-term total returns through managing experiential asset growth and allocating capital diligently, maintaining a highly productive tenant base, and optimizing our capital structure to support external growth. As a growth focused public real estate company, we expect our relationship with our partners will position us for the acquisition of additional properties across leisure and hospitality.

Our portfolio is competitively positioned and well-maintained. Pursuant to the terms of the Lease Agreements, which require our tenants to invest in our properties, and in line with our tenants’ commitment to build guest loyalty, we anticipate our tenants will continue to make strategic value-enhancing investments in our properties over time, helping to maintain their competitive position. In addition, given our scale and deep industry knowledge, we believe we are well-positioned to execute highly complementary single-asset and portfolio acquisitions to augment growth.

We conduct our operations as a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) for U.S. federal income tax purposes. We generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income taxes on our taxable income to the extent that we annually distribute all of our net taxable income to stockholders and maintain our qualification as a REIT. We conduct our real property business through our Operating Partnership and our golf course business through a taxable REIT subsidiary (a “TRS”), VICI Golf.

Our portfolio features Caesars Palace Las Vegas and Harrah’s Las Vegas and market-leading urban, destination and regional properties with significant scale. Our properties are well-maintained and leased to leading brands such as Caesars, Harrah’s, Horseshoe, Bally’s, Margaritaville, Greektown, JACK, Hard Rock, Century and Mountaineer. These brands seek to drive loyalty and value with guests through superior service and products and continuous innovation. Our portfolio benefits from its strong mix of demand generators, including casinos, guest rooms, restaurants, entertainment facilities, bars and nightclubs and convention space. We believe our properties are well-insulated from incremental competition as a result of high replacement costs, as well as regulatory restrictions and long-lead times for new development. The high quality of our properties appeals to a broad base of customers, stimulating traffic and visitation.

Our portfolio also includes market-leading regional resorts and destinations that we believe are benefiting from significant invested capital over recent years. The regional properties we own include award-winning land-based and dockside casinos, hotels and entertainment facilities that are market leaders within their respective regions. The properties operate primarily under the Caesars,

Harrah’s, Horseshoe, Bally’s, Margaritaville, Greektown, JACK, Hard Rock, Century and Mountaineer trademark and brand names, which, in many instances, have market-leading brand recognition.

Under the terms of the Lease Agreements, the tenants are required to continue to invest in the properties, which we believe enhances the value of our properties and maintains their competitive market position.

Our portfolio includes 28 geographically diverse casino resorts that serve numerous Metropolitan Statistical Areas (“MSAs”) nationally. This diversity reduces our exposure to adverse events that may affect any single market. This also allows our tenants to derive multiple revenue streams from an economically diverse set of customers and services to such customers. These include gaming, food and beverage, entertainment, hospitality and other sources of revenue. We believe that this geographic diversity and the diversity of revenue sources that our tenants derive from our leased properties improves the stability of rental revenue.

Our properties are 100% occupied pursuant to our long-term triple-net Lease Agreements with subsidiaries of Caesars, Penn National, Hard Rock, Century Casinos and JACK Entertainment, providing us with a predictable level of rental revenue to support future cash distributions to our stockholders.

All of our casino resort properties are established assets with extensive operating histories. Based on historical performance of the properties, we expect that the properties will generate sufficient revenues for our tenants to pay to us all rent due under the Lease Agreements.

We believe our relationship with Caesars, Penn National, Hard Rock, Century Casinos and JACK Entertainment, including our contractual agreements with them and their applicable subsidiaries, will continue to drive significant benefits and mutual alignment of strategic interests in the future.

In addition to the properties leased from us, Caesars, Penn National, Hard Rock and Century Casinos operate numerous other casino resorts, collectively comprising a nationally recognized portfolio of brands. In addition, Caesars uses the Caesars Rewards® program, which is core to its cross-market strategy and is designed to encourage Caesars’ customers to direct a larger share of their entertainment spending to Caesars. Subsequent to the closing of the Eldorado/Caesars merger, the Caesars Rewards® program will remain as the customer loyalty program and will include the Eldorado owned brands. Our other tenants operate their own customer loyalty rewards programs including Penn National using the mychoice® reward program and Hard Rock using the Hard Rock Rewards® program.

We have an experienced and independent management team that has been actively engaged in the leadership, acquisition and investment aspects of the hospitality, gaming, entertainment and real estate industries throughout their careers. Our Chief Executive Officer, Edward Pitoniak, and President and Chief Operating Officer, John Payne, are industry veterans with an average of over 30 years of experience in the REIT, gaming and experiential real estate industries, during which time they were able to drive controlled growth and diversification of significant real estate and gaming portfolios. Mr. Pitoniak’s service as an independent board member of public companies provides him with a unique and meaningful management perspective and enables him to work with our independent board of directors as a trusted steward of our extensive portfolio. Our Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel have an average of over 20 years of experience in the REIT, real estate and hospitality industries and bring significant leadership and expertise to our team across capital markets, corporate finance, acquisitions, risk management and corporate governance. Our independent board of directors, which is made of highly skilled and seasoned real estate, gaming, hospitality, consumer products and corporate professionals, was established to ensure that there was no overlap between our tenants and the companies with which our directors are affiliated. In addition, our board of directors is not staggered, with each of our directors subject to re-election annually. Robust corporate governance in the best interests of our stockholders is of central importance to the management of our company, as we have a separate Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer and all members of our audit committee qualify as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined by the SEC. Directors are elected in uncontested elections by the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes cast, and stockholder approval is required prior to, or in certain circumstances within twelve months following, the adoption by our board of a stockholder rights plan.

The following map and tables summarize our current portfolio of properties, our pending acquisitions and our properties subject to the right of first refusal agreement and put/call agreement, subject to the closing of the Eldorado/Caesars Merger. Our properties are diversified across a range of primary uses, including gaming, hotel, convention, dining, entertainment, retail, golf course and other resort amenities and activities.

We derive substantially all of our revenues from rental revenue from the Lease Agreements for our properties, each of which are “triple-net” leases, pursuant to which the tenant bears responsibility for all property costs and expenses associated with ongoing maintenance and operation, including utilities, property tax and insurance.

The following is a summary of the material lease provisions of the Caesars Lease Agreements (which does not reflect the modifications to the Caesars Lease Agreements contemplated in connection with the closing of the Eldorado Transaction):

The following is a summary of the material lease provisions of the Penn National Lease Agreements:

The following is a summary of the material lease provisions of the Hard Rock Cincinnati Lease Agreement:

The following is a summary of the material lease provisions of the Century Portfolio Lease Agreement:

Subsequent to year end, on January 24, 2020, we completed the previously announced JACK Cleveland/Thistledown Acquisition (as defined below). The following is a summary of the material lease provisions of our lease with a subsidiary of JACK Entertainment, which commenced on January 24, 2020, the date of acquisition:

Under our Lease Agreements our tenants are responsible for all capital expenditures at our properties. The Lease Agreements specify certain minimum amounts that our tenants must spend on capital expenditures that constitute installation or restoration and repair or other improvements of items with respect to the leased properties. The following table summarizes the capital expenditure requirements under the Lease Agreements:

The following table summarizes the capital expenditure requirements of the respective tenants under the Caesars Lease Agreements (which does not reflect the modifications to the Caesars Lease Agreements contemplated in connection with the closing of the Eldorado Transaction, including the inclusion of the Harrah’s New Orleans, Harrah’s Atlantic City and Harrah’s Laughlin properties in the Non-CPLV Lease Agreement):

The following table summarizes the capital expenditure requirements of Penn National, Hard Rock, Century Casinos and JACK Entertainment under each of the respective Lease Agreements:

Caesars is a leading owner and operator of gaming, entertainment and leisure properties. Caesars maintains a diverse brand portfolio with a wide range of options that appeal to a variety of gaming, travel and entertainment consumers. As of December 31, 2019, Caesars operates 53 properties, consisting of 23 owned and operated properties, eight properties that it manages on behalf of third parties and 20 properties that it leases from us.

We are independent from Caesars. However, we believe we have a mutually beneficial relationship with Caesars. Our long-term triple-net Lease Agreements with subsidiaries of Caesars provide us with a highly predictable revenue stream with embedded growth potential. We believe our geographic diversification limits the effect of changes in any one market on our overall performance. We are focused on driving long-term total returns through managing assets and allocating capital diligently, maintaining a highly productive tenant base, capitalizing on strategic development and redevelopment opportunities, and optimizing our capital structure to support opportunistic growth.

To govern the ongoing relationship between us and Caesars and our respective subsidiaries, we entered into various agreements with Caesars and/or its subsidiaries as described herein. The summaries presented herein are not complete and are qualified in their entirety by reference to the full text of the applicable agreements, which are included as exhibits to this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Pursuant to the Management and Lease Support Agreements, Caesars guarantees the payment and performance of all monetary obligations of CEOC and/or its subsidiaries under the Formation Lease Agreements and of the “User” under the Golf Course Use Agreement, subject to the following terms: (i) Caesars will be liable for the full amounts of the monetary obligations owed under the Formation Lease Agreements and the Golf Course Use Agreement (not merely for any deficiency amount), unless and until irrevocably paid in full; (ii) Caesars will have no obligation to make a payment with respect to the leases unless an event of default is continuing under the applicable Formation Lease Agreement and Caesars was given notice of the applicable default (or event or circumstance that is or would become a default) of our tenant and/or its subsidiaries under the applicable Lease Agreement, and, with respect to monetary defaults, did not cure such default within the period set forth in the agreements; and (iii) Caesars’ and the Managers’ obligations with respect to each Management and Lease Support Agreement (including Caesars’ guaranty obligations) will terminate if the applicable Formation Lease Agreement is terminated by us, except to the extent of any accrued and unpaid guaranty obligations through the date of such termination and damages to which we are entitled due to such termination. Caesars’ guaranty obligations will also terminate if (x) the Management and Lease Support Agreement is terminated by the parties thereto, (y) a replacement Lease Agreement and Management and Lease Support Agreement are entered into by us, Caesars and/or its affiliates upon certain bankruptcy-related events (or if we elect in writing not to enter into such replacement agreements or such replacement agreements are not entered into as a direct and proximate result of our acts or failure to act) or (z) we terminate a Manager for cause (as defined in the Management and Lease Support Agreements) and an arbitrator determines that cause did not exist. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Caesars’ guaranty obligations will continue (i) to the extent of any accrued and unpaid guaranty obligations through the date of termination of the guaranty and such damages to which we are entitled due to such termination, (ii) during a two-year post-termination transition period during which the applicable Manager continues to act as manager and (iii) in all respects if the Managers are terminated for cause.

The Management and Lease Support Agreements contain customary terms and waivers of all suretyship and other defenses by Caesars and include a covenant by Caesars requiring that (a) a sale of certain material assets by Caesars be for fair market value consideration, on arm’s-length terms in certain cases, with the approval of Caesars’ board of directors, and (b) non-cash dividends by Caesars are permitted only to the extent such dividends would not reasonably be expected to result in Caesars’ inability to perform its guaranty obligations under such agreements.

In addition, until October 6, 2023, or, if earlier, (x) on the date on which Caesars’ guaranty obligations under the Management and Lease Support Agreements have been irrevocably paid or (y) to the extent Caesars’ guaranty obligation under the Management and Lease Support Agreements are terminated by the express terms of the Management and Lease Support Agreements, twelve months after such termination, Caesars may not directly or indirectly (i) declare or pay any dividend, distribution, or similar payment with respect to any of Caesars’ capital stock or other equity interests, (ii) purchase or otherwise acquire or retire for value any of Caesars’ capital stock or other equity interests, or (iii) engage in any other transaction with any direct or indirect holder of Caesars’ capital stock or other equity interests, which is similar in purpose or effect to those described above. However, Caesars will be permitted to execute such transactions if (a) Caesars’ equity market capitalization after giving effect to such transaction is at least $5.5 billion, (b) the amount of such transaction (together with any and all other such dividends and distributions and other transactions made under this clause (b) but excluding, any dividends, distributions or other transactions to be made under clause (c) or (d) below in such fiscal year), does not exceed, in the aggregate, (x) 25% of the net proceeds, up to a cap of $25 million in any fiscal year, from the disposition of assets by Caesars and its subsidiaries and (y) $100 million from other sources in any fiscal year, (c) Caesars’ equity market capitalization after giving effect to such transaction is at least $4.5 billion and such transaction made under this clause (c) (excluding, any dividends, distributions or other transactions made under clause (b) above or clause (d) below in such fiscal year) is less than or equal to $125 million per annum and is funded solely by asset sale proceeds or (d) solely with respect to a transaction described in clause (a) above, the aggregate amount of such transactions (excluding transactions made under clause (b) or (c) above) is not more than $199.5 million. Similarly, until October 6, 2023, or the expiration of the restrictions described above (except in the case of the exceptions under clauses (a) and (c) above), any net proceeds from the disposition of assets by Caesars or its subsidiaries in excess of $25 million that are directly or indirectly distributed to, or otherwise received by, Caesars in any fiscal year will not be used to fund any restricted payment of Caesars described above in clauses (i) through (iii) above.

We entered into a second amended and restated right of first refusal agreement with Caesars (the “Second Amended and Restated Right of First Refusal Agreement”), which contains a right of first refusal in our favor, pursuant to which we have the right to own (and cause to be leased to, and managed by, Caesars (or its affiliate or affiliates)) any domestic gaming facility located outside of Greater Las Vegas, proposed to be acquired or developed by Caesars that is not (i) then subject to a pre-existing lease, management agreement or other contractual restriction that was not entered into in contemplation of such acquisition or development and which (x) was entered into on arms’-length terms and (y) would not be terminated upon or prior to such transaction, (ii) a transaction for which the opco/propco structure would be prohibited by applicable laws, or which would require governmental consent or approval (unless already received), (iii) any transaction that does not consist of owning or acquiring a fee or leasehold interest in real property, (iv) a transaction in which Caesars will not own at least 50% of, or control, the entity that will own the gaming facility, (v) a transaction in which one or more third parties will own or acquire, in the aggregate, a beneficial economic interest of at least 30% in the applicable gaming facility, and such third parties are unable, or make a bona fide, good faith refusal, to enter into the opco/

propco structure, (vi) a transaction in which Caesars or its subsidiaries proposes to acquire a then-existing gaming facility from Caesars or its subsidiaries, and (vii) a transaction with respect to any asset remaining in CEOC after the formation transactions. The Second Amended and Restated Right of First Refusal further provides us, subject to certain exclusions, the right to acquire (and lease to Caesars) (x) any of the properties that Caesars has acquired from Centaur Holdings, LLC, should Caesars determine to sell any such properties in a sale-leaseback transaction, (y) certain income-producing improvements if built by Caesars in lieu of the Caesars Forum Convention Center on the Eastside Property, subject to certain exclusions and (z) a portion of the undeveloped land adjacent to the Las Vegas Strip, if acquired from us and developed by Caesars in accordance with certain procedures set forth in the Non-CPLV Lease Agreement. If, among other things, we decline to exercise our right of first refusal, the Non-CPLV Lease Agreement and Joliet Lease Agreement establish a variable rent floor to any facility outside of Greater Las Vegas and located within a 30-mile radius of any facility as to which we declined our right of first refusal. If we exercise such right, we and Caesars will structure such transaction in a manner that allows the subject property to be owned by us and leased to Caesars. In such event, Caesars (or its designee) will enter into a lease with respect to the subject property whereby (i) rent thereunder will be established based on formulas consistent with the EBITDAR coverage ratio (determined based on the prior 12-month period) with respect to the Lease Agreement then in effect and (ii) such other terms as are agreed by the parties.

The Second Amended and Restated Right of First Refusal Agreement also contains a right of first refusal in favor of Caesars, pursuant to which Caesars will have the right to lease and manage any domestic gaming facility located outside of Greater Las Vegas, proposed to be acquired by us that is not: (i) any asset that is then subject to a pre-existing lease, management agreement or other contractual restriction that was not entered into in contemplation of such acquisition and which (x) was entered into on arms’ length terms and (y) would not be terminated upon or prior to closing of such transaction, (ii) any transaction for which the opco/propco structure would be prohibited by applicable laws or which would require governmental consent (unless already received), (iii) any transaction structured by the seller as a sale-leaseback, (iv) any transaction in which we will not own at least 50% of, or control, the entity that will own the gaming facility, and (v) any transaction in which we propose to acquire a then-existing gaming facility from ourselves or our affiliates. If Caesars (or its designee) exercises such right, we and Caesars will structure such transaction in a manner that allows the subject property to be owned by us and leased to Caesars. In such event, Caesars (or its designee) will enter into a lease with respect to the additional property whereby (i) rent thereunder will be established based on formulas consistent with the adjusted EBITDA coverage ratio (as set forth in the agreement) with respect to the lease then in effect and (ii) such other terms as are agreed by the parties.

In the event that the foregoing rights are not exercised by us or Caesars and CEOC, as applicable, each party will have the right to consummate the subject transaction without the other’s involvement, provided the same is on terms no more favorable to the counterparty than those presented to us or Caesars and CEOC, as applicable.

The rights of first refusal will not apply if (A) the Management and Lease Support Agreements have been terminated or have expired by their terms or with our consent, (B) Caesars is no longer managing the facilities, or (C) a change of control occurs with respect to either Caesars or us. Accordingly, the Second Amended and Restated Right of First Refusal Agreement will terminate in accordance with its terms upon the consummation of the Eldorado/Caesars Merger.

