Organization

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2018

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Organization

Organization

Penn National Gaming, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, is a leading, diversified, multi-jurisdictional owner and manager of gaming and racing facilities and video gaming terminal (“VGT”) operations with a focus on slot machine entertainment. In the second half of 2018, we launched live sports wagering at our facilities in Mississippi, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. In addition, the Company operates an interactive gaming division through its subsidiary, Penn Interactive Ventures, LLC (“PIV”). As of December 31, 2018, we owned, managed, or had ownership interests in 40 facilities in 18 jurisdictions. The majority of the gaming facilities used in the Company’s operations are subject to triple net master leases; the most significant of which are the Penn Master Lease and the Pinnacle Master Lease (as such terms are defined in Note 10, “Master Lease Financing Obligations and Lease Obligations” and collectively referred to as the “Master Leases”), with Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (“GLPI”), a publicly-traded real estate investment trust (“REIT”), as the landlord under the Master Leases. References in these footnotes to “Penn,” the “Company,” “we,” “our” or “us” refer to Penn National Gaming, Inc. and its subsidiaries, except where stated or the context otherwise indicates.

In October 2018, the Company completed the acquisition of Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. (“Pinnacle”), a leading regional gaming operator (the “Pinnacle Acquisition”). In conjunction with the Pinnacle Acquisition, the Company divested the membership interests of certain Pinnacle subsidiaries which operated the casinos known as Ameristar Casino Resort St. Charles, Ameristar Casino Hotel Kansas City, Belterra Casino Resort and Belterra Park (referred to collectively as the “Divested Properties”), to Boyd Gaming Corporation (“Boyd”). Additionally, as a part of the transaction, (i) GLPI acquired the real estate assets associated with the Plainridge Park Casino, and concurrently leased back the real estate assets to the Company (the “Plainridge Park Casino Sale-Leaseback”) and (ii) a subsidiary of Boyd acquired the real estate assets associated with Belterra Park from a subsidiary of GLPI. In connection with the sale of the Divested Properties to Boyd as well as the Plainridge Park Casino Sale-Leaseback, the Pinnacle Master Lease, which was assumed by the Company concurrent with the closing of the Pinnacle Acquisition, was amended (see Note 10, “Master Lease Financing Obligations and Lease Obligations” for more information). The Pinnacle Acquisition added twelve gaming properties to our holdings and provides us with greater operational scale and geographic diversity.

In May 2017, we completed the acquisitions of 1^st Jackpot Casino Tunica (f/k/a Bally’s Casino Tunica) and Resorts Casino Tunica. In 2016, Prairie State Gaming (“PSG”) acquired two small VGT route operators in Illinois and in the first half of 2017, it acquired two additional Illinois-based VGT operators. Further, in August 2016, we enhanced our social gaming offerings with the acquisition of Rocket Speed, Inc. (“Rocket Speed”), a leading developer of social casino games.