Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge to Move to New Landside Facility in Early 2022

WYOMISSING, Pa. and BATON ROUGE, La., Aug. 21, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ: GLPI) (“GLPI” or the “Company”) today announced that its Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge facility received approval from the Louisiana Gaming and Control Board to move its gaming operations to a to-be-constructed landside facility.  The Company expects to complete the $21-$25 million project in early 2022 and believes the change to a landside facility will bring significant economic benefits to Downtown Baton Rouge.  In addition, the project is expected to bring 166 construction jobs to the area with total labor spend of approximately $10 million.

The all-new Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge will offer players a variety of exciting new gaming and entertainment experiences, including:

• Indoor and outdoor gaming including full service and amenities
• Shaquille O’Neal’s Big Chicken Restaurant which will combine Shaq’s love of fried chicken, BBQ and adult milkshakes under one roof with indoor and outdoor dining overlooking the Mississippi River
• A sports bar/restaurant and entertainment venue with 250 seats, including a mezzanine overlooking the Mississippi River as well as an outdoor patio to watch sports and live music or to host a party
• A sports viewing area which will provide guests with a comfortable place to have a drink and watch the games
• Flexible meeting space for 200 or more guests, with pre-function and food serving areas for private events or VIPs

Jeannie Magdefrau, General Manager of Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge, commented, “Today is an exciting day for Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge and the entire Baton Rouge community. Our move landside is expected to contribute approximately $500 million of positive economic impact to the region in its first six years of operation and will provide our current and new guests with a state-of-the art gaming and entertainment destination in the city. Further, by moving landside we can sell and/or move the boat to free up dock space so that we can increase visitation from what is an ever-expanding Mississippi river cruise business. We thank the Louisiana Gaming and Control Board for their support and look forward to getting to work on our new landside casino facility in the coming months.”

About Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge

Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge is a dockside riverboat casino operating in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The riverboat features approximately 29,000 square feet of gaming space with 859 gaming machines and 12 table games and also features a deli. The facility also includes a two-story, 66,318 square foot dockside building featuring a variety of amenities, including a grill, a 268-seat buffet, a premium players' lounge, an event venue, a lobby bar, a public atrium, two meeting rooms and 1,407 surface parking spaces.

About Gaming and Leisure Properties

GLPI is engaged in the business of acquiring, financing, and owning real estate property to be leased to gaming operators in triple-net lease arrangements, pursuant to which the tenant is responsible for all facility maintenance, insurance required in connection with the leased properties and the business conducted on the leased properties, taxes levied on or with respect to the leased properties and all utilities and other services necessary or appropriate for the leased properties and the business conducted on the leased properties.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including our expectations regarding the construction timeline and spending, the economic impact of the planned development and the expected number of construction jobs. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “expects,” “believes,” “estimates,” “intends,” “may,” “will,” “should” or “anticipates” or the negative or other variation of these or similar words, or by discussions of future events, strategies or risks and uncertainties. Such forward looking statements are inherently subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions about GLPI and its subsidiaries, including risks related to the following: the effect of pandemics such as COVID-19 on Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge and GLPI’s ability to successfully complete the planned development project; other delays or impediments to completing the planned development project; GLPI's ability to maintain its status as a REIT; GLPI’s ability to access capital through debt and equity markets in amounts and at rates and costs acceptable to GLPI; the impact of our substantial indebtedness on our future operations; changes in the U.S. tax law and other state, federal or local laws, whether or not specific to REITs or to the gaming or lodging industries; and other factors described in GLPI’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K, each as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to GLPI or persons acting on GLPI’s behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements included in this press release. GLPI undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained or incorporated by reference herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events discussed in this press release may not occur as presented or at all.