We entered into certain call right agreements (the “Call Right Agreements”), which provide our Operating Partnership with the opportunity to acquire Harrah’s Atlantic City, Harrah’s New Orleans and Harrah’s Laughlin (“Option Properties”) from Caesars. Our Operating Partnership can exercise the call rights within five years from the Formation Date. The purchase price for each property will be 10 multiplied by the initial property lease rent for the respective property, with the initial property lease rent for each property being the amount that causes the ratio of (x) EBITDAR of the property for the most recently ended four quarter period for which financial statements are available to (y) the initial property lease rent to equal 1.67.

Under certain circumstances, the owner may propose one or more replacement properties and the material terms of the purchase and if such proposal is at least as economically beneficial to us as the exercise of the call right, the parties must proceed with the sale of that property and any dispute with respect to the same (including whether such proposal was a qualifying proposal) will be submitted to arbitration.

If the exercise of the call right is not permissible because a debt agreement does not permit the sale and such limitation is not resolved within one year from exercise of the right and the owner has not made an alternative proposal that is at least as economically beneficial to us as the exercise of the call right, the owner must pay us an amount equal to the value of our loss as of the Formation

Date which will increase at a rate of 8.5% per annum, with annual compounding for the period from the date of each agreement until the date on which payment of the value loss amount is made.

If the exercise of the call right is not permissible due to a reason other than because of a debt limitation and the owner has not made an alternative proposal that is at least as economically beneficial to us as the exercise of the call right, then the parties must use commercially reasonable efforts to resolve the issue in accordance with the agreement. If the applicable issue making the transaction impermissible is not resolved by the foregoing described deadline, the owner must use commercially reasonable efforts to sell the property to an alternative purchaser for the fair market value of the property, and, upon the closing of any such alternative transaction we would be entitled to any portion of the purchase price that exceeds the amount that would otherwise be determined in accordance with the applicable agreement.

If the exercise of the call right is permissible, the parties will use good faith, commercially reasonable efforts, for a period of ninety days following the delivery of the election notice to negotiate and enter into a sale agreement and conveyance and ancillary documents with respect to the applicable property together with a leaseback agreement.

Claudine Propco LLC (“HLV Owner”), our wholly owned subsidiary, and certain subsidiaries of Caesars entered into a put/call agreement (the “Caesars Forum Put/Call Agreement”) which provides for (i) a put right in favor of Caesars, which would result in the sale by Caesars to HLV Owner and simultaneous leaseback by HLV Owner to Caesars of a convention center (the “Caesars Forum Convention Center”) that Caesars is currently constructing on the Eastside Property (the “Put Right”), (ii) if Caesars exercises the Put Right and, among other things, the sale of the Caesars Forum Convention Center to HLV Owner does not close for certain reasons more particularly described in the agreement, then a repurchase right in favor of Caesars, which, if exercised, would result in the sale by HLV Owner to Caesars of Harrah’s Las Vegas (the “Repurchase Right”) and (iii) a call right in favor of HLV Owner, which, if exercised, would result in the sale by Caesars to HLV Owner and simultaneous leaseback by HLV Owner to Caesars of the Caesars Forum Convention Center (the “Call Right”). The Put Right may be exercised by Caesars between January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024. The Repurchase Right may be exercised by Caesars during a one-year period commencing on the date upon which the closing under the Put Right transaction does not occur and ending on the day immediately preceding the first anniversary thereof. The purchase price for Harrah’s Las Vegas would be an amount equal to 13 times the rent due under the HLV Lease Agreement for the most recently ended four consecutive fiscal quarter period for which financial statements are available as of the date of Caesars’ election to execute the Repurchase Right. The Call Right may be exercised by HLV Owner between January 1, 2027 and December 31, 2027. The purchase price for the Caesars Forum Convention Center is equal to 13 times the rent due in connection with the leaseback thereof, which will be determined pursuant to the formulas set forth in the Caesars Forum Put/Call Agreement. The Caesars Forum Put/Call Agreement survives the closing of the Eldorado/Caesars Merger.

Pursuant to a golf course use agreement (as amended, the “Golf Course Use Agreement”), VICI Golf granted to CEOC and CES (collectively, the “users”) certain priority rights and privileges with respect to access and use of the following golf course properties: Rio Secco (Henderson, Nevada), Cascata (Boulder City, Nevada), Chariot Run (Laconia, Indiana) and Grand Bear (Saucier, Mississippi). Pursuant to the Golf Course Use Agreement, the users are granted specific rights and privileges to the golf courses, including (i) preferred access to tee times for guests of users’ casinos and/or hotels located within the same markets as the golf courses, (ii) preferred rates for guests of users’ casinos and/or hotels located within the same markets as the golf courses, and (iii) availability for golf tournaments and events at preferred rates and discounts. Payments under the Golf Course Use Agreement are currently comprised of an approximately $10.3 million annual membership fee, $3.1 million of use fees and $1.2 million of minimum rounds fees subject to certain adjustments. The Golf Course Use Agreement survives the closing of the Eldorado/Caesars Merger.

We have entered into a tax matters agreement (the “Tax Matters Agreement”), which addresses matters relating to the payment of taxes and entitlement to tax refunds by Caesars, CEOC, the Operating Partnership and us, and allocates certain liabilities, including providing for certain covenants and indemnities, relating to the payment of such taxes, receipt of such refunds, and preparation of tax returns relating thereto. In general, the Tax Matters Agreement provides for the preparation and filing by Caesars of tax returns

relating to CEOC and for the preparation and filing by us of tax returns relating to us and our operations. Under the Tax Matters Agreement, Caesars has agreed to indemnify us for any taxes allocated to CEOC that we are required to pay pursuant to our tax returns and we have agreed to indemnify Caesars for any taxes allocated to us that Caesars or CEOC is required to pay pursuant to a Caesars or CEOC tax return.

Under the Tax Matters Agreement, Caesars has agreed to indemnify us for taxes attributable to acts or omissions taken by Caesars and we have agreed to indemnify Caesars for taxes attributable to our acts or omissions, in each case that cause a failure of the transactions entered into as part of the Plan of Reorganization to qualify as tax-free under the code. The Tax Matters Agreement survives the closing of the Eldorado/Caesars Merger.

On June 24, 2019, Eldorado entered into a definitive agreement and plan of merger (the “Eldorado/Caesars Merger Agreement”) by and among Eldorado, Colt Merger Sub, Inc. (“Merger Sub”) and Caesars, pursuant to which Merger Sub will merge with and into Caesars, with Caesars surviving as a wholly owned subsidiary of Eldorado. Upon closing of the Eldorado/Caesars Merger, Eldorado will be renamed Caesars.

We compete for real property investments with other REITs, gaming companies, investment companies, private equity and hedge fund investors, sovereign funds, lenders and other investors. In addition, revenues from our properties are dependent on the ability of our tenants and operators, subsidiaries of Caesars, Penn National, Hard Rock, Century Casinos and JACK Entertainment to compete with other gaming operators. The operators of our properties compete on a local and regional basis for customers. The gaming industry is characterized by a 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 and other forms of gaming in the United States.

As a landlord, we compete in the real estate market with numerous developers and owners of properties. Some of our competitors are significantly larger, have greater financial resources and lower costs of capital than we have, have greater economies of scale and have greater name recognition than we do. Increased competition will make it more challenging to identify and successfully capitalize on acquisition opportunities that meet our investment objectives. Our ability to compete is also impacted by national and local economic trends, availability of investment alternatives, availability and cost of capital, construction and renovation costs, existing laws and regulations, new legislation and population trends.

Approximately 140 employees were employed by us at December 31, 2019. Of these employees, 16 are employed at our Operating Partnership and approximately 124 are employed at our TRS, VICI Golf, or their respective subsidiaries.

The ownership, operation and management of gaming and racing facilities are subject to pervasive regulation. Each of our gaming and racing facilities is subject to regulation under the laws, rules, and regulations of the jurisdiction in which it is located. Gaming laws and regulations generally require gaming industry participants to:

Gaming laws and regulations impact our business in two respects: (1) our ownership of land and buildings in which gaming activities are operated by our tenants; and (2) the operations of our tenants as operators in the gaming industry. Further, many gaming and racing regulatory agencies in the jurisdictions in which our tenants operate require us and our affiliates to apply for and maintain a license as a key business entity or supplier because of our status as landlord.

Our businesses and the business of Caesars, Penn National, Hard Rock, Century Casinos and JACK Entertainment are also 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.

If we, our subsidiaries or the tenants of our properties violate applicable gaming laws, our gaming licenses could be limited, conditioned, suspended or revoked by gaming authorities, and we and any other persons involved could be subject to substantial fines. Further, a supervisor or conservator can be appointed by gaming authorities to operate our gaming properties, or in some jurisdictions, take title to our gaming assets in the jurisdiction, and under certain circumstances, earnings generated during such appointment could be forfeited to the applicable jurisdictions. Violations of laws in one jurisdiction could result in disciplinary action in other jurisdictions. Finally, the loss of our gaming licenses could result in an event of default under our certain of our indebtedness, and cross-default provisions in our debt agreements could cause an event of default under one debt agreement to trigger an event of default under our other debt agreements. As a result, violations by us of applicable gaming laws could have a material adverse effect on us.

Substantially all material loans, 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. 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 gaming authorities. Entities seeking to acquire control of us or one of our subsidiaries must satisfy gaming authorities with respect to a variety of stringent standards prior to assuming control.

The Lease Agreements require the tenants to maintain, with financially sound and reputable insurance companies (and in certain cases subject to the right of the tenants to self-insure), insurance (subject to customary deductibles and retentions) in such amounts and against such risks as are customarily maintained by similarly situated companies engaged in the same or similar businesses operating in the same or similar locations. The Lease Agreements provide that the amount and type of insurance that the tenants have in effect as of the commencement of the leases will satisfy for all purposes the requirements to insure the properties. However, such insurance coverage may not be sufficient to fully cover our losses.

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. The Lease Agreements generally obligate our tenants to comply with applicable environmental laws and to indemnify us if its noncompliance results in losses or claims against us, and we expect that any future leases will include the same provisions for other operators. A tenant’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 be joint and several 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 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 current properties and any properties that we may acquire in the future, 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. We are not aware of any environmental issues that are expected to have a material impact on the operations of any of our properties.

We continue to focus on developing our efforts relative to implementing and reporting on environmental sustainability efforts at our properties. We have implemented tenant engagement initiatives designed to assist us in understanding the environmental impact of our leased properties and to gather environmental sustainability data in order to monitor sustainability metrics throughout our leased property portfolio. Our existing leased properties are leased pursuant to long-term triple-net leases, which provide our tenants with complete control over operations at our leased properties, including over the implementation of environmental sustainability initiatives consistent with their business strategies and our revenue objectives, and do not permit us to require the collection or reporting of environmental sustainability data. Although not contractually required, in 2019, certain of our tenants reported to us on LEED certification, water and energy use, emissions and waste diversion. In addition, we have implemented recording and reporting protocols at our owned and operated golf courses in order to monitor our environmental impact at those properties and commence our process towards setting long-term sustainability targets. In 2019, we relocated our corporate headquarters to a LEED Gold certified building with an Energy Star label. We are committed to the improvement of environmental conditions through our business activities within the scope of our capabilities, and we periodically engage with key stakeholders with regard to environmental sustainability priorities, among other things.

Most of the properties within our portfolio are currently operated and promoted under trademarks and brand names not owned by us, including Caesars Palace, Harrah’s, Horseshoe, Bally’s, Greektown, JACK, Hard Rock, Century and Mountaineer. In addition, properties that we may acquire in the future may be operated and promoted under these same trademarks and brand names, or under different trademarks and brand names we do not, or will not, own. During the term that our properties are managed by Caesars Penn National, Hard Rock, Century Casinos and JACK Entertainment, we are reliant on Caesars, Penn National, Hard Rock, Century Casinos and JACK Entertainment to maintain and protect the trademarks, brand names and other licensed intellectual property used in the operation or promotion of the leased properties. Operation of the leased properties, as well as our business and financial condition, could be adversely impacted by infringement, invalidation, unauthorized use or litigation affecting any such intellectual property. In addition, if any of our properties are rebranded, it could have a material adverse effect on us, as we may not enjoy comparable recognition or status under a new brand.

Our investment objectives are to increase cash flow from operations, achieve sustainable long-term growth and maximize stockholder value to allow for stable dividends and stock appreciation. We have not established a specific policy regarding the relative priority of these investment objectives.

Our business is focused primarily on gaming and leisure sector properties and activities directly related thereto. We own 28 market-leading properties and own and operate four golf courses. We believe there are potential opportunities to acquire additional gaming, hospitality and entertainment assets. Our future investment activities will not be limited to any geographic area or to a specific percentage of our assets. We intend to engage in such future investment activities in a manner that is consistent with our qualification as a REIT for U.S. Federal income tax purposes. We do not have a specific policy to acquire assets primarily for capital gain or primarily for income. In addition, we may purchase or lease income-producing commercial and other types of properties for long-term investment, expand and improve the properties we presently own or other acquired properties, or sell such properties, in whole or in part, when circumstances warrant.

We may participate with third parties in property ownership, through joint ventures or other types of co-ownership, and we may engage in such activities in the future if we determine that doing so would be the most effective means of owning or acquiring properties. We do not expect, however, to enter into a joint venture or other partnership arrangement to make an investment that would not otherwise meet our investment policies. We also may acquire real estate or interests in real estate in exchange for the issuance of common stock, preferred stock or options to purchase stock or interests in our subsidiaries, including our Operating Partnership. We may also pursue opportunities to provide mortgage financing of preferred equity investments for investment in certain situations where this structure is more advantageous than owning the underlying real estate.

Equity investments in acquired properties may be subject to existing mortgage financing and other indebtedness or to new indebtedness which may be incurred in connection with acquiring or refinancing these investments. Principal and interest on our debt will have a priority over any dividends with respect to our common stock. Investments are also subject to our policy not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.

Although we do not presently intend to invest in mortgages or other forms of real estate-related debt, other than in a manner that is ancillary to an equity investment, we may elect, in our discretion, to invest in real estate debt, including, without limitation, traditional mortgages, participating or convertible mortgages, mezzanine loans or preferred equity investments; provided, in each case, that such investment is consistent with our qualification as a REIT. Investments in real estate-related debt run the risk that a borrower may default under certain provisions governing the debt investment and that the collateral securing the investment may not be sufficient to enable us to recover our full investment.

Subject to the asset tests and gross income tests necessary for REIT qualification, we may invest in securities of other REITs, other entities engaged in real estate activities or securities of other issuers, including for the purpose of exercising control over such entities. We do not currently have any policy limiting the types of entities in which we may invest or the proportion of assets to be so invested, whether through acquisition of an entity’s common stock, limited liability or partnership interests, interests in another REIT or entry into a joint venture. We have no current plans to make additional investments in entities that are not engaged in real estate activities. Our investment objectives are to maximize the cash flow of our investments, acquire investments with growth potential and provide cash distributions and long-term capital appreciation to our stockholders through increases in the value of our company. We have not established a specific policy regarding the relative priority of these investment objectives.

We generally invest our excess cash in short-term investment grade commercial paper as well as discount notes issued by government-sponsored enterprises, including the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation and certain of the Federal Home Loan Banks. These investments generally have original maturities between 91 and 180 days.

We expect to employ leverage in our capital structure in amounts that we determine appropriate from time to time. Our board of directors has not adopted a policy that limits the total amount of indebtedness that we may incur, but will consider a number of factors in evaluating our level of indebtedness from time to time, as well as the amount of such indebtedness that will be either

fixed or variable rate. We are, however, and expect to continue to be, subject to certain indebtedness limitations pursuant to the restrictive covenants of our outstanding indebtedness. We may from time to time modify our debt policy in light of then-current economic conditions, relative availability and costs of debt and equity capital, market values of our properties, general market conditions for debt and equity securities, fluctuations in the market price of our shares of common stock, growth and acquisition opportunities and other factors. If these limits are relaxed, we could become more highly leveraged, resulting in an increased risk of default on our obligations and a related increase in debt service requirements that could adversely affect our financial condition, liquidity and results of operations and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders. To the extent that our board of directors or management determines that it is necessary to raise additional capital, we may, without stockholder approval, borrow money under our Revolving Credit Facility, issue debt or equity securities, including securities senior to our shares, retain earnings (subject to the REIT distribution requirements for U.S. Federal income tax purposes), assume indebtedness, obtain mortgage financing on a portion of our owned properties, engage in a joint venture, or employ a combination of these methods.

We were initially organized as a limited liability company in the State of Delaware on July 5, 2016 as a wholly owned subsidiary of CEOC. On May 5, 2017, we subsequently converted to a corporation under the laws of the State of Maryland and issued shares of common stock to CEOC as part of our formation transactions, which shares were subsequently transferred by CEOC to its creditors as part of the Third Amended Joint Plan of Reorganization of Caesars Entertainment Operating Company, Inc. et. al. (the “Plan of Reorganization”) confirmed by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois (Chicago) on January 17, 2017.

Certain statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including statements such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “project,” “target,” “can,” “could,” “may,” “should,” “will,” “would” or similar expressions, constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are based on our current plans, expectations and projections about future events. We caution you therefore against relying on any of these forward-looking statements. They give our expectations about the future and are not guarantees. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance and achievements to materially differ from any future results, performance and achievements expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements.

Any of the assumptions underlying forward-looking statements could be inaccurate. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and the risk that actual results, performance and achievements will differ materially from the expectations expressed herein will increase with the passage of time. Except as otherwise required by the Federal securities laws, we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, changed circumstances or any other reason. In light of the significant uncertainties inherent in forward-looking statements, the inclusion of such forward-looking statements should not be regarded as a representation by us.

