The company was created as a corporate spin-off from Penn National Gaming (now Penn Entertainment), effective November 1, 2013.[3] The corporate breakup was designed to increase investor returns by taking advantage of the lack of federal income taxes on REITs.[4]
In November 2013, GLPI agreed to finance a proposed billion-dollar casino inMilford, Massachusetts,[5] but the project was killed days later when town voters rejected the casino.[6]
In January 2014, the company acquired the real estate assets of theCasino Queen inEast St. Louis, Illinois for $140 million, and leased them back to the casino's operating company for $14 million a year. GLPI also loaned $43 million to the casino.[7]
The company's Argosy Casino inSioux City, Iowa was forced to close in July 2014, and GLPI then sold the casino's real estate.[8]
In May 2014, GLPI agreed to buyThe Meadows Racetrack and Casino in western Pennsylvania fromCannery Casino Resorts for $465 million. The company said it would sell the facility's license to a third-party operator, while retaining ownership of the land and buildings.[9] The deal ran into trouble, with GLPI filing a lawsuit accusing Cannery of fraud in October 2014; the lawsuit was eventually settled with an agreement on a reduced purchase price of $440 million.[10]
After casino operatorPinnacle Entertainment announced its own plan in November 2014 to spin off a REIT with the real estate assets of its 15 casinos,[11] GLPI approached Pinnacle with an offer to buy those assets, which it said would be simpler and faster than Pinnacle's plan.[12] Pinnacle did not respond to the offer, so GLPI went public with its offer in March 2015.[12] In July, the companies reached a deal for GLPI to buy 14 of Pinnacle's 15 properties for $4.75 billion in stock, and lease them back to Pinnacle, with rent starting at $377 million per year.[13] The acquisition was completed in April 2016.[14] GLPI also completed its purchase of The Meadows in September 2016 and sold the racetrack operation to Pinnacle for $138 million.[15][16]
In May 2015, GLPI agreed to finance the real estate portion of a proposed $650-million casino inNew Bedford, Massachusetts,[17] but the plan was canceled months later after developers failed to secure the rest of the needed funding.[18]
In May 2017, GLPI purchased the real estate assets ofBally's Casino Tunica andResorts Casino Tunica for a total of $83 million, while Penn National simultaneously acquired their operating assets.[19][20]
In October 2018, the company acquired the real estate of five casinos fromTropicana Entertainment for $964 million. The purchase was part of a three-way deal in whichEldorado Resorts simultaneously acquired Tropicana's operating business and leased the casinos from GLPI for a total of $88 million per year.[21]
Weeks later, GLPI completed a four-way deal that saw its two largest tenants combine into one, as Penn National acquired Pinnacle. GLPI also gained a new tenant inBoyd Gaming, which purchased the operations of three of Pinnacle's leased properties. In connection with the merger, GLPI acquired the real estate ofPlainridge Park Casino from Penn National for $250 million, and lent $58 million to Boyd to acquire the real estate ofBelterra Park.[22][23] GLPI later acquired ownership of Belterra Park in satisfaction of the loan.[24]
In April 2020, during theCOVID-19 pandemic, Penn National faced the prospect of financial issues brought on by resort closures. As a result, it sold the real estate of theTropicana Las Vegas to GLPI for $338 million in rent credits.[25] Penn National would continue to operate the Tropicana for another two years, or until the resort were sold.[26]
GLPI took ownership ofLumière Place from Caesars Entertainment (formerly Eldorado Resorts) in October 2020, in satisfaction of a $246 million loan.[27]
In 2021, GLPI sold the operations of its two owned-and-operated casinos for a total of $59 million, to focus on its core business of real estate.[28] The operating business ofHollywood Casino Perryville was sold to Penn National, while that ofHollywood Casino Baton Rouge was sold to Casino Queen.[29][30]
In December 2021, GLPI reached a deal with theCordish Companies to purchase three casino properties (Live Casino Philadelphia,Live Casino Maryland, andLive Casino Pittsburgh) for a total of $1.8 billion and lease them back for a total of $125 million per year, and to partner with Cordish in future casino projects.[36] The purchase was completed in March 2022.[37]
In 2023, GLPI purchased the land where theHard Rock Casino was being built inRockford, Illinois, for $100 million.[38] In 2024, it acquiredTioga Downs, a racino in New York, for $175 million,[39] and three small casinos in Nevada and South Dakota from Strategic Gaming Management, for $105 million.[40][41]
