Sounds like a decent Gentleman’s Bet to me, I get Las Vegas as we now know it, you get the new REIT dominated Wall Street banker version that is shaping up… I think layers of bean counters doling out segments will harm the experience for visitors, you think “institutional investors and REIT’s” are routine. Only time will tell… The VICI CEO in an interview this week suggested that nightclub bottle service and the ten thousand dollar bottle of vodka tickled his fancy, lubed his loins, made his pants into a tent. The mafia would have never sold itself out and leased it back, they operated Las Vegas like a long term investment. Now we get one corporation on the front end, and one on the back end. This will not motivate Caesars to pour a decent complimentary drink, or implore MGM to offer free parking. Squeeze superimposed on more squeeze. A game of chicken over lightbulbs on the Rio, now corporate board rooms will discuss if a crappy looking sign is even worth fixing… See you in a few years, and I told you so…

Right! That’s why Rio looks so shitty. It’s not on the new owner to change out the neon, etc. The “renter” is Caesars, and they don’t appear to be in any rush to do anything.

You’re out of your element in this discussion.

You don’t understand how REITs and institutional investors operate.

Yes Jeff, they now own the land and collect rent. A multi-billion dollar land conglomerate has been hatched, one that encompasses over 600 acres of the most prime real estate in the world. This is corporate power and clout on steroids, to expect VICI, a public corporation. to just be a good neighbor to the now much smaller ring of casino owner/operators around them is wishful “thinking”. Corporations make these squeeze moves because they can, Caesars and MGM both leveraged themselves out of owning their own land, this is a sea change. VICI is not going to be a silent partner, it would not be in their interests to, every triple net lease signed is a bridge to the next one. Wait till politics come into play, VICI is going to be the ones pulling the strings, my hunch is that the Culinary Union is currently pulling out it’s hair strand by strand. The purchasing power alone of this behemoth company is astounding. I always wondered what was going to be the net result of Loveman and Murren going around Las Vegas getting casino/resorts by the bushel, we get bankers, VICI, thanks a lot…

These are “triple net” leases. The renter pays for everything: taxes, insurance, light bulbs, linen service, etc. The structure of a REIT is that the property owner just sits back and collects rent, and must return profit to shareholders every year.

Rigged as in a monopoly, and yes, I do assume this new behemoth is going to flex it’s muscles, they will own hundreds of acres of very valuable land, this notion that they will just sit back and collect rents is silly. VICI is the new Sheriff, whatever they say is in the long term interest’s of Las Vegas, goes. If this was the movie Casino, VICI would be the big boys in Kansas City who met once a month to split the suitcases of money, they ultimately call the shots…

None of this has anything to do with mergers. Nor is there any collusion.

I find it quite comical that someone is calling a casino a rigged game.

Actually the VICI stock dropped a little initially with the news. Not sure if it went back up or not. Certainly is an interesting move buying up major assets when a lot of analysts are saying the economy is headed for a nose dive at some point in the near future. Hopefully they are wrong.