Risks Related to Our Business and Operations

Caesars relies on the properties it owns and/or operate for income to satisfy its obligations, including its debt service requirements and lease payments due to us under the Caesars Lease Agreements or to others under other lease agreements. If income from these properties were to decline for any reason, or if the debt service requirements of our tenants were to increase for any reason or if their creditworthiness were to become impaired for other reasons, Caesars (and following the completion of the Eldorado Transaction, the combined Eldorado/Caesars) may become unable or unwilling to satisfy its payment and other obligations under the Caesars Lease Agreements. The inability or unwillingness of Caesars (and following the completion of the Eldorado Transaction, the combined Eldorado/Caesars) to meet their respective subsidiaries’ payment and other obligations under the Caesars Lease Agreements, in each case, could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects, including our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.

The gaming and entertainment industry is highly competitive and our tenants’ failure to continue to compete successfully could adversely affect their businesses, financial conditions, results of operations, and cash flows. In particular, our tenants’ businesses may be adversely impacted by the reinvestment and expansion by competitors in existing jurisdictions, and expansion of gaming into new jurisdictions in which gaming was not previously permitted, which would result in increased competition in these jurisdictions. Additionally, the casino entertainment industry represents a significant source of tax revenues to the various jurisdictions in which casinos operate. From time to time, various state and federal legislators and officials have proposed changes in tax laws, or in the administration of such laws, including increases in tax rates, which would affect the industry. If adopted, such changes could adversely impact the business, financial condition, and results of operations of our tenants.

In addition, following the completion of the Eldorado Transaction, the combined Eldorado/Caesars will be our largest tenant. Eldorado has publicly disclosed that it expects to achieve approximately $500.0 million of synergies, over time, following completion of the Eldorado/Caesars Merger. The combined Eldorado/Caesars may be unable to achieve these synergies during the time period that it expects to do so, or at all, and a failure to achieve these synergies may adversely affect the combined Eldorado/Caesars, including its creditworthiness, and impair its ability to meet its obligations to us. Moreover, given the combined Eldorado/Caesar’s expected significance to our business, a failure on the part of the combined Eldorado/Caesars to realize expected synergies and any related improvement to its creditworthiness, or any deterioration of its creditworthiness, could materially and adversely affect us, even in the absence of a default under our agreements with the combined Eldorado/Caesars.

Due to our dependence on rental payments from subsidiaries of Caesars (and following the completion of the Eldorado Transaction, the combined Eldorado/Caesars) as our primary source of revenue, we may be limited in our ability to enforce our rights under the leases or to terminate the applicable lease with respect to any particular property. Failure by the tenants to comply with the terms of their respective leases or to comply with the gaming regulations to which the leased properties are subject could require

us to find another tenant for such property, to the extent possible, and there could be a decrease or cessation of rental payments by the tenants. In such event, we may be unable to locate a suitable, credit-worthy tenant at similar rental rates or at all, which would have the effect of reducing our rental revenues and could have a material adverse effect on us.

Our properties on the Las Vegas Strip generated approximately 33% of our lease revenue for the year ended December 31, 2019. Therefore, our business may be significantly affected by risks common to the Las Vegas tourism industry. For example, the cost and availability of air services and the impact of any events that disrupt air travel to and from Las Vegas can adversely affect the business of our tenants. We cannot control the number or frequency of flights to or from Las Vegas, but the tenants rely on air traffic for a significant portion of their visitors. Reductions in flights by major airlines as a result of higher fuel prices or lower demand can impact the number of visitors to our properties. Additionally, there is one principal interstate highway between Las Vegas and Southern California, where a large number of the customers that frequent our properties reside. Capacity constraints of that highway or any other traffic disruptions may also affect the number of customers who visit our facilities. Moreover, due to the importance of our two properties on the Strip, we may be disproportionately affected by general risks such as acts of terrorism, natural disasters, including major fires, floods and earthquakes, and severe or inclement weather, should such developments occur in or nearby Las Vegas.

Caesars is obligated to pay us in the aggregate approximately $4.2 billion in fixed annual rents and golf course membership fees over the next five years of the respective Caesars Lease Agreements, subject to certain escalators and adjustments. If Caesars’ (or, after the completion of the Eldorado Transaction, Eldorado’s) businesses and properties fail to generate sufficient earnings, the applicable tenants, Caesars and/or CRC (before the completion of the Eldorado Transaction) and Eldorado (after the completion of the completion of the Eldorado Transaction) may be unable to satisfy their respective obligations under the Lease Agreements or the related guarantees, respectively. Additionally, these obligations may limit their ability to make investments to maintain and grow their portfolio of businesses and properties, which may adversely affect their competitiveness and ability to satisfy their obligations to us.

In addition, during the initial seven years of the Caesars Lease Agreements, the annual rent escalations under the Caesars Lease Agreements will continue to apply regardless of the amount of cash flows generated by the properties that are subject to the Caesars Lease Agreements. Accordingly, if the cash flows generated by such properties decrease, or do not increase at the same rate as the rent escalations, the rents payable under the Caesars Lease Agreements will comprise a higher percentage of the cash flows generated by the subsidiaries of Caesars (and, after the completion of the Eldorado Transaction, Eldorado), which could make it more difficult for the applicable subsidiaries to make their payment obligations to us under the Caesars Lease Agreements and ultimately could adversely affect the applicable guarantor’s ability to satisfy their respective obligations to us under the related guarantees.

As disclosed in its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2019, Caesars’ consolidated estimated debt service (including principal and interest) for 2020 will be approximately $504.0 million and $10.2 billion thereafter to maturity. As a result, a significant portion of Caesars’ liquidity needs, and, after the completion of the Eldorado Transaction, Eldorado’s liquidity needs, are for debt service, including significant interest payments. Such substantial indebtedness and the restrictive covenants under the agreements governing such indebtedness could limit the ability of the applicable tenants to satisfy their obligations to us under the Lease Agreements and the ability of Caesars and/or CRC (before the completion of the Eldorado Transaction) and Eldorado (after the completion of the completion of the Eldorado Transaction) to satisfy their respective obligations under the related guarantees.

As the landlord of gaming facilities, we are impacted by the risks associated with the gaming industry. Therefore, so long as our investments are concentrated in gaming-related assets, our success is 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 would likely have a greater adverse effect on us than if we owned a more diversified real estate portfolio, particularly because a component of the rent under the Lease Agreements will be based, over time, on the performance of the gaming facilities operated by our tenants on our properties and such effect could be material and adverse to our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects.

The gaming industry is characterized by a 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, internet lotteries and other internet wagering gaming services and, in a broader sense, gaming operators face competition from all manner of leisure and entertainment activities. Gaming competition is intense in most of the markets where our facilities are located. Recently, there has been additional significant competition in the gaming industry as a result of the upgrading or expansion of facilities by existing market participants, the entrance of new gaming participants into a market, internet gaming or legislative changes. As competing properties and new markets are opened, we may be negatively impacted. Additionally, decreases in discretionary consumer spending brought about by weakened general economic conditions such as, but not limited to, lackluster recoveries from recessions, 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 flows.

The ownership, operation, and management of gaming and racing facilities are subject to extensive regulation. These gaming and racing regulations impact our gaming and racing tenants and persons associated with our gaming and racing facilities, which in many jurisdictions include us as the landlord and owner of the real estate. Certain gaming authorities in the jurisdictions in which we hold properties may require us and/or our affiliates to maintain a license as a key business entity or supplier because of our status as landlord. Gaming authorities also retain great discretion to require us to be found suitable as a landlord, and certain of our stockholders, officers and directors may be required to be found suitable as well. Regulatory authorities also have broad powers with respect to the licensing of casino operations, and may revoke, suspend, condition or limit the gaming or other licenses of our tenants, impose substantial fines or take other actions, any one of which could adversely impact the business, financial condition and results of operations of our tenants. In addition, in many jurisdictions, licenses are granted for limited durations and require renewal from time to time.

In many jurisdictions, gaming laws can require certain of our stockholders to file an application, be investigated, and qualify or have his, her or its suitability determined by gaming authorities. Gaming authorities have very broad discretion in determining whether an applicant should be deemed suitable. 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.

Gaming authorities may conduct investigations into the conduct or associations of our directors, officers, key employees or investors to ensure compliance with applicable standards. If we are required to be found suitable and are found suitable as a landlord, we

will be registered as a public company with the gaming authorities and will be subject to disciplinary action if, after we receive notice that a person is unsuitable to be a stockholder or to have any other relationship with us, we:

Many jurisdictions also require any person who acquires beneficial ownership of more than a certain percentage of voting securities of a gaming company and, in some jurisdictions, non-voting securities, typically 5% of a publicly-traded company, to report the acquisition to gaming authorities, and gaming authorities may require such holders to apply for qualification, licensure or a finding of suitability, subject to limited exceptions for “institutional investors” that hold a company’s voting securities for passive investment purposes only. Our outstanding shares of capital stock are held subject to applicable gaming laws. Any person owning or controlling at least 5% of the outstanding shares of any class of our capital stock is required to promptly notify us of such person’s identity. Some jurisdictions may also limit the number of gaming licenses in which a person may hold an ownership or a controlling interest.

Further, our directors, officers, key employees and investors in our shares must meet approval standards of certain gaming regulatory authorities. If such gaming regulatory authorities were to find such a person or investor unsuitable, we may be required to sever our relationship with that person or the investor may be required to dispose of his, her or its interest in us. Our charter provides that all of our shares held by investors who are found to be unsuitable by regulatory authorities are subject to redemption upon our receipt of notice of such finding.

Additionally, because we and our tenants are subject to regulation in numerous jurisdictions, and because regulatory agencies within each jurisdiction review compliance with gaming laws in other jurisdictions, it is possible that gaming compliance issues in one jurisdiction may lead to reviews and compliance issues in other jurisdictions. The loss of gaming licenses could result in an event of default under our certain of our indebtedness, and cross-default provisions in our debt agreements could cause an event of default under one debt agreement to trigger an event of default under our other debt agreements.

Finally, 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 may be subject to receipt of prior approval of certain gaming authorities. Entities seeking to acquire control of us or one of our subsidiaries (and certain of our affiliates) must satisfy gaming authorities with respect to a variety of stringent standards prior to assuming control. Failure to satisfy the stringent licensing standards may preclude entities from acquiring control of us or one of our subsidiaries (and certain of our affiliates) and/or require the entities to divest such control.

Our tenants are (and any future tenants of our gaming properties will be) required to be licensed under applicable law in order to operate any of our properties as gaming facilities. If the Lease Agreements, or any future lease agreement we enter into, are terminated (which could be required by a regulatory agency) or expire, any new tenant must be licensed and receive other regulatory approvals to operate our properties as gaming facilities. Any delay in, or inability of, the new tenant to receive required licenses and other regulatory approvals from the applicable state and county government agencies may prolong the period during which we are unable to collect the applicable rent. Further, in the event that the Lease Agreements or future lease agreements are terminated or expire and a new tenant is not licensed or fails to receive other regulatory approvals, the properties may not be operated as gaming facilities and we will not be able to collect the applicable rent. Moreover, we may be unable to transfer or sell the affected properties as gaming facilities, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects.

the expiration of the initial lease term or of any additional renewal term thereafter, a tenant may choose not to renew the Lease Agreements. If the Lease Agreements expire without renewal and we are not able to find suitable, credit-worthy tenants to replace a tenant on the same or more attractive terms, our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects may be materially and adversely affected, including our ability to make distributions to our stockholders at the then current level, or at all. Given the coterminous nature of the Formation Lease Agreements (and, after completion of the Eldorado Transaction, the Caesars Lease Agreements), this risk would be exacerbated if Caesars (or, after completion of the Eldorado Transaction, Eldorado) determined not to renew or was prohibited from renewing due to the remaining useful life of the leased property, all such lease agreements at any one time.

All of our rental revenue is generated from the Lease Agreements, which are triple-net leases, and provide greater flexibility to the respective tenants related to the use of the applicable leased property than would be the case with ordinary property leases, such as the right to freely sublease portions of each leased property, to make alterations in the leased premises and to terminate the lease prior to its expiration under specified circumstances. Furthermore, net leases typically have longer lease terms and, thus, there is an increased risk that contractual rental increases in future years will fail to result in fair market rental rates during those years. As a result, our results of operations and cash flows and distributions to our stockholders could be lower than they would otherwise be if we did not enter into a net lease.

Our ability to sell or dispose of our properties may be hindered by the fact that such properties are subject to the Lease Agreements, as the terms of the Lease Agreements require that a purchaser assume the Lease Agreements or, in certain cases, enter into a severance lease with the tenants for the sold property on substantially the same terms as contained in the applicable Lease Agreement, which may make our properties less attractive to a potential buyer than alternative properties that may be for sale.

The completion of the Eldorado Transaction is subject to certain customary regulatory and other closing conditions, many of which are beyond our control, including the closing of the Eldorado/Caesars Merger to which we are not a party, which make the completion and timing thereof uncertain; there can be no assurance that such conditions will be satisfied on the anticipated schedule, or at all. Completion of certain of the transactions contemplated by the Master Transaction Agreement, such as the put/call agreement relating to the Centaur Properties, the Horseshoe Baltimore ROFR, the Las Vegas ROFR and certain lease modifications, are subject to the negotiation of definitive documentation and, while the principal terms of these transactions are specified in the Master Transaction Agreement, there can be no assurance that we will be successful in negotiating definitive documentation.

We cannot provide any assurance that each of the transactions contemplated by the Eldorado Transaction will be completed or that there will not be a delay in the completion of any or all of these transactions. If the Eldorado Transaction is not consummated, our reputation in our industry and in the investment community could be damaged, and the market price of our common stock could decline.

If the Eldorado Transaction is completed, there can be no assurance that we will be able to realize the intended benefits of such transaction. If the Eldorado/Caesars Merger is consummated, we may be obligated to complete the Eldorado Transaction even if, during the pendency of the Eldorado/Caesars Merger, the finances and operations of Eldorado are materially and adversely impacted. Moreover, the limited contractual protections under our agreements with Eldorado will not include (a) restrictions on certain asset sales by Caesars, (b) a right to automatically obtain liens on certain Caesars property under certain circumstances if Caesars refinances certain debt, (c) a right to obtain the benefit of certain covenants if made by Caesars if Caesars refinances certain debt with debt provided by affiliates or insiders of Caesars or (d) provisions designed to ensure that the guaranty and the associated leases will continue to remain in place if any lease is terminated, without our express written consent, all of which we are currently entitled to under our existing agreements with Caesars.

If we do not receive the amount of net proceeds from the settlement of the Forward Sale Agreements that we expect, we may be required to fund any shortfall with additional long-term debt, borrowings under the Bridge Facilities or borrowings under our Revolving Credit Facility equal to the difference to fund the purchase price and related fees and expenses. Our net consolidated borrowing costs will depend on our overall indebtedness, our creditworthiness, interest rates in effect from time to time (including at the time we incur such debt), the structure of our debt, taxes and other factors. No assurance can be given that long-term debt financing will be available to us on attractive terms, or at all, initially or to refinance any borrowings under the Bridge Facilities or borrowings under our Revolving Credit Facility.

Our credit ratings impact the cost and availability of borrowings and, accordingly, our cost of capital. Our credit ratings at any time will reflect each rating organization’s opinion of our financial strength, operating performance and ability to meet our debt obligations. There can be no assurance that we will achieve a particular rating or maintain a particular rating in the future. Any reduction in our credit ratings may limit our ability to borrow at interest rates consistent with the interest rates that have been available to us and may subject us to additional covenants under our debt instruments. An inability to achieve or maintain expected credit ratings would materially and adversely affect our ability to obtain long-term debt financing or to refinance amounts borrowed under the Bridge Facilities or borrowings under our Revolving Credit Facility.

Completion of the Eldorado Transaction is conditioned upon the receipt of certain consents and approvals, including, without limitation, gaming regulatory approvals. Although we have agreed to use our reasonable best efforts to obtain such consents and approvals, there can be no assurance that these consents or approvals will be obtained and that the other conditions to completing these transactions will be satisfied. In addition, the governmental authorities from which the regulatory approvals are required may impose conditions on the completion of these transactions or require changes to the terms of the transaction documents. Such conditions or changes and the process of obtaining regulatory approvals could have the effect of delaying or impeding consummation of one or more of these transactions or of imposing additional costs or limitations on us following completion of the Eldorado Transaction, any of which might have a material adverse effect on us following completion of the Eldorado Transaction.

The transaction documents for the Eldorado Transaction provide that, in specified circumstances, we could be required to pay significant termination fees or liquidated damages to the sellers. If the Eldorado Transaction is terminated under certain circumstances, we could become liable to Eldorado for a termination fee of up to $75.0 million. If we become obligated to pay a termination fee or liquidated damages, the payment could have a material adverse effect on us.

If Eldorado declares bankruptcy, our business could be materially and adversely affected if a bankruptcy court re-characterizes the CPLV Additional Rent Acquisition or the HLV Additional Rent Acquisition (as defined below) as a disguised financing transaction. In the event of re-characterization, our claim under a lease agreement with respect to the additional rent acquired in

the HLV Additional Rent Acquisition and CPLV Additional Rent Acquisition could either be secured or unsecured. Generally, the leases permit us to take steps to create and perfect a security interest in the leased property, but such attempts could be subject to challenge by the tenant or its creditors and, with respect to the CPLV Additional Rent Acquisition and the HLV Additional Rent Acquisition, there is no assurance that a court would find that portion of our claim to be secured. The bankrupt lessee and other Eldorado affiliates and their creditors under this scenario might have the ability to restructure the terms, including the amount owed to us under the lease with respect to the additional rent. If approved by the bankruptcy court, we could be bound by the new terms, and prevented from collecting such additional rent that we paid for in the CPLV Additional Rent Acquisition and HLV Additional Rent Acquisition, and our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected.

