{"id":421,"date":"2026-02-26T18:26:04","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T19:26:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/?p=421"},"modified":"2026-03-25T13:23:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T13:23:48","slug":"vici-properties-mum-on-caesars-regional-casino-negotiations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/26\/vici-properties-mum-on-caesars-regional-casino-negotiations\/","title":{"rendered":"VICI Properties Mum on Caesars Regional Casino Negotiations"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><strong>Casino REIT didn\u2019t have much to say regarding talks with tenant Caesars<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>VICI CEO says company is looking for \u201cwin-win\u201d solution<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Weakness at Caesar regional casinos has been a problem for VICI stock<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Perhaps disappointing investors in both companies, VICI Properties\u2019 (NYSE: VICI) fourth-quarter earnings conference call didn\u2019t include much of an update on negotiations with tenant Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ: CZR).<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_162901\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-162901\" data-style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-162901 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"Loop Caesars\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/cp3-142x80-1.jpg\"><figcaption>Caesars Palace Las Vegas. Owner VICI Properties didn&#8217;t say much about regional casino lease talks with Caesars. (Image: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/vici-admits-caesars-regional-casinos-lease-has-been-overhang\/\">oft-discussed issue<\/a> of the master lease on Caesars regional casinos was mentioned on the VICI conference call with Goldman Sachs Caitlin Burrows getting that ball rolling, but CEO Edward Pitoniak didn\u2019t provide much of an update.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\">\n<p>We\u2019re obviously not going to get into any kind of detail on what we might have discussed already with Caesars or more importantly, what we will be discussing,\u201d said the VICI chief executive officer on the call. \u201cBut what I want to emphasize is that as we address lease issues with Caesars, we&#8217;re going to do so within the context of our overall approach to portfolio and risk management.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The issue that has investors in both companies fretting is easily explained. VICI owns the property assets of a substantial amount of Caesars-operated casinos located outside of Las Vegas. Currently, the gaming company\u2019s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) at those venues is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/vici-hit-with-downgrade-on-caesars-regional-casino-concerns\/\">barely enough to cover the rent<\/a>, confirming the need for negotiations.<\/p>\n<h2>VICI Searching for a \u2018Win-Win\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Neither Caesars nor VICI has openly discussed potential outcomes of their talks, but the prevailing wisdom in the investment community is that both sides are going to have give up something to get something.<\/p>\n<div class=\"callout\">\n<p>Some analysts have floated the idea of VICI potentially <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/vici-could-consider-lowering-rent-on-caesars-regional-casinos\/\">lowering the rent<\/a> on the Caesars regional casinos in exchange for equity or some other form of remuneration, but neither side has confirmed that idea is on the table.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>What is clear is that VICI wants agreement that benefits both companies and one that fits within the context of the real estate investment trust\u2019s (REIT) long-term objectives.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat we undertake with Caesars again, will be a solution that we believe can and will be a win-win, but win-win for us insofar as it also helps further our portfolio optimization goals,\u201d add Pitoniak on the call.<\/p>\n<h2>VICI Isn\u2019t Caesars-Dependent<\/h2>\n<p>VICI <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/vici-says-dividend-las-vegas-growth-are-high-priorities\/\">was spun out of Caesars<\/a> in 2017 and at that time, the casino operator accounted for all of the REIT\u2019s lease rolls, but that percentage has since dipped below 40% as VICI has diversified its tenant base to include MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) and many more gaming companies.<\/p>\n<p>Still, Caesars is the largest contributor to VICI\u2019s rental income, confirming why investors want the regional casino master lease situation to be resolved.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cFor both Caesars and for us, I really believe the ultimate best solutions will be solutions that simply do not only address issues of lease coverage, but solutions that enhance both portfolios, which is to say, I think there&#8217;s going to be multiple levers, multiple strategies to achieve portfolio optimization for both parties,\u201d concluded Pitoniak on the call.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/vici-properties-mum-on-caesars-regional-casino-negotiations\/\">VICI Properties Mum on Caesars Regional Casino Negotiations<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\">Casino.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Casino REIT didn\u2019t have much to say regarding talks with tenant Caesars VICI CEO says company is looking for \u201cwin-win\u201d solution Weakness at Caesar regional casinos has been a problem for VICI stock Perhaps disappointing investors in both companies, VICI Properties\u2019 (NYSE: VICI) fourth-quarter earnings conference call didn\u2019t include much of an update on negotiations&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":423,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":424,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421\/revisions\/424"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}