Most of the properties within our portfolio are currently operated and promoted under trademarks and brand names not owned by us, including Caesars, Horseshoe, Harrah’s, Bally’s, Margaritaville, Greektown, JACK, Hard Rock, Century and Mountaineer. In addition, properties that we may acquire in the future may be operated and promoted under these same trademarks and brand names, or under different trademarks and brand names we do not, or will not, own. During the term that our properties are managed by our tenants, we will be reliant on our tenants to maintain and protect the trademarks, brand names and other licensed intellectual property used in the operation or promotion of the leased properties. Operation of the leased properties, as well as our business and financial condition, could be adversely impacted by infringement, invalidation, unauthorized use or litigation affecting any such intellectual property. Moreover, if any of our properties are rebranded unsuccessfully, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects, as we may not enjoy comparable recognition or status under a new brand. A transition of management away from a Caesars (or after the completion of the Eldorado Transaction, Eldorado), Penn National, Hard Rock, Century Casinos, or JACK Entertainment entity could also have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects.

In addition, giving effect to the completion of our February 2020 Notes Offering (which consisted of the issuance of $750.0 million of 2025 Notes, $750.0 million of 2027 Notes and $1.0 billion of 2030 Notes) and the redemption and repayment of the Second Lien Notes with a portion of the proceeds thereof, as of February 20, 2020, we had approximately $6.9 billion principal amount of indebtedness outstanding.

As of December 31, 2019, we also have $1.0 billion of available capacity to borrow under our Revolving Credit Facility.

If any one of these events were to occur, our financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, the market price of our common stock and our ability to satisfy our debt service obligations and to pay distributions to our stockholders could be materially and adversely affected. In addition, the foreclosure on our properties could create REIT taxable income without accompanying cash proceeds, which could result in entity level taxes to us or could adversely affect our ability to meet the distribution requirements necessary to qualify or maintain qualification as a REIT.

In addition, the Code generally requires that a REIT distribute annually to its stockholders at least 90% of its REIT taxable income (with certain adjustments), determined without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and excluding net capital gains, and that it pay tax at regular corporate rates to the extent that it distributes annually less than 100% of its REIT taxable income, including capital gains. VICI Golf is also subject to U.S. Federal income tax at regular corporate rates on any of its taxable income. In order to maintain our status as a REIT and avoid or otherwise minimize current entity-level U.S. Federal income taxes, a substantial portion of our cash flow after operating expenses and debt service will be required to be distributed to our stockholders.

Because of the limitations on the amount of cash available to us after satisfying our debt service obligations and our distribution obligations to maintain our status as a REIT and avoid or otherwise minimize current entity-level U.S. Federal income taxes, our ability to pursue our business and growth strategies may be limited.

To the extent the tenants under the Lease Agreements make any improvements, these improvements could cause mechanic’s liens or similar liens to attach to, and constitute liens on, our interests in the properties. To the extent that mechanic’s liens or similar liens are recorded against any of the properties or any properties we may acquire in the future, the holders of such mechanic’s liens or similar liens may enforce them by court action and courts may cause the applicable properties or future properties to be sold to satisfy such liens, which could negatively impact our revenues, results of operations, cash flows and distributions to our stockholders. Further, holders of such liens could have priority over our stockholders in the event of bankruptcy or liquidation, and as a result, a trustee in bankruptcy may have difficulty realizing or foreclosing on such properties in any such bankruptcy or liquidation, and the amount of distributions our stockholders could receive in such bankruptcy or liquidation could be reduced.

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 condition, 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 or negative outlook may have a negative effect on our future growth.

We may incur additional indebtedness in the future to refinance our existing indebtedness or to finance newly acquired properties or for general corporate or other purposes. 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 distributions, make capital expenditures and acquisitions, or carry out other aspects of our business and growth strategies. Increased indebtedness can 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. Increased future debt service obligations may limit our operational and financial flexibility. Further, to the extent we were required to incur indebtedness, our future interest costs would increase, thereby reducing our earnings and cash flows from what they otherwise would have been.

Moreover, our ability to obtain additional financing and satisfy our financial obligations under indebtedness outstanding from time to time will depend upon our future operating performance, which is subject to then prevailing general economic and credit market conditions, including interest rate levels and the availability of credit generally, and financial, business and other factors, many of which are beyond our control. The prolonged continuation or worsening of current credit market conditions would have a material adverse effect on our ability to obtain financing on favorable terms, if at all.

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). Among other things, the absence of an investment grade credit rating or any credit rating downgrade or negative outlook could increase our financing costs and could limit our access to financing sources. If financing is not available when needed, or is available on unfavorable terms, we may be unable to pursue our business and growth strategies or otherwise take advantage of new business opportunities or respond to competitive pressures, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects. We may raise additional funds in the future through the issuance of equity securities and, as a result, our stockholders may experience significant dilution, which may adversely affect the market price of our common stock and make it more difficult for our stockholders to sell our shares at a time and price that they deem appropriate and could impair our future ability to raise capital through an offering of our equity securities.

Our ability to refinance our existing indebtedness and any future indebtedness will depend, in part, on our current and projected financial condition, liquidity and results of operations and economic, financial, competitive, legislative, regulatory and other factors. Many of these factors are beyond our control. We cannot assure you that we will be able to refinance any of our indebtedness as it becomes due, on commercially reasonable terms or at all. If we are not able to refinance our indebtedness as it becomes due, we will be obligated to pay such indebtedness with cash from our operations and we may not have sufficient cash to do so, which would have a material and adverse effect on us.

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, engage in transactions with affiliates and pay certain dividends and other restricted payments. In addition, we are required to comply with certain financial maintenance covenants. These restrictions could seriously harm our business by, among other things, limiting our operational flexibility. A breach of any of these covenants or covenants under any other agreements governing our indebtedness could result in an event of default. Cross-default provisions in our debt agreements could cause an event of default under one debt agreement to trigger an event of default under our other debt agreements. Upon the occurrence of an event of default under any of our debt agreements, the lenders could elect to declare all outstanding debt under such agreements to be immediately due and payable. If we were unable to repay or refinance the accelerated debt, the lenders could proceed against any assets pledged to secure any debt that is secured by such assets, including foreclosing on or requiring the sale of our properties, and our assets may not be sufficient to repay such debt in full. Covenants that limit our operational flexibility as well as defaults under our debt instruments could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects.

A rise in interest rates may increase our overall interest rate expense and have an adverse impact on our ability to pay distributions to our stockholders. The risk presented by holding variable rate indebtedness can be managed or mitigated by utilizing interest rate protection products. However, there is no assurance that we will utilize any of these products effectively or all, or that such products will be available to us. In addition, in the event of a rise in interest rates, new debt, whether fixed or variable, is likely to be more expensive, which could, among other things, make the financing of any acquisition more expensive, and we may be unable to incur new debt or replace maturing debt with new debt at equal or better interest rates.

Further, the dividend yield on our common stock, as a percentage of the price of such common stock, will influence the market 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 would adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

We use derivatives to hedge certain of our liabilities and we currently have interest rate swap agreements in place. As of December 31, 2019, we had in place six interest rate swap agreements with third party financial institutions having an aggregate notional amount of $2.0 billion. The interest rate swap transactions are designated as cash flow hedges that effectively fix the LIBOR component of the interest rate on a portion of the outstanding debt under the Term Loan B Facility. The counterparties of these arrangements are major financial institutions; however, we are exposed to credit risk in the event of non-performance by the counterparties. This has certain risks, including losses on a hedge position, which may reduce the return on our investments. Such losses may exceed the amount invested in such instruments. In addition, counterparties to a hedging arrangement could default on their obligations. We may have to pay certain costs, such as transaction fees or breakage costs, related to hedging transactions.

Our indebtedness under the Term Loan B Facility and Revolving Credit Facility bears interest at variable interest rates that use LIBOR as a benchmark rate. On July 27, 2017, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates LIBOR, announced that it intends to stop persuading or requiring banks to submit LIBOR quotations after 2021 (the “FCA Announcement”). The FCA Announcement indicates that the continuation of LIBOR on the current basis cannot and will not be assured after 2021 and, as such, LIBOR may cease to exist or otherwise be unsuitable for use as a benchmark. A change or transition away from LIBOR as a common reference rate in the global financial market could have a material, adverse effect on our business. Recent proposals for LIBOR reforms may result in the establishment of new methods of calculating LIBOR or the establishment of one or more alternative benchmark rates. If LIBOR ceases to exist, we cannot predict what such successor rate would be utilized and the impact of such rate on us and we may determine that we need to negotiate an amendment to our Term Loan B Facility and Revolving Credit Facility with our lenders. As a result, our interest expense may increase, our ability to refinance some or all of our existing indebtedness and our available cash flow may be adversely affected.

The Caesars Forum Put/Call Agreement, among other things, grants Caesars the right to sell to (and simultaneously lease back from) us the Caesars Forum Convention Center. If Caesars exercises the right to sell to (and lease from) us the Caesars Forum Convention Center and the transactions do not close for reasons other than a default by Caesars or a failure to obtain any required regulatory approvals, Caesars will have the right to acquire Harrah’s Las Vegas from us, all on and subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Caesars Forum Put/Call Agreement. The Caesars Forum Put/Call Agreement survives the closing of the Eldorado/Caesars Merger. In addition, the HLV Lease Agreement grants Caesars the right to purchase Harrah’s Las Vegas from us if we engage in certain transactions with entities deemed to be competitors of Caesars or if the landlord under the lease otherwise becomes a competitor of Caesars. The disposition of Harrah’s Las Vegas to Caesars pursuant to the Caesars Forum Put/Call

Agreement or the HLV Lease Agreement may be at disadvantageous terms and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects.

We are subject to the credit risk of our tenants. We cannot assure you that our tenants will not default on their leases and fail to make rental payments to us. In particular, disruptions in the financial and credit markets, local economic conditions and other factors affecting the gaming industry may affect our tenants’ ability to obtain financing to operate their businesses or continue to profitability execute their business plans. This, in turn, may cause our tenants to be unable to meet their financial obligations, including making rental payments to us, which may result in their bankruptcy or insolvency. In the event of a bankruptcy of Caesars, CRC, (or, after the completion of the Eldorado Transaction, Eldorado) Penn National, Hard Rock, Century Casinos or JACK Entertainment, any claim for damages under the applicable guarantee may not be paid in full. Furthermore, although the tenants’ performance and payments under the Caesars Lease Agreements are guaranteed by Caesars or CRC (or, after the completion of the Eldorado Transaction, Eldorado), as the case may be, a default by the applicable tenant under the Caesars Lease Agreements, or by the applicable guarantor with regard to its guarantee, may cause a default under certain circumstances with regard to the entire portfolio covered by the Caesars Lease Agreements. In event of a bankruptcy, there can be no assurances that the tenants or the applicable guarantor would assume the Caesars Lease Agreements or the related guarantees, and if the Caesars Lease Agreements or guarantees were rejected, the tenant or the guarantors, as applicable, may not have sufficient funds to pay the damages that would be owed to us a result of the rejection and we might not be able to find a replacement tenant on the same or better terms. For these and other reasons, the bankruptcy of one or more tenants, Caesars, CRC (or, after the completion of the Eldorado Transaction, Eldorado), Penn National, Hard Rock, Century Casinos or JACK Entertainment would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects.

We intend to continue to pursue acquisitions of additional properties and seek acquisitions and other strategic opportunities. Accordingly, we may often be engaged in evaluating potential transactions and other strategic alternatives. In addition, from time to time, we may engage in discussions that may result in one or more transactions. Although there is uncertainty that any of these discussions will result in definitive agreements or the completion of any transaction, we may devote a significant amount of our management resources to such a transaction, which could negatively impact our operations. We may incur significant costs in connection with seeking acquisitions or other strategic opportunities regardless of whether the transaction is completed and, to the extent applicable, in combining our operations if such a transaction is completed.

We operate in a highly competitive industry and face competition from other REITs, investment companies, private equity and hedge fund investors, sovereign funds, lenders, gaming companies and other investors, some of whom are significantly larger and have greater resources, access to capital and lower costs of capital. Increased competition will 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 quantity of gaming properties and other experiential properties at favorable prices or if we are unable to finance acquisitions on commercially favorable terms, our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects could be materially and adversely affected. Additionally, the fact that we must distribute 90% of our REIT 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.

Investments in and acquisitions of gaming properties and other experiential properties we might seek to acquire entail risks associated with real estate investments generally, including that the investment’s performance will fail to meet expectations, that the cost estimates for necessary property improvements will prove inaccurate or the 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.

Further, even if we were able to acquire additional properties in the future, there is no guarantee that such properties would be able to maintain their historical performance, which may prevent the ability of our tenants to pay the partial or total amount of the required lease payments under the respective Lease Agreements. In addition, our financing of these acquisitions could negatively impact our cash flows and liquidity, require us to incur substantial debt or involve the issuance of substantial new equity, which would be dilutive to existing stockholders. We have a substantial amount of indebtedness outstanding, which may affect our ability to pay distributions, may expose us to interest rate fluctuation risk and may expose us to the risk of default under our debt obligations. In addition, we cannot assure you that we will be successful in implementing our business and growth strategies or that any expansion will improve operating results. The failure to identify and acquire new properties effectively, or the failure of any acquired properties to perform as expected, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.

From time to time, we may evaluate our properties and may, as a result, sell or attempt to sell, divest, or spin-off different properties or assets, subject to the terms of the Lease Agreements. These sales or divestitures would affect our costs, revenues, results of operations, financial condition, liquidity and our ability to comply with financial covenants. Divestitures have inherent risks, including possible delays in closing transactions (including potential difficulties in obtaining regulatory approvals), the risk of lower-than-expected sales proceeds for the divested businesses, and potential post-closing claims for indemnification. In addition, current economic conditions at the time and relatively illiquid real estate markets may result in fewer potential bidders and unsuccessful sales efforts.

Our properties are located in areas that may be subject to natural disasters, such as earthquakes, and extreme weather conditions, including, but not limited to, hurricanes. Such natural disasters or extreme weather conditions may interrupt operations at the casinos, damage our properties, and reduce the number of customers who visit our facilities in such areas. A severe earthquake could damage or destroy our properties. In addition, our operations could be adversely impacted by a drought or other cause of water shortage. A severe drought of extensive duration experienced in Las Vegas or in the other regions in which we operate could adversely affect the business and financial results at our properties. Although the tenants are required to maintain both property and business interruption insurance coverage, such coverage is subject to deductibles and limits on maximum benefits, including limitation on the coverage period for business interruption, and we cannot assure you that we or the tenants will be able to fully insure such losses or fully collect, if at all, on claims resulting from such natural disasters. While the Lease Agreements require, and new lease agreements are expected to require, that comprehensive insurance and hazard insurance be maintained by the tenants, 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 destroyed. Under such circumstances, the insurance proceeds received might not be adequate to restore the economic position with respect to such property. If we experience a loss that is uninsured or that exceeds our policy coverage limits, we could lose the capital invested in the damaged properties as well as the anticipated future cash flows from those properties.

Terrorist attacks or other acts of violence may result in declining economic activity, which could harm the demand for goods and services offered by our tenants and the value of our properties and might adversely affect the value of an investment in our common stock. Such a resulting decrease in retail demand could make it difficult for us to renew or re-lease our properties to suitable, credit-worthy tenants at lease rates equal to or above historical rates. Terrorist activities or violence also could directly affect the value of our properties through damage, destruction or loss, and the availability of insurance for such acts, or of insurance generally, might be lower or cost more, which could increase our operating expenses and adversely affect our results of operations and cash flows. To the extent that any of our tenants is affected by future terrorist attacks or violence, its business similarly could be adversely affected, including the ability of our tenants to continue to meet their obligations to us. These events might erode business and consumer confidence and spending and might result in increased volatility in national and international financial markets and economies. Any one of these events might decrease demand for real estate, decrease or delay the occupancy of our new or redeveloped properties, and limit our access to capital or increase our cost of raising capital.

In addition, the Non-CPLV Lease Agreement allows the tenant to remove a property from the Non-CPLV Lease Agreement and each of our Lease Agreements (excluding the Non-CPLV Lease Agreement) may be terminated by the applicable tenant if: (i) a casualty event occurs (a) in the case of the Non-CPLV Lease Agreement, the CPLV Lease Agreement, the Joliet Lease Agreement and the HLV Lease Agreement, during the final two years of the term and (b) in the case of the Hard Rock Cincinnati Lease Agreement, the Century Portfolio Lease Agreement and the JACK Cleveland/Thistledown Lease Agreement, the final year of the term, and (ii) the cost to rebuild or restore the applicable property in connection with a casualty event exceeds 25% (or, in the case of the Century Portfolio Lease Agreement, 50%) of such property’s total property fair market value. Similarly, if a condemnation event occurs that renders a facility unsuitable for its primary intended use, the applicable tenants may remove the property from the Non-CPLV Lease Agreement and may terminate the CPLV Lease Agreement, the Joliet Lease Agreement, the HLV Lease Agreement, the Hard Rock Cincinnati Lease Agreement, the Century Portfolio Lease Agreement or the JACK Cleveland/Thistledown Lease Agreement, as the case may be. The Penn National Lease Agreements allows the tenants to terminate their respective leases during the final year of the lease term if 50% or more of the square feet of the improvements are destroyed by a casualty event such that the improvements are rendered substantially untenantable. If a condemnation event occurs that renders Margaritaville or Greektown reasonably uneconomical for the operation of the improvements thereon on a commercially practicable basis for their permitted use as rentable facilities capable of producing a fair and reasonable net income therefrom, the tenant may terminate the Margaritaville Lease Agreement or the Greektown Lease Agreement, respectively. If a property is removed from the Non-CPLV Lease Agreement or if the CPLV Lease Agreement, the Joliet Lease Agreement, the HLV Lease Agreement, the Penn National Lease Agreements, the Hard Rock Cincinnati Lease Agreement, the Century Portfolio Lease Agreement or the JACK Thistledown/Cleveland Lease Agreement, as the case may be, is terminated, we will lose the rent associated with the related facility, which would have a negative impact on our financial results. In this event, following termination of the lease of a property, even if we are able to restore the affected property, we could be limited to selling or leasing such property to a new tenant in order to obtain an alternate source of revenue, which may not happen on comparable terms or at all.

Due to changes, among other things, in applicable building and zoning laws, ordinances and codes that may affect certain of our properties that have come into effect after the initial construction of the properties, certain properties may not comply fully with current building and/or zoning laws, including electrical, fire, health and safety codes and regulations, use, lot coverage, parking and setback requirements, but may qualify as permitted non-conforming uses. Although the Lease Agreements require our tenants to pay for and ensure continued compliance with applicable law, there is no assurance that future leases will be negotiated on the same basis or that our tenants will make any changes required by the terms of the Lease Agreements and/or any future leases we may enter into. In addition, such changes may limit a tenant’s ability to restore the premises of a property to its previous condition in the event of a substantial casualty loss with respect to the property or the ability to refurbish, expand or renovate such property to remain compliant, or increase the cost of construction in order to comply with changes in building or zoning codes and regulations. If a tenant is unable to restore a property to its prior use after a substantial casualty loss or is required to comply with more stringent building or zoning codes and regulations, we may be unable to re-lease the space at a comparable effective rent or sell the property at an acceptable price, which may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects.

Many of the properties that we own are, and properties that we may acquire in the future may be, subject to use restrictions and/or operational requirements imposed pursuant to ground leases, restrictive covenants or conditions, reciprocal easement agreements or operating agreements or other instruments that could, among other things, adversely affect our ability to lease space to third parties. Such property restrictions could include the following: limitations on alterations, changes, expansions, or reconfiguration

of properties; limitations on use of properties; limitations affecting parking requirements; or restrictions on exterior or interior signage or facades. In certain cases, consent of the other party or parties to such agreements may be required when altering, reconfiguring, expanding or redeveloping. Failure to secure such consents when necessary may harm our ability to execute leasing strategies, which could adversely affect us.

Our success and ability to grow depends, in large part, upon the leadership and performance of our executive management team, particularly our chief executive officer, our president and chief operating officer, our chief financial officer and our general counsel. Any unforeseen loss of our executive officers’ services, or any negative market or industry perception with respect to them or arising from their loss, could have a material adverse effect on our business. We do not have key man or similar life insurance policies covering members of our senior management. We have employment agreements with our executive officers, but these agreements do not guarantee that any given executive will remain with us, and there can be no assurance that any such officers will remain with us. The appointment or replacement of certain key members of our executive management team is subject to regulatory approvals based upon suitability determinations by gaming regulatory authorities in the jurisdictions where our properties are located. If any of our executive officers is found unsuitable by any such gaming regulatory authorities, or if we otherwise lose their services, we would have to find alternative candidates and may not be able to successfully manage our business or achieve our business objectives.

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, and to preserve claims for damages. Further, some environmental laws create a lien on a contaminated site in favor of the government for damages and the costs the government incurs in connection with such contamination.

Although under the Lease Agreements the tenants are required to indemnify us for certain environmental liabilities, including environmental liabilities it causes, the amount of such liabilities could exceed the financial ability of the applicable tenants to indemnify us. In addition, the presence of contamination or the failure to remediate contamination may adversely affect our ability to sell or lease our properties or to borrow using our properties as collateral.

In the event that we were to receive insurance proceeds with respect to a casualty event at any of our properties, we may be required under the terms of our debt financing agreements to contribute all or a portion of those proceeds to the repayment of such debt, which may prevent us from restoring such properties to their prior state. If the remainder of the proceeds (after any such required repayment) were insufficient to make the repairs necessary to restore the damaged properties to a condition substantially equivalent to its state immediately prior to the casualty, we may not have sufficient liquidity to otherwise fund these repairs and may be required to obtain additional financing, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects.

As a reporting company, we are required to develop and implement substantial control systems, policies and procedures in order to satisfy our periodic SEC reporting requirements. We cannot assure you that we will be able to successfully develop and implement these systems, policies and procedures and to operate our company or that any such development and implementation will be effective. Failure to do so could jeopardize our status as a REIT or as a reporting company, and the loss of such statuses would materially and adversely affect us. If we fail to develop, implement or maintain proper overall business controls, including as required to support our growth, our operating and financial results could be harmed, or we could fail to meet our reporting obligations. In addition, the existence of a material weakness or significant deficiency could result in errors in our financial statements that could require a restatement, cause us to fail to meet our SEC reporting obligations and cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which could have a material adverse effect on us and on the market price of our common stock.

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. Any or all of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations, cash flow and ability to make distributions with respect to, and the market price of, our common stock.

The IRS issued a private letter ruling with respect to certain issues relevant to our separation from CEOC, including relating to the separation and certain related transactions as tax-free for U.S. Federal income tax purposes under certain provisions of the Code. The IRS ruling does not address certain requirements for tax-free treatment of the separation. CEOC received from its tax advisors a tax opinion substantially to the effect that, with respect to such requirements on which the IRS did not rule, such requirements should be satisfied. The IRS ruling and the tax opinion that CEOC received, relied on (among other things) certain representations, assumptions and undertakings, including those relating to the past and future conduct of our business, and the IRS ruling, and the opinion would not be valid if such representations, assumptions and undertakings were incorrect in any material respect.

Notwithstanding the IRS ruling and the tax opinion, the IRS could determine the separation 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 opinion that are not covered by the IRS ruling.

If the reorganization fails to qualify for tax-free treatment, in general, CEOC would be subject to tax as if it had sold our assets to us in a taxable sale for their fair market value, and CEOC’s creditors who received shares of our common stock pursuant to the

Plan of Reorganization would be subject to tax as if they had received a taxable distribution in respect of their claims equal to the fair market value of such shares.

Under the Tax Matters Agreement that we entered into with Caesars, we generally are required to indemnify Caesars against any tax resulting from the separation to the extent that such tax resulted from certain of our representations or undertakings being incorrect or violated. Our indemnification obligations to Caesars are not limited by any maximum amount. As a result, if we are required to indemnify Caesars or such other persons under the circumstances set forth in the Tax Matters Agreement, we may be subject to substantial liabilities.

We elected to be taxed as a REIT for U.S. Federal income tax purposes commencing with our taxable year ended December 31, 2017 and expect to operate in a manner that will allow us to continue to be classified as such. The Code generally requires that a REIT distribute annually to its stockholders at least 90% of its REIT taxable income (with certain adjustments), determined without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and excluding net capital gains, and that it pay tax at regular corporate rates to the extent that it distributes annually less than 100% of its REIT taxable income, including capital gains. In addition, a REIT is required to pay a 4% nondeductible excise tax on the amount, if any, by which the distributions it makes in a calendar year are less than the sum of 85% of its ordinary income, 95% of its capital gain net income and 100% of its undistributed income from prior years. As a result, in order to avoid or otherwise minimize current entity level U.S. Federal income taxes, a substantial portion of our cash flow after operating expenses and debt service will be required to be distributed to our stockholders.

If we were to fail to qualify as a REIT in any taxable year, we would be subject to U.S. Federal income tax on our taxable income at regular corporate rates, and dividends paid to our stockholders would not be deductible by us in computing our REIT taxable income. Any resulting corporate tax liability could be substantial and would reduce the amount of cash available for distribution to our stockholders, which in turn could have an adverse impact on the market price 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 as a REIT. As a result, the amount available for distribution to holders of equity securities that would otherwise receive dividends would be reduced for the year or years involved. Furthermore, the U.S. Federal income tax consequences of distributions and sales of our shares to certain of our stockholders could be adversely impacted if we were to fail to qualify as a REIT.

Finally, our qualification to be taxed as a REIT will depend on our satisfaction of certain asset, income, organizational, distribution, stockholder 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 may not obtain independent appraisals. Any failure to qualify to be taxed as a REIT, or failure to remain to be qualified to be taxed as a REIT, would have a material and adverse effect on us.

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, stockholder ownership and other requirements on a continuing basis. In addition, our ability to satisfy the requirements to qualify as a REIT may depend in part on the actions of third parties over which we have no control or only limited influence, including in cases where we own an equity interest in an entity that is classified as a partnership for U.S. Federal income tax purposes.

U.S. Federal income tax with respect to such dividends, including in respect of all or a portion of such dividend that is payable in common stock. Furthermore, such a taxable share dividend could be viewed as equivalent to a reduction in our cash distributions, and that factor, as well as the possibility that a significant number of our stockholders determine to sell our common stock in order to pay taxes owed on dividends, may put downward pressure on the market price of our common stock.

U.S. federal income tax laws governing REITs and other corporations and the administrative interpretations of those laws may be amended at any time, potentially with retroactive effect. We cannot predict whether, when or to what extent new U.S. federal tax laws, regulations, interpretations or rulings will be issued. Prospective investors are urged to consult their tax advisors regarding the effect of potential changes to the U.S. Federal tax laws on an investment in our common stock.

Changes to the U.S. federal income tax laws could have a material and adverse effect on us. For example, certain changes in law pursuant to the law known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act could reduce the relative competitive advantage of operating as a REIT as compared with operating as a C corporation, including by:

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 our tenants will not be treated as qualifying rent for purposes of these requirements if the leases are not respected as true leases for U.S. federal income tax purposes and instead are treated as service contracts, joint ventures, financings or some other type of arrangement. If some or all of our leases are not respected as true leases 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, stockholder 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 may not obtain independent appraisals.

In addition, subject to certain exceptions, rents received or accrued by us from any tenant (or affiliated tenants) 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 such tenant’s stock entitled to vote or 10% or more of the total value of all classes of such tenant’s stock. Our charter provides 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 tenants 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 tenants will not be treated as qualifying rent for purposes of REIT qualification requirements.

We generally must distribute annually to our stockholders at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (with certain adjustments), determined without regard to the dividends paid deduction and excluding any net capital gains, in order for us to qualify as a REIT so that U.S. Federal corporate income tax does not apply to our 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 any undistributed portion of such taxable income. In addition, we will be subject to a 4% nondeductible excise tax if the actual amount that we distribute to our stockholders in a calendar year is less than a minimum amount specified under U.S. Federal tax laws. We intend to make distributions to our stockholders to comply with the REIT requirements of the Code and to avoid or otherwise minimize paying entity level Federal or excise tax (other than at any taxable REIT subsidiary of ours). We may generate taxable income greater than our income for financial reporting purposes prepared in accordance with GAAP. Further, we may generate taxable income greater than our cash flow from operations after operating expenses and debt service 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. In order to avoid or otherwise minimize current

entity level U.S. Federal income taxes, we will generally be required to distribute sufficient cash flow after operating expenses and debt service payments to satisfy the REIT distribution requirements. While we intend to make distributions to our stockholders to comply with the REIT requirements of the Code, we may not have sufficient liquidity to meet the REIT distribution requirements. If our cash flow is insufficient to satisfy the REIT distribution requirements, we could be required to raise capital on unfavorable terms, sell assets at disadvantageous prices, distribute amounts that would otherwise be invested in future acquisitions or issue dividends in the form of shares of our common stock to make distributions sufficient to enable us to pay out enough of our REIT taxable income to satisfy the REIT distribution requirement and to avoid or otherwise minimize corporate income tax and the 4% excise tax in a particular year. These alternatives could increase our costs or change the value of our equity. Thus, compliance with the REIT requirements may hinder our ability to grow, which could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

Even if we qualify 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, in order to meet the REIT qualification requirements, we currently hold and expect in the future to hold some of our assets and conduct certain of our activities through one or more taxable REIT subsidiaries or other subsidiary corporations that will be subject to Federal, state, and local corporate-level income taxes as regular C corporations (i.e., corporations generally subject to corporate-level income tax under Subchapter C of Chapter 1 the Code). In addition, we may incur a 100% excise tax on transactions with a taxable REIT subsidiary if they are not conducted on an arm’s length basis. Any of these taxes would decrease cash available for distribution to our stockholders.

To qualify as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we must continually satisfy tests concerning, among other things, our sources of income, the nature of our investments in real estate and related assets, the amounts we distribute to our stockholders and the ownership of our stock. We may also be required to make distributions to stockholders at disadvantageous times or when we do not have funds readily available for distribution.

Federal tax under the built-in-gains tax rules. We would be subject to this corporate-level tax liability (without the benefit of the deduction for dividends paid) even if we qualify and maintain our status as a REIT. Any recognized built-in gain will retain its character as ordinary income or capital gain and will be taken into account in determining REIT taxable income and the REIT distribution requirements. Any tax on the recognized built-in gain will reduce REIT taxable income. We may choose to forego otherwise attractive opportunities to sell assets in a taxable transaction during the five-year built-in-gain recognition period in order to avoid this built-in-gain tax. However, there can be no assurance that such a taxable transaction will not occur. The amount of any such built-in-gain tax could be material and the resulting tax liability could have a negative effect on our cash flow and limit our ability to pay distributions required to qualify and maintain our status as a REIT.

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 taxable REIT subsidiary. This could increase the cost of our hedging activities because the taxable REIT subsidiary 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 taxable REIT subsidiary will generally not provide any tax benefit, except that such losses could theoretically be carried back or forward against past or future taxable income of the taxable REIT subsidiary.

In order to qualify as a REIT, we must distribute any “earnings and profits,” as defined in the Code, accumulated by us during any period for which we did not qualify as a REIT or by any entity whose accumulated earnings and profits we acquire during any period for which such entity did not qualify as a REIT. Such distribution requirement applied to any earnings and profits that were allocated from CEOC to us in connection with the formation transactions by the end of the first taxable year in which we elected REIT status. Based on our analysis, we do not believe that any earnings and profits were allocated to us in connection with the formation transactions or any other transaction to which we are party and therefore did not make a purging distribution and do not currently intend to make any purging distribution, with respect to transactions to which we are a party. If we are required to make a purging distribution in the future, we may pay the purging distribution to our stockholders in a combination of cash and shares of our common stock. Each of our stockholders will be permitted to elect to receive the stockholder’s entire entitlement under the purging distribution in either cash or shares of our common stock, subject to a cash limitation. If our stockholders elect to receive a portion of cash in excess of the cash limitation, each such electing stockholder will receive a pro rata portion of cash corresponding to the stockholder’s respective entitlement under the purging distribution declaration. The IRS has issued a revenue procedure that provides that, so long as a REIT complied with certain provisions therein, certain distributions that are paid partly in cash and partly in stock will be treated as taxable dividends that would satisfy the REIT distribution requirements and qualify for the dividends paid deduction for U.S. Federal income tax purposes. In a purging distribution, if any, a stockholder of our common stock will be required to report dividend income equal to the amount of cash and common stock received as a result of the purging distribution even though we may distribute no cash or only nominal amounts of cash to such stockholder.

If cash available for distribution is less than the amount necessary to make cash distributions, our inability to make the expected distributions could result in a decrease in the market price of our common stock. All distributions will be made at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend upon various factors, including, but not limited to: our historical and projected financial condition, cash flows, results of operations and REIT taxable income, limitations contained in financing instruments, debt service requirements, operating cash inflows and outflows, including capital expenditures and acquisitions, limitations on our ability to use cash generated in one or more taxable REIT subsidiaries, if any, to fund distributions and applicable law. We may not be able to make distributions in the future. In addition, some of our distributions may include a return of capital. To the extent that we decide to make distributions in excess of our current and accumulated earnings and profits in the future, such distributions would generally be considered a return of capital for Federal income tax purposes to the extent of the holder’s adjusted tax basis in their shares. A return of capital is not taxable, but it has the effect of reducing the holder’s adjusted tax basis in our common stock. To the extent that such distributions exceed the adjusted tax basis of a holder’s shares, they will be treated as gain from the sale or exchange of such stock. If we borrow to fund distributions, our future interest costs would increase, thereby reducing our earnings and cash available for distribution from what they otherwise would have been.

For purposes of satisfying the minimum distribution requirement to qualify for and maintain REIT status, our REIT taxable income will be calculated without reference to our cash flow. Consequently, under certain circumstances, we may not have available cash to make our required distributions, and we may need to raise additional equity or debt in order to fund our intended distributions, or we may distribute a portion of our distributions in the form of our common stock or debt instruments, which could result in dilution or higher leverage. While the IRS has issued a revenue procedure indicating that certain distributions that are made partly in cash and partly in stock will be treated as taxable dividends that would satisfy that REIT annual distribution requirement and qualify for the dividends paid deduction for U.S. Federal income tax purposes, no assurance can be provided that we will be able to satisfy the requirements of the revenue procedure. Therefore, it is unclear whether and to what extent we will be able to make taxable dividends payable in-kind. In addition, to the extent we were to make distributions that include our common stock or debt instruments, a stockholder of ours will be required to report dividend income as a result of such distributions even though we distributed no cash or only nominal amounts of cash to such stockholder.

In the event that we elect to settle the Forward Sale Agreements for cash and the settlement price is below the applicable forward sale price, we would be entitled to receive a cash payment from the forward purchasers. Under Section 1032 of the Code, generally, no gains and losses are recognized by a corporation in dealing in its own shares, including pursuant to a “securities futures contract,” as defined in the Code by reference to the Exchange Act. Although we believe that any amount received by us in exchange for our shares of common stock would qualify for the exemption under Section 1032 of the Code, because it is not entirely clear whether a Forward Sale Agreement qualifies as a “securities futures contract,” the U.S. federal income tax treatment of any cash settlement payment we receive is uncertain. In the event that we recognize a significant gain from the cash settlement the Forward Sale Agreements, we might not be able to satisfy the gross income requirements applicable to REITs under the Code. If we were to fail to satisfy one or both of the gross income tests for any taxable year, we may nevertheless qualify as a REIT for such year if we were entitled to relief under certain provisions of the Code. If these relief provisions were inapplicable, we would not qualify as a REIT. Even if these relief provisions were to apply, a tax based on the amount of the relevant REIT’s non-qualifying income would be imposed.

VICI is a holding company and conducts its operations through subsidiaries, including the Operating Partnership and VICI Golf. VICI does not have, apart from the units that it owns in the Operating Partnership and VICI Golf, any independent operations. As a result, VICI relies on distributions from its Operating Partnership to make any distributions to its stockholders it might declare on its common stock and to meet any of its obligations, including any tax liability on taxable income allocated to it from the Operating Partnership (which might not be able to make distributions to VICI equal to the tax on such allocated taxable income). In turn, the ability of subsidiaries of the Operating Partnership to make distributions to the Operating Partnership, and therefore, the ability of the Operating Partnership to make distributions to VICI, depends on the operating results of these subsidiaries and the Operating Partnership and on the terms of any financing arrangements they have entered into. In addition, because VICI is a holding company, claims of common stockholders of VICI are structurally subordinated to all existing and future liabilities and other obligations (whether or not for borrowed money) and any preferred equity of the Operating Partnership and its subsidiaries. Therefore, in the event of our bankruptcy, liquidation or reorganization, VICI’s assets and those of the Operating Partnership and its subsidiaries will be available to satisfy the claims of VICI common stockholders only after all of VICI’s, the Operating Partnership’s and its subsidiaries’ liabilities and other obligations and any preferred equity of any of them have been paid in full.

The Operating Partnership may, in connection with its acquisition of additional properties or otherwise, issue additional common units or preferred units to third parties. Such issuances would reduce VICI’s ownership in the Operating Partnership. Because stockholders of VICI do not directly own common units or preferred units of the Operating Partnership, they do not have any voting rights with respect to any such issuances or other partnership level activities of the Operating Partnership.

The Maryland General Corporation Law (the “MGCL”) provides that a director has no liability in any action based on an act of the director if he or she has acted in good faith, in a manner he or she reasonably believes to be in the corporation’s best interests and with the care that an ordinarily prudent person in a like position would use under similar circumstances. As permitted by the MGCL, our charter limits the liability of our directors and officers to our company and our stockholders for money damages, to the maximum extent permitted by Maryland law. Under Maryland law, our present directors and officers will not have any liability to us or our stockholders for money damages other than liability resulting from:

Our board of directors will determine and may eliminate or otherwise change our major corporate policies, including our acquisition, investment, financing, growth, operations and distribution policies. While our stockholders have the power to elect or remove directors, changes in our major corporate policies may be made by our board of directors without stockholder approval and those changes could adversely affect our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects, the market price of our common stock and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders and to satisfy our debt service requirements.

Our charter provides that our board of directors may revoke or otherwise terminate our REIT election, only with the affirmative vote of stockholders entitled to cast a majority of all votes entitled to be cast on the matter, if the board determines that it is no longer in our best interests to continue to qualify as a REIT. If we cease to be a REIT, we would become subject to Federal income tax on our taxable income and would no longer be required to distribute most of our taxable income to our stockholders, which may have adverse consequences on the total return to our stockholders.

Our charter and bylaws contain provisions, the exercise or existence of which could delay, defer or prevent a transaction or a change in control that might involve a premium price for our stockholders or otherwise be in their best interests, including the following:

In order for us to qualify as a REIT, no more than 50% of the value of outstanding shares of our stock may be owned, beneficially or constructively, by five or fewer individuals (or certain other persons) at any time during the last half of each taxable year (“closely held”). Subject to certain exceptions, our charter prohibits any stockholder from owning beneficially or constructively, with respect to any class or series of our capital stock, more than 9.8% (in value or by number of shares, whichever is more restrictive) of the aggregate of the outstanding shares of such class or series of our capital stock.

The constructive ownership rules under the Code are complex and may cause the outstanding stock owned by a group of related individuals or entities to be deemed to be constructively owned by one individual or entity. As a result, the acquisition of 9.8% or less of the outstanding shares of a class or series of our stock by an individual or entity could cause that individual or entity or another individual or entity to own constructively in excess of the relevant ownership limits.

Among other restrictions on ownership and transfer of shares, our charter also prohibits any person from owning shares of our stock that would result in our being “closely held” under Section 856(h) of the Code or otherwise cause us to fail to qualify as a REIT. Any attempt to own or transfer shares of our common stock or of any of our other capital stock in violation of these restrictions may result in the shares being automatically transferred to a charitable trust or may be void.

Our charter provides that our board may grant exceptions to the 9.8% ownership limit, subject in each case to certain initial and ongoing conditions designed to protect our status as a REIT. These ownership limits may prevent a third-party from acquiring control of us if our board of directors does not grant an exemption from the ownership limits, even if our stockholders believe the change in control is in their best interests. An exemption from the 9.8% ownership limit was granted to certain stockholders, and our board may in the future provide exceptions to the ownership limit for other stockholders, subject to certain initial and ongoing conditions designed to protect our status as a REIT.

• Our board of directors has the power to cause us to issue and authorize additional shares of our capital stock without stockholder approval.

Our charter authorizes us to issue authorized but unissued shares of common or preferred stock in addition to the shares of common stock issued and outstanding. In addition, our board of directors may, without stockholder approval, amend our charter to increase the aggregate number of our shares of stock or the number of shares of stock of any class or series that we have authority to issue and classify or reclassify any unissued shares of common or preferred stock and set the preferences, rights and other terms of the classified or reclassified shares. As a result, our board of directors may establish a class or series of shares of common or preferred stock that could delay or prevent a transaction or a change in control that might involve a premium price for our shares of common stock or otherwise be in the best interests of our stockholders.

Certain provisions of the MGCL may have the effect of inhibiting a third party from acquiring us or of impeding a change of control under circumstances that otherwise could provide our common stockholders with the opportunity to realize a premium over the then prevailing market price of such shares, including:

Our charter provides that, notwithstanding any other provision of our charter or our bylaws, the Maryland Business Combination Act (Title 3, Subtitle 6 of the MGCL) does not apply to any business combination between us and any interested stockholder or any affiliate of any interested stockholder of ours and that we expressly elect not to be governed by the provisions of Section 3-602 of the MGCL in whole or in part. Pursuant to the MGCL, our bylaws contain a provision exempting from the Maryland Control Share Acquisition Act any and all acquisitions by any person of shares of our stock. There can be no assurance that any of these provisions of our charter or bylaws will not be amended or eliminated at any time in the future.

Additionally, provisions of Title 3, Subtitle 8 of the MGCL permit a Maryland corporation such as the Company, by action of its board of directors and without stockholder approval and regardless of what is provided in the charter or bylaws, to elect to avail itself of certain takeover defenses, such as a classified board, unless the charter or a resolution adopted by the board of directors prohibits such election. Our charter provides that we are prohibited from making any such election unless first approved by our stockholders by the affirmative vote of a majority of all votes entitled to be cast on the matter.

The market price of our common stock may be volatile. In addition, the stock markets generally may experience significant volatility, often unrelated to the operating performance of the individual companies whose securities are publicly traded. The trading volume in our common stock may fluctuate and cause significant price variations to occur. We cannot assure you that the market price of our common stock will not fluctuate or decline significantly in the future. If the market price of our common stock declines, you may be unable to sell your shares.

One of the factors that may influence the market price of shares of our common stock is the yield of our shares (i.e., the annualized distributions per share of our common stock as a percentage of the market price per share of our common stock) relative to market interest rates. An increase in market interest rates, which are currently at low levels relative to historical rates, may lead prospective purchasers of our common stock to expect a higher yield which may result in a decline in the market price of our common stock. Higher interest rates would likely increase our borrowing costs and potentially decrease our cash available for distribution. Thus, higher market interest rates could also cause the market price of shares of our common stock to decline.

In the future, we may attempt to increase our capital resources by incurring additional debt, including medium-term notes, trust preferred securities and senior or subordinated notes, or issuing preferred shares. If a liquidation event were to occur, holders of our debt securities and preferred shares and lenders with respect to other borrowings will receive distributions of our available assets prior to the holders of our shares of common stock. In addition, our preferred stock, if issued, would likely limit our ability to make liquidating or other distributions to the holders of shares of our common stock under certain circumstances. Any future common stock offerings may dilute the holdings of our existing stockholders or reduce the market price of our common stock, or both. Holders of shares of our common stock are not entitled to preemptive rights or other protections against dilution. Since our decision to issue debt securities, incur other forms of indebtedness or to issue additional common stock or preferred stock in the future will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing, nature or success of our future offerings. Thus, our stockholders bear the risk of our issuing senior securities, incurring other senior obligations or issuing additional common stock in the future, which may reduce the market price of shares of our common stock, reduce cash available for distribution to common stockholders or dilute their stockholdings in us.

We cannot predict whether future issuances of our shares or the availability of shares of our common stock for resale in the open market will decrease the market price per share of shares of our common stock. Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market, or the perception that such sales might occur, could adversely affect the market price of shares of our common stock. If any of our stockholders cause, or there is a perception that they may cause, a large number of their shares

to be sold in the public market, the sales could reduce the market price of shares of our common stock and could impede our ability to raise future capital.

Our common stock may trade at prices that are higher or lower than the net asset value per share. To the extent that we retain operating cash flow for investment purposes, working capital reserves or other purposes rather than distributing the cash flows to stockholders, these retained funds, while increasing the value of our underlying assets, may negatively impact the market price of shares of our common stock. Our failure to meet market expectations with regard to future earnings and cash distributions could adversely affect the market price of shares of our common stock.

A forward purchaser’s decision to exercise its right to accelerate the settlement of its Forward Sale Agreement will be made irrespective of our interests, including our need for capital. In such cases, we could be required to issue and deliver shares of common stock under the physical settlement provisions of the applicable Forward Sale Agreement, which would result in dilution to our earnings per share.

We expect to physically settle the Forward Sale Agreements and receive proceeds from the sale of those shares of our common stock upon one or more forward settlement dates no later than September 26, 2020. However, the Forward Sale Agreements may be settled earlier in whole or in part at our option. Subject to certain conditions, we have the right to elect physical, cash or net share settlement under the Forward Sale Agreements at any time and from time to time, in part or in full. The Forward Sale Agreements will be physically settled by delivery of shares of our common stock, unless we elect to cash settle or net share settle the Forward Sale Agreements. Delivery of shares of our common stock upon physical settlement (or, if we elect net share settlement, upon such settlement to the extent we are obligated to deliver shares of our common stock) will result in dilution to our earnings per share.

If we elect cash settlement or net share settlement with respect to all or a portion of the shares of common stock underlying a Forward Sale Agreement, we expect the applicable forward purchaser (or its affiliate) to purchase a number of shares of our common stock in secondary market transactions over an unwind period to:

The purchase of shares of our common stock in connection with the forward purchasers or their respective affiliates unwinding their hedge positions could cause the price of shares of our common stock to increase over such time (or reduce the amount of a decrease over such time), thereby increasing the amount of cash we would be required to pay to the forward purchasers (or

decreasing the amount of cash that the forward purchasers would be required to pay us) upon a cash settlement of the Forward Sale Agreements or increasing the number of shares of common stock we would be required to deliver to the forward purchasers (or decreasing the number of shares of common stock that the forward purchasers would be required to deliver to us) upon net share settlement of the Forward Sale Agreements.

The forward sale price that we expect to receive upon physical settlement of the Forward Sale Agreements will be subject to adjustment on a daily basis based on a floating interest rate factor determined by reference to a specified daily rate less a spread and will be decreased by amounts related to expected dividends on our common stock during the term of the Forward Sale Agreements. If the specified daily rate is less than the spread on any day, the interest rate factor will result in a reduction of the applicable forward sale price for that day. As of December 31, 2019, the specified daily rate was greater than the spread but we can give no assurance that this rate will not decrease to a rate below the spread during the term of the Forward Sale Agreements (which would reduce the proceeds that we would receive upon settlement of the Forward Sale Agreements). If the prevailing market price for our common stock during the unwind period under a Forward Sale Agreement is above the applicable forward sale price, in the case of cash settlement, we would pay the applicable forward purchaser under the applicable Forward Sale Agreement an amount per share in cash equal to the difference or, in the case of net share settlement, we would deliver to the applicable forward purchaser a number of shares of common stock having a value equal to the difference. Thus, we could be responsible for a potentially substantial cash payment in the case of cash settlement.

If we institute, or a regulatory authority with jurisdiction over us institutes, or we consent to, a proceeding seeking a judgment in bankruptcy or insolvency or any other relief under any bankruptcy or insolvency law or other similar law affecting creditors’ rights, or we or a regulatory authority with jurisdiction over us presents a petition for our winding-up or liquidation, or we consent to such a petition, the Forward Sale Agreements will automatically terminate. If the Forward Sale Agreements so terminate, we would not be obligated to deliver to the forward purchasers any shares of common stock not previously delivered, and the forward purchasers would be discharged from their obligation to pay the forward sale price per share in respect of any shares of common stock not previously settled. Therefore, to the extent that there are any shares of common stock with respect to which the Forward Sale Agreements have not been settled at the time of the commencement of any such bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings, we would not receive the forward sale price per share in respect of those shares of common stock.

None.

Our geographically diverse portfolio consists of 28 market-leading properties that are leased to Caesars, Penn National, Hard Rock, Century Casinos and JACK Entertainment, including Caesars Palace Las Vegas and Harrah’s Las Vegas, two of the most iconic entertainment facilities on the Las Vegas Strip, approximately 34 acres of undeveloped or underdeveloped land on and adjacent to the Las Vegas Strip that is leased to Caesars and four championship golf courses located near certain of our properties, two of which are in close proximity to the Las Vegas Strip.

On February 1, 2018, in connection with our initial registered public offering, our common stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the symbol “VICI.”

As of February 19, 2020, there were 468,491,573 shares of common stock issued and outstanding that were held by approximately 26 stockholders of record, not including beneficial owners of shares registered in nominee or street name.

Federal income tax law requires that a REIT distribute annually at least 90% of its REIT taxable income (with certain adjustments), determined without regard to the dividends paid deduction and excluding any net capital gains, and that it pay tax at regular corporate rates to the extent that it annually distributes less than 100% of its REIT taxable income, determined without regard to the dividends paid deduction and including any net capital gains. In addition, a REIT will be required to pay a 4% nondeductible excise tax on the amount, if any, by which the distributions it makes in a calendar year are less than the sum of 85% of its ordinary income, 95% of its capital gain net income and 100% of its undistributed income from prior years.

We intend to make distributions to our stockholders to comply with the REIT requirements of the Code and to avoid or otherwise minimize paying entity level Federal or excise tax (other than at any TRS of ours). We may generate taxable income greater than our income for financial reporting purposes prepared in accordance with GAAP. Further, we may generate REIT taxable income greater than our cash flow from operations after operating expenses and debt service as a result of differences in timing between the recognition of REIT 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.

We did not sell any unregistered equity securities during the year ended December 31, 2019.

During the three months ended December 31, 2019, certain employees surrendered shares of common stock owned by them to satisfy their statutory minimum federal and state income tax obligations associated with the vesting of shares of restricted common stock issued under our stock incentive plan.

The following table summarizes all of our common stock repurchases during the fourth quarter of 2019:

Not applicable.

The graph below matches VICI Properties’ cumulative total stockholder return for the period from October 18, 2017 to December 31, 2019 on common stock with the cumulative total returns of the S&P 500 index and the MSCI US REIT index. The graph tracks the performance of a $100 investment in our common stock and in each index (with the reinvestment of all dividends as required by the SEC) from October 18, 2017 the first date on which our shares of common stock were publicly traded, until December 31, 2019. The return shown on the graph is not necessarily indicative of future performance.

The following performance graph shall not be deemed to be "filed" for purposes of Section 18 of the Exchange Act, nor shall this information be incorporated by reference into any future filing under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act, except to the extent that we specifically incorporate it by reference into a filing.

We are a Maryland corporation that was created to hold certain real estate assets owned by Caesars Entertainment Operating Company (“CEOC”), upon CEOC’s emergence from bankruptcy. Pursuant to CEOC’s Plan of Reorganization, on October 6, 2017 (the “Formation Date”), the historical business of CEOC was separated by means of a spin-off transaction whereby the real property assets of CEOC and certain of its subsidiaries, including four golf course businesses, were transferred through a series of transactions to us. Following the Formation Date, we are a stand-alone entity that was initially owned by certain former creditors of CEOC. We are primarily engaged in the business of owning and acquiring gaming, hospitality and entertainment destinations. We lease our properties to subsidiaries of Caesars and Penn National. We conduct our real property business through an operating partnership and our golf course business through a TRS, VICI Golf LLC.

The financial information included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are our consolidated results (including the real property business and the golf course business) for the year ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 and the period from October 6, 2017 (Formation Date) to December 31, 2017. Other financial information included, beginning on page F-50 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, are the historical combined Financial Statements of Caesars Entertainment Outdoor, the golf course business owned by CEOC until Formation Date. The financial information included for Caesars Entertainment Outdoor includes the period from January 1, 2017 to October 5, 2017.

Since January 1, 2019 our significant activities, in reverse chronological order, are as follows:

On February 5, 2020, the Operating Partnership issued (i) $750.0 million in aggregate principal amount of 3.500% senior unsecured notes due 2025, (ii) $750.0 million in aggregate principal amount of 3.750% senior unsecured notes due 2027 and (iii) $1.0 billion of 4.125% senior unsecured notes due 2030. We placed $2.0 billion of the net proceeds into escrow pending the consummation of the Eldorado Transaction, and used the remaining net proceeds from the 2025 Notes, together with cash on hand, to redeem in full the outstanding $498.5 million in aggregate principal amount of the Second Lien Notes plus the Second Lien Notes Applicable Premium, which resulted in a total redemption amount of approximately $537.5 million. The 2025 Notes will mature on February 15, 2025, the 2027 Notes will mature on February 15, 2027 and the 2030 Notes will mature on August 15, 2030. Interest on the 2025 Notes will accrue at a rate of 3.500% per annum, interest on the 2027 Notes will accrue at a rate of 3.750% per annum and interest on the 2030 Notes will accrue at a rate of 4.125% per annum. Interest on the February 2020 Unsecured Notes will be payable semi-annually in cash in arrears on February 15 and August 15 of each year, commencing on August 15, 2020. The indentures governing the February 2020 Senior Unsecured Notes contain certain covenants substantially similar to those in the indentures governing the November 2019 Senior Unsecured Notes, and the February 2020 Senior Unsecured Notes are guaranteed by the guarantors of the November 2019 Senior Unsecured Notes.

On January 24, 2020, we completed the previously announced transaction to acquire the casino-entitled land and real estate and related assets of the JACK Cleveland Casino, located in Cleveland, Ohio and the video lottery gaming and pari-mutuel wagering authorized land and real estate and related assets of the JACK Thistledown Racino located in North Randall, Ohio from affiliates of JACK Entertainment, for approximately $843.3 million in cash (the “JACK Cleveland/Thistledown Acquisition”). Simultaneous with the closing of the JACK Cleveland/Thistledown Acquisition, we entered into a master triple-net lease agreement for JACK Cleveland and JACK Thistledown with subsidiaries of JACK Entertainment. The lease has an initial total annual rent of $65.9

million and an initial term of 15 years, with four five-year tenant renewal options. The tenant’s obligations under the lease are guaranteed by Rock Ohio Ventures LLC (“Rock Ohio Ventures”). Additionally, we made a $50.0 million loan (the “ROV Loan”) to affiliates of Rock Ohio Ventures secured by, among other things, certain non-gaming real estate assets owned by such affiliates and guaranteed by Rock Ohio Ventures. The ROV Loan bears interest at 9.0% per annum for a period of five years with two one-year extension options.

On January 24, 2020, VICI PropCo entered into Amendment No. 1 to the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, which, among other things, reduced the interest rate on the Propco Term Loan B Facility from LIBOR plus 2.00% to LIBOR plus 1.75%.

On December 31, 2019 we and Caesars entered into a definitive agreement to sell the Harrah’s Reno asset for $50.0 million to a third party. We are entitled to receive 75% of the proceeds of the sale and Caesars is entitled to receive 25% of the proceeds. The annual rent payments under the Non-CPLV Lease Agreement will remain unchanged following completion of the disposition.

On December 6, 2019, we completed the previously announced transaction to acquire the land and real estate assets of  (i) Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort located in New Cumberland, West Virginia, (ii) Century Casino Caruthersville located in Caruthersville, Missouri and (iii) Century Casino Cape Girardeau located in Cape Girardeau, Missouri from affiliates of Eldorado, for approximately $277.8 million, and a subsidiary of Century Casinos acquired the operating assets of the Century Portfolio for approximately $107.2 million (together, the “Century Portfolio Acquisition”). Simultaneous with the closing of the Century Portfolio Acquisition, we entered into a master triple-net lease agreement for the Century Portfolio with a subsidiary of Century Casinos. The master lease has an initial total annual rent of $25.0 million and an initial term of 15 years, with four five-year tenant renewal options. The tenant’s obligations under the lease are guaranteed by Century Casinos.

On November 26, 2019, the Operating Partnership issued (i) $1,250 million in aggregate principal amount of 4.250% Senior Notes due 2026, and (ii) $1,000 million in aggregate principal amount of 4.625% Senior Notes due 2029. We used the proceeds of the offering to repay in full the CPLV CMBS Debt, and pay certain fees and expenses, and any remaining net proceeds were used to complete the purchase of the JACK Cleveland/Thistledown Acquisition. The 2026 Notes will mature on December 1, 2026, and the 2029 Notes will mature on December 1, 2029. Interest on the 2026 Notes will accrue at a rate of 4.250% per annum, and interest on the 2029 Notes will accrue at a rate of 4.625% per annum. Interest on the Notes will be payable semi-annually in cash in arrears on June 1 and December 1 of each year, commencing on June 1, 2020.

On September 20, 2019, we completed the previously announced transaction to acquire the casino-entitled land and real estate and related assets of Hard Rock Cincinnati, located in Cincinnati, Ohio from affiliates of JACK Entertainment LLC, for approximately $558.3 million, and a subsidiary of Hard Rock acquired the operating assets of the Hard Rock Cincinnati Casino for $186.5 million (together, the “Hard Rock Cincinnati Acquisition”). Simultaneous with the closing of the Hard Rock Cincinnati Acquisition, we entered into a triple-net lease agreement for Hard Rock Cincinnati with a subsidiary of Hard Rock. The lease has an initial total annual rent of $42.8 million and an initial term of 15 years, with four five-year tenant renewal options. The tenant’s obligations under the lease are guaranteed by Seminole Hard Rock Entertainment, Inc.

On June 24, 2019, we entered into a master transaction agreement (the “Master Transaction Agreement” or “MTA”) with Eldorado relating to the transactions described below (collectively, the “Eldorado Transaction”), all of which are conditioned upon consummation of the closing of the merger contemplated under an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Eldorado/Caesars Merger Agreement”) pursuant to which a subsidiary of Eldorado will merge with and into Caesars, with Caesars surviving as a wholly owned subsidiary of Eldorado. Upon closing of the merger, Eldorado will be renamed Caesars. Any references to Eldorado in the subsequent transaction discussion refer to the combined Eldorado/Caesars subsequent to the closing of the Eldorado/Caesars Merger, as applicable.

The Eldorado Transaction and the Eldorado/Caesars Merger are both subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. Eldorado has publicly disclosed that it expects the Eldorado/Caesars Merger to be completed in the first half of 2020. However, we can provide no assurances that the Eldorado/Caesars Merger or the Eldorado Transaction described herein will close

The Master Transaction Agreement contemplates the following transactions:

The Master Transaction Agreement contains customary representations, warranties and covenants by the parties to the agreement and is subject to the consummation of the Eldorado/Caesars Merger as well as customary closing conditions, including, among other things, that: (i) the absence of any law or order restraining, enjoining or otherwise preventing the transactions contemplated by the Master Transaction Agreement; (ii) the receipt of certain regulatory approvals, including gaming regulatory approvals; (iii) certain restructuring transaction shall have been consummated; (iv) the accuracy of the respective parties’ representations and warranties, subject to customary qualifications; and (v) material compliance by the parties with their respective covenants and obligations. The Master Transaction Agreement contains certain termination rights, including that the Master Transaction Agreement shall automatically terminate upon the termination of the Eldorado/Caesars Merger Agreement and a right by us to terminate the Master Transaction Agreement in the event the closing of the transactions contemplated by the Master Transaction Agreement has not occurred by the date on which the Eldorado/Caesars Merger is required to close pursuant to the Eldorado/Caesars Merger Agreement, but in no event later than December 24, 2020. 

On May 23, 2019, we completed the previously announced transaction to acquire from affiliates of JACK Entertainment LLC all of the land and real estate assets associated with Greektown, for $700.0 million in cash, and an affiliate of Penn National acquired the operating assets of Greektown for $300.0 million in cash (together, the “Greektown Acquisition”). Simultaneous with the closing of the Greektown Acquisition, we entered into a triple-net lease agreement for Greektown with a subsidiary of Penn National. The lease has an initial total annual rent of $55.6 million and an initial term of 15 years, with four five-year tenant renewal options. The tenant’s obligations under the lease are guaranteed by Penn National and certain of its subsidiaries.

On May 15, 2019, we amended our Revolving Credit Facility to, among other things, increase borrowing capacity by $600 million to a total of $1.0 billion and extend the maturity date to May 2024. Borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility initially bore interest at a rate based on a leverage-based pricing grid with a range of 1.75% to 2.00% over LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate), or between 0.75% and 1.00% over the base rate, in each case depending on our total net debt to adjusted total assets ratio. The Revolving Credit Facility replaces our previous revolving credit facility, which had a total borrowing capacity of $400 million, a maturity date in December 2022, and under which borrowings bore interest at 200 basis points over LIBOR.

On January 3, 2019, we entered into two additional interest rate swap agreements with third-party financial institutions having an aggregate notional amount of $500.0 million. These interest rate swap transactions each have an effective date of January 22, 2019 and a termination date of January 22, 2021 and are intended to be cash flow hedges that effectively fix, for two years, the LIBOR component of the interest rate on $500.0 million of the outstanding debt under the Term Loan B Facility at a blended rate of 2.38%. Subsequent to the effectiveness and for the duration of the interest rate swap transactions, we are only subject to interest rate risk on $100.0 million of variable rate debt.

On January 2, 2019, we completed the previously announced transaction to acquire the land and real estate assets of Margaritaville, located in Bossier City, Louisiana, for $261.1 million. Penn National acquired the operating assets of Margaritaville for $114.9 million. Simultaneous with the closing of this transaction, we entered into a triple-net lease agreement with a subsidiary of Penn National. The lease has an initial annual rent of $23.2 million and an initial term of 15 years, with four five-year tenant renewal options. The tenant’s obligations under the lease are guaranteed by Penn National and certain of its subsidiaries.

We actively seek to grow our portfolio through acquisitions of experiential real estate in geographically diverse dynamic markets spanning hospitality, entertainment, leisure and gaming properties. Additionally, we expect to grow our portfolio through acquisitions by pursuing opportunities to execute sale leaseback transactions with the combined Eldorado/Caesars (following the closing of the Eldorado Transaction), including pursuant to: (i) the Centaur Properties Put/Call Agreement; (ii) the Caesars Forum Put/Call Agreement; and (iii) the Las Vegas Strip ROFR and Horseshoe Baltimore ROFR. However, the combined Eldorado/Caesars entity will make an independent financial decision regarding whether to trigger the rights of first refusal under the Las Vegas ROFR and Horseshoe Baltimore ROFR, and we will make an independent financial decision whether to purchase the properties. Finally, we believe the approximately 34 acres of undeveloped or underdeveloped land on and adjacent to the Las Vegas Strip that we own will provide attractive opportunities for potential future expansion and development. In pursuing external growth initiatives, we will generally seek to acquire properties that can generate stable rental revenue through long-term leases with tenants with established operating histories, and we will consider various factors when evaluating acquisitions, including the ability to continue to diversify our tenant base and increasing our geographic diversification.

Our operating and financial performance in the future will be significantly influenced by the success of our acquisition strategy, and the timing and the availability and terms of financing of any acquisitions that we may complete. We can provide no assurance that we will exercise any of our contractual rights to purchase one or more properties from Caesars (or the combined Eldorado/Caesars following the closing of the Eldorado Transaction), that the combined Eldorado/Caesars entity will trigger the rights of first offer under the Las Vegas ROFR and Horseshoe Baltimore ROFR, or that we will otherwise be successful in acquiring any properties (whether subject to the Las Vegas ROFR, the Horseshoe Baltimore ROFR, or otherwise). Additionally, our ability to successfully implement our acquisition strategy will depend upon the availability and terms of financing, including debt and equity capital. Further, the pricing of any acquisitions we may consummate and the terms of any leases that we may enter into will significantly impact our future results. Competition to execute sale leaseback transactions with attractive properties and desirable tenants is intense, and we can provide no assurance that any future acquisitions or leases will be on terms as favorable to us as

those relating to recent transactions. We anticipate that we would seek to finance these acquisitions with a combination of debt and equity, although no assurance can be given that we would be able to issue equity in such amounts on favorable terms, or at all, or that we would not determine to incur more debt on a relative basis at the relevant time due market conditions or otherwise. In addition to rent, our current Lease Agreements require our tenants to pay the following: (1) all facility maintenance; (2) all insurance required in connection with the leased properties and the business conducted on the leased properties; (3) taxes levied on or with respect to the leased properties (other than taxes on our income); and (4) all utilities and other services necessary or appropriate for the leased properties and the business conducted on the leased properties. Accordingly, due to the “triple-net” structure of our leases, we do not expect to incur significant property-level expenses.

For the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, our revenue was comprised of the following items:

The following table details the components of our income from direct financing, sales-type and operating leases:

Leasing revenue is generated from rent from our Lease Agreements. Total leasing revenue increased $76.3 million during the year ended December 31, 2019 compared to the year ended December 31, 2018. Total contractual leasing revenue increased $122.0 million during the year ended December 31, 2019 compared to the year ended December 31, 2018. The increase was primarily driven by the addition of Octavius Tower, Harrah’s Philadelphia, Margaritaville, Greektown, JACK Cincinnati and the Century Portfolio to our real estate portfolio in July 2018, December 2018, January 2019, May 2019, September 2019 and December 2019, respectively.

During the year ended December 31, 2018, we recorded $81.2 million of income from tenant reimbursement of property taxes. Upon the adoption of ASC 842 on January 1, 2019, we ceased recording tenant reimbursement of property taxes as these taxes are paid directly by our tenants to the applicable government entity.

Revenues from golf operations increased $1.7 million during the year ended December 31, 2019 compared to the year ended December 31, 2018. The increase was primarily driven by an increase in the number of rounds played at our golf courses, as well as by an increase in the contractual fees paid to us by Caesars for the use of our golf courses, pursuant to a golf course use agreement.

General and administrative expenses increased $0.1 million during the year ended December 31, 2019 compared to the year ended December 31, 2018. The increase was primarily driven by an increase in stock based compensation which was partially offset by certain non-recurring costs incurred during the first six months of the year ended December 31, 2018 as a result of being a newly publicly-traded company primarily following our initial public offering and the transition and relocation of our corporate headquarters from Las Vegas, NV to New York, NY.

During the year ended December 31, 2018, we recorded $81.8 million of income from tenant reimbursement of property taxes. Upon the adoption of ASC 842 on January 1, 2019, we ceased recording tenant reimbursement of property taxes as these taxes are paid directly by our tenants to the applicable government entity.

Expenses from golf operations increased $1.5 million during the year ended December 31, 2019 compared to the year ended December 31, 2018 due to an increase in the number of rounds played and an increase in the water usage charges at one of our golf courses. In addition, $3.8 million and $3.7 million of depreciation expense was incurred primarily by the golf business during the year ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

During the year ended December 31, 2018 the Company recognized a $12.3 million loss on impairment related to certain vacant, non-operating land parcels transferred by CEOC to us on the Formation Date. All of the land parcels are located outside of Las Vegas and none of the land parcels are a component of the operations of our regional property portfolio. We had no such related impairment during the year ended December 31, 2019.

Transaction and acquisition costs increased $4.6 million during the year ended December 31, 2019 compared to the year ended December 31, 2018. The increase was primarily due to the adoption of ASC 842, which requires us to expense certain legal and third-party costs associated with our leases that were previously capitalized.

Interest expense increased $35.7 million during the year ended December 31, 2019 compared to the year ended December 31, 2018. The increase is primarily attributable to our November 2019 Senior Unsecured Notes, our interest rate swap agreements which we entered into in April 2018 and January 2019 and an increase in the amortization of our deferred financing fees as a result of the costs associated with our Revolving Credit Facility and Bridge Facilities. With respect to the interest rate swap agreements, prior to entering into such agreements in the comparative period, we were paying a lower variable rate as compared to the fixed rate under the interest rate swap agreements. These amounts were partially offset by a reduction in interest rates due to the repayment of amounts outstanding under our Revolving Credit Facility and the partial paydown of the Term Loan B Facility and Second Lien Notes in February of 2018.

Interest income increased $8.7 million during the year ended December 31, 2019 compared to the year ended December 31, 2018. The increase is primarily driven by increased cash on hand from our primary follow-on equity offerings in November 2018 and June 2019 and debt offering in November 2019.

During the year ended December 31, 2019 we recognized a loss on extinguishment of debt of $58.1 million resulting from the$110.8 million prepayment penalties associated with the full repayment of our CPLV CMBS Debt in November 2019, net of $55.4 million of which will be reimbursed by Eldorado. During the year ended December 31, 2018 we recognized a loss on extinguishment of debt of $23.0 million resulting from the redemption of $268.4 million in aggregate principal of our Second Lien Notes in February 2018 at a redemption price of 108%.

We present Funds From Operations (“FFO”), FFO per share, Adjusted Funds From Operations (“AFFO”), AFFO per share, and Adjusted EBITDA, which are not required by, or presented in accordance with, generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”). These are non-GAAP financial measures and should not be construed as alternatives to net income or as an indicator of operating performance (as determined in accordance with GAAP). We believe FFO, FFO per share, AFFO, AFFO per share and Adjusted EBITDA provide a meaningful perspective of the underlying operating performance of our business.

FFO is a non-GAAP financial measure that is considered a supplemental measure for the real estate industry and a supplement to GAAP measures. Consistent with the definition used by The National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, we define FFO as net income (or loss) (computed in accordance with GAAP) excluding (i) gains (or losses) from sales of certain real estate assets, (ii) depreciation and amortization related to real estate, (iii) gains and losses from change in control and (iv) impairment write-downs of certain real estate assets and investments in entities when the impairment is directly attributable to decreases in the value of depreciable real estate held by the entity.

AFFO is a non-GAAP financial measure that we use as a supplemental operating measure to evaluate our performance. We calculate AFFO by adding or subtracting from FFO direct financing and sales-type lease adjustments, transaction costs incurred in connection with the acquisition of real estate investments, non-cash stock-based compensation expense, amortization of debt issuance costs and original issue discount, other non-cash interest expense, non-real estate depreciation (which is comprised of the depreciation related to our golf course operations), capital expenditures (which are comprised of additions to property, plant and equipment related to our golf course operations), impairment charges related to non-depreciable real estate and gains (or losses) on debt extinguishment.

We calculate Adjusted EBITDA by adding or subtracting from AFFO interest expense and interest income (collectively, interest expense, net) and income tax expense.

These non-GAAP financial measures: (i) do not represent cash flow 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 flow as a measure of liquidity. In addition, these measures should not be viewed as measures of liquidity, nor do they measure our ability to fund all of our cash needs, including our ability to make cash distributions to our stockholders, to fund capital improvements, or to make interest payments on our indebtedness. Investors are also cautioned that FFO, FFO per share, AFFO, AFFO per share and Adjusted EBITDA, as presented, may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other real estate companies, including REITs, due to 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.

As of December 31, 2019, our available cash balances, short-term investments and capacity under our Revolving Credit Facility were as follows:

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We closed the JACK Cleveland/Thistledown Acquisition on January 24, 2020 using a mix of cash on hand and a portion of the proceeds that we raised from our November 2019 Senior Unsecured Notes Offering. We anticipate closing the Eldorado Transaction in the first half of 2020 and expect to fund the purchase with a mix of cash on hand, the settlement of our Forward Sales Agreements and a portion of the proceeds that we raised from our February 2020 Senior Unsecured Notes Offering. To the extent we are unable to settle the Forward Sales Agreements we intend to use the capacity under the Bridge Facility in lieu of such financing. We anticipate funding future transactions with a mix of debt, equity and available cash.

We believe that we have sufficient liquidity to meet our liquidity and capital resource requirements primarily through currently available cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, short term investments, cash received under our Lease Agreements, borrowings from banks, including undrawn capacity under our Revolving Credit Facility and Bridge Facilities, and proceeds from the issuance of debt and equity securities (including issuances under our Forward Sale Agreements and our ATM Agreement). All of the Lease Agreements call for an initial term of fifteen years with four, five-year tenant renewal options and are designed to provide us with a reliable and predictable long-term revenue stream. However, our cash flows from operations and our ability to access capital resources could be adversely affected due to uncertain economic factors and volatility in the financial and credit markets. In particular, we can provide no assurances that our tenants will not default on their leases or fail to make full rental payments if their businesses become challenged due to, among other things, adverse economic conditions.

Our ability to raise funds through the issuance of debt and equity securities and access to other third-party sources of capital in the future will be dependent on, among other things, general economic conditions, general market conditions for REITs, market perceptions and the trading price of our stock. We will continue to analyze which sources of capital are most advantageous to us at any particular point in time, but the capital markets may not be consistently available on terms we deem attractive, or at all.

The table below summarizes our cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018:

Net cash provided by operating activities increased $178.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 compared with the year ended December 31, 2018. The increase is primarily driven by an increase in cash rental payments from the addition of Octavius Tower, Harrah’s Philadelphia, Margaritaville, Greektown, Hard Rock Cincinnati and the Century Portfolio to our real estate portfolio in July 2018, December 2018, January 2019, May 2019, September 2019 and December 2019, respectively.

Net cash provided by financing activities increased $144.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 compared with the year ended December 31, 2018.

During the year ended December 31, 2019 the primary sources and uses of cash from financing activities included:

During the year ended December 31, 2018 the primary sources and uses of cash from financing activities include:

The following tables detail our debt obligations as of December 31, 2019:

On February 5, 2020, the Operating Partnership issued (i) $750 million in aggregate principal amount of 3.500% senior unsecured notes due 2025, (ii) $750 million in aggregate principal amount of 3.750% senior unsecured notes due 2027 and (iii) $1.0 billion of 4.125% senior unsecured notes due 2030. We placed $2.0 billion of the net proceeds into escrow pending the consummation of the Eldorado Transaction, and used the remaining net proceeds from the 2025 Notes, together with cash on hand, to redeem in full the outstanding $498.5 million in aggregate principal amount of the Second Lien Notes plus the Second Lien Notes Applicable Premium, which resulted in a total redemption amount of approximately $537.5 million. The 2025 Notes will mature on February 15, 2025, the 2027 Notes will mature on February 15, 2027 and the 2030 Notes will mature on August 15, 2030. Interest on the 2025 Notes will accrue at a rate of 3.500% per annum, interest on the 2027 Notes will accrue at a rate of 3.750% per annum and interest on the 2030 Notes will accrue at a rate of 4.125% per annum.

On November 26, 2019, the Operating Partnership issued (i) $1,250 million in aggregate principal amount of 4.250% Senior Notes due 2026, and (ii) $1,000 million in aggregate principal amount of 4.625% Senior Notes due 2029. We used the proceeds of the offering to repay in full the CPLV CMBS Debt, and pay certain fees and expenses, and any remaining net proceeds were used to complete the JACK Cleveland/Thistledown Acquisition (which we consummated on January 24, 2020). The 2026 Notes will mature on December 1, 2026, and the 2029 Notes will mature on December 1, 2029. Interest on the 2026 Notes will accrue at a rate of 4.250% per annum, and interest on the 2029 Notes will accrue at a rate of 4.625% per annum.

On February 5, 2018, we completed an initial public offering of 69,575,000 shares of common stock (which included 9,075,000 shares of common stock related to the overallotment option exercised by the underwriters in full) at an offering price of $20.00 per share for gross proceeds of $1.4 billion, resulting in net proceeds of $1.3 billion after commissions and expenses. We utilized a portion of the net proceeds from the stock offering to: (a) pay down $300.0 million of indebtedness outstanding under the Revolving Credit Facility; (b) redeem $268.4 million in aggregate principal amount of the Second Lien Notes at a redemption price of 108% plus accrued and unpaid interest to the date of the redemption; and (c) repay $100.0 million of the Term Loan B Facility.

On December 22, 2017, VICI PropCo entered into a credit agreement (the “Credit Agreement”) governing the Term Loan B Facility and the Revolving Credit Facility. The Credit Agreement contains customary covenants that, among other things, limit the ability of VICI PropCo and its restricted subsidiaries to: (i) incur additional indebtedness; (ii) merge with a third party or engage in other fundamental changes; (iii) make restricted payments; (iv) enter into, create, incur or assume any liens; (v) make certain sales and other dispositions of assets; (vi) enter into certain transactions with affiliates; (vii) make certain payments on certain other indebtedness; (viii) make certain investments; and (ix) incur restrictions on the ability of restricted subsidiaries to make certain distributions, loans or transfers of assets to VICI PropCo or any restricted subsidiary. These covenants are subject to a number of exceptions and qualifications, including the ability to make unlimited restricted payments to maintain our REIT status and to avoid the payment of federal or state income or excise tax, the ability to make restricted payments in an amount not to exceed 95% of our Funds from Operations (as defined in the Credit Agreement) subject to no event of default under the Credit Agreement and pro forma compliance with the financial covenant pursuant to the Credit Agreement, and the ability to make additional restricted payments in an aggregate amount not to exceed the greater of 0.6% of Adjusted Total Assets (as defined in the Credit Agreement) or $30,000,000. Commencing with the first full fiscal quarter ended after December 22, 2017, if the outstanding amount of the Revolving Credit Facility plus any drawings under letters of credit issued pursuant to the Credit Agreement that have not been reimbursed as of the end of any fiscal quarter exceeds 30% of the aggregate amount of the Revolving Credit Facility, VICI PropCo and its restricted subsidiaries on a consolidated basis would be required to maintain a maximum Total Net Debt to Adjusted Total Assets Ratio, as defined in the Credit Agreement, as of the last day of any applicable fiscal quarter.

The November 2019 Senior Unsecured Notes were issued in November 2019, pursuant to indentures (the “2019 Senior Unsecured Notes Indentures”) by and among the Operating Partnership and VICI Note Co. Inc. (the “Co-Issuer” and, together with the Operating Partnership, the “2019 Senior Unsecured Notes Issuers”), the subsidiary guarantors party thereto and UMB Bank, National Association, as trustee. The 2019 Senior Unsecured Notes Indentures contains covenants that limit the 2019 Senior Unsecured Notes Issuers’ and their restricted subsidiaries’ ability to, among other things: (i) incur additional debt; (ii) create liens on assets; (iii) make distributions and pay dividends on or redeem or repurchase stock; (iv) make certain types of investments; (v) sell stock in certain subsidiaries; (vi) enter into agreements that restrict dividends or other payments from subsidiaries; (vii) enter into transactions with affiliates; (viii) issue guarantees of debt; and (ix) sell assets or merge with other companies. These covenants are subject to a number of exceptions and qualifications, including the ability to declare or pay any cash dividend or make any cash distribution to VICI to the extent necessary for VICI to fund a dividend or distribution by VICI that it believes is necessary to maintain its status as a REIT or to avoid payment of any tax for any calendar year that could be avoided by reason of such

distribution, and the ability to make certain restricted payments not to exceed 95% of our cumulative Funds From Operations (as defined in the 2019 Senior Unsecured Notes Indentures), plus the aggregate net proceeds from (i) the sale of certain equity interests in, (ii) capital contributions to, and (iii) certain convertible indebtedness of, the Operating Partnership. The indentures governing the February 2020 Senior Unsecured Notes contain certain covenants substantially similar to those in the indentures governing the November 2019 Senior Unsecured Notes.

At December 31, 2019, the Company was in compliance with all required debt-related financial covenants.

The subsidiaries of the Operating Partnership that do not guarantee the November 2019 Senior Unsecured Notes or the February 2020 Senior Unsecured Notes accounted for: (i) 7.0% of the Operating Partnership’s revenue (or 6.8% of our consolidated revenue) for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 and (ii) 5.2% of the Operating Partnership’s total assets (or 5.2% of our consolidated total assets) as of December 31, 2019.

As of December 31, 2019, and as of the date this report was filed, we do not have any off-balance sheet arrangements.

Our Financial Statements are prepared in accordance with GAAP. We have identified certain accounting policies that we believe are the most critical to the presentation of our financial information over a period of time. These accounting policies may require our management to take decisions on subjective and/or complex matters relating to reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, costs, expenses and related disclosures, including, but not limited to, the application of fresh start reporting, determining the useful lives of real estate properties, and evaluating the impairment of long-lived assets, and allocation of costs and deferred income taxes. The judgment on such estimates and underlying assumptions is based on our historical experience that we believe is reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results may differ from the estimates.

We account for our investments in leases under ASC 842 “Leases” (“ASC 842”), which we adopted on January 1, 2019. Upon lease inception or lease modification, we assess lease classification to determine whether the lease should be classified as a direct financing, sales-type or operating lease. As required by ASC 842, we separately assess the land and building components of the property to determine the classification of each component, unless the impact of doing so is immaterial. If the lease component is determined to be a direct financing or sales-type lease, we record a net investment in the lease, which is equal to the sum of the lease receivable and the unguaranteed residual asset, discounted at the rate implicit in the lease. Any difference between the fair value of the asset and the net investment in the lease is considered selling profit or loss and is either recognized upon execution of the lease or deferred and recognized over the life of the lease, depending on the classification of the lease. Due to the nature of our assets, the net investment in the lease is generally equal to the purchase price of the asset, and the land and building components of an investment generally have the same lease classification.

For leases determined to be sales-type leases, we further assess to determine whether the transaction is considered a sale leaseback transaction. If we determine that the lease meets the definition for a sale leaseback transaction, the lease is considered a financing receivable and is recognized in accordance with ASC 310 “Receivables” (“ASC 310”). We currently do not have any lease investments that are accounted for as financing receivables under ASC 310.

Upon adoption of ASC 842, we made an accounting policy election to use a package of practical expedients that, among other things, allow us to not reassess prior lease classifications or initial direct costs for leases that existed as of the balance sheet date.

We assess the noncancelable lease term under ASC 842, which includes any reasonably assured renewal periods. All of our Lease Agreements provide for an initial term, with multiple tenant renewal options. We have individually assessed all of our Lease Agreements and concluded that the lease term includes all of the periods covered by extension options as it is reasonably certain our tenants will renew the Lease Agreements. We believe our tenants are economically compelled to renew the Lease Agreements due to the importance of our real estate to the operation of their business, the significant capital they have invested in our properties and the lack of suitable replacement assets.  

We recognize the related income from our direct financing and sales-type leases on an effective interest basis at a constant rate of return over the terms of the applicable leases. As a result, the cash payments accounted for under direct financing and sales-type leases will not equal income from our Lease Agreements. Rather, a portion of the cash rent we receive is recorded as Income from direct financing and sales-type leases in our Statement of Operations and a portion is recorded as a change to Investments in direct financing and sales-type leases, net.

Under ASC 840, we determined that the land component of Caesars Palace Las Vegas was greater than 25% of the overall fair value of the combined land and building components. At lease inception the land was determined to be an operating lease and we record the related income on a straight-line basis over the lease term. The amount of annual minimum lease payments attributable to the land element after deducting executory costs, including any profit thereon, is determined by applying the lessee’s incremental borrowing rate to the value of the land. Revenue from this lease is recorded as Income from operating leases in our Statement of Operations.

Initial direct costs incurred in connection with entering into lease agreements are included in the balance of the net investment in lease. In relation to direct financing and sales-type leases, such amounts will be recognized as a reduction to Income from investments in leases over the life of the lease using the effective interest method. Costs that would have been incurred regardless of whether the lease was signed, such as legal fees and certain other third-party fees, are expensed as incurred to Transaction and acquisition expenses in our Statement of Operations.

Information concerning our obligations and commitments to make future payments under contracts such as our indebtedness and future minimum lease commitments under operating leases is included in the following table as of December 31, 2019.

Our future income, cash flows and fair values relevant to financial instruments are dependent upon prevailing market interest rates. In the normal course of business, we are exposed to the effect of interest rate changes. We have entered into derivative agreements to mitigate exposure to unexpected changes in interest. Market risk refers to the risk of loss from adverse changes in market interest rates. We periodically use derivative financial instruments to seek to manage, or hedge, interest rate risks related to our borrowings. We do not use derivatives for trading or speculative purposes and only enter into contracts with major financial institutions based on their credit rating and other factors. We intend to enter into derivative agreements only with counterparties that we believe have a strong credit rating to mitigate the risk of counterparty default or insolvency.

As of December 31, 2019, we had $4,848.5 million of debt outstanding of which $2,748.5 million was fixed rate debt and $2,000.0 million was hedged variable rate debt, the remaining $100.0 million of our indebtedness was unhedged. As of December 31, 2019, a one percent increase or decrease in the annual interest rate on our unhedged variable rate borrowings of $100.0 million would increase or decrease our annual cash interest expense by approximately $1.0 million.

We may manage, or hedge, interest rate risks related to our borrowings by means of interest rate swap agreements. We also expect to manage our exposure to interest rate risk by maintaining a mix of fixed and variable rates for our indebtedness. However, the REIT provisions of the Code substantially limit our ability to hedge our assets and liabilities.

None.

We maintain disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)) designed to provide reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed in reports filed under the Exchange Act, is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the specified time periods and accumulated and communicated to our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

Our management has evaluated, under the supervision and with the participation of our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures pursuant to Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(e) as of the end of the period covered by this report. Based upon this evaluation, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of the end of the period covered by this report.

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act). Our internal control over financial reporting is a process designed under the supervision of our principal executive officer and principal financial officer to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of our consolidated financial statements for external reporting purposes in accordance with GAAP.

Our internal control over financial reporting includes policies and procedures that pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect transactions and dispositions of assets; provide reasonable assurances that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP, and that receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of our management; and provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on our consolidated financial statements.

Management conducted an assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2019 based on the framework established in the updated Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Based on this assessment, management has determined that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2019.

Deloitte & Touche LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, has audited our financial statements included in this report on Form 10-K and issued its attestation report, which is included herein and expresses an unqualified opinion on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2019.

There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as is defined in Rules 13a–15(f) and 15d–15(f) under the Exchange Act) that occurred during our most recent quarter, that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

The information required by this item is incorporated by reference to the Company’s definitive proxy statement to be filed not later than April 29, 2020 with the SEC pursuant to Regulation 14A under the Exchange Act.

The information required by this item is incorporated by reference to the Company’s definitive proxy statement to be filed not later than April 29, 2020 with the SEC pursuant to Regulation 14A under the Exchange Act.

The information required by this item is incorporated by reference to the Company’s definitive proxy statement to be filed not later than April 29, 2020 with the SEC pursuant to Regulation 14A under the Exchange Act.

The information required by this item is incorporated by reference to the Company’s definitive proxy statement to be filed not later than April 29, 2020 with the SEC pursuant to Regulation 14A under the Exchange Act.

The information required by this item is incorporated by reference to the Company’s definitive proxy statement to be filed not later than April 29, 2020 with the SEC pursuant to Regulation 14A under the Exchange Act.