“It’s always fun to introduce a good quarter,” said Gaming & Leisure Properties Inc. CEO Peter Carlino at the beginning of the company’s first-quarter earnings call.
Even before the usual formal statements, Carlino plunged into the matter of GLPI-backed Bally’s Chicago. He said he had been fielding many questions overnight about its viability after Bally’s pushed the completion date into 2027. It had been previously slated for a September 2026 opening.
“That project is well underway,” Carlino said. “We only got control of that ground in July and it’s a complex project,” one requiring myriad city approvals. For instance, the caissons underpinning the structure — 331 of them — require individual sign-offs, of which 272 have been obtained. Carlin said the structural steel for Bally’s Chicago had long since been ordered and was expected to be delivered in July.
“The company is committed to this project and I want to defuse any thought to the contrary,” Carlino said. Asked if any further complications were assumed, he replied, “Who knows? It’s a massive project. Delays are always possible.”
He added that Bally’s has requested no cash advances and “the thing is coming out of the ground.” GLPI’s construction supremo, James Baum, was said to be on site to oversee the work.
GLPI executives said that revenue trends at Chicago casinos have been consistent recently, save for the disruption caused by the opening of Wind Creek Southland, which had taken market share. Their performance in March was up and the GLPI execs said their clients in the area were seeing a resilient customer base.
When the question of Bally’s risk profile was posed, a silence followed. “That’s an interesting question,” Carlino eventually said.
Other executives allowed that Bally’s is more exposed at this time, but that Queen Casino in Baton Rouge “was in a significantly worse position” before and that Bally’s has turned it around. “We want to be supportive, helpful, and thoughtful” of Bally’s, one executive said, while still looking after GLPI shareholders’ interests.
“I’m not discounting the credit risk,” chimed in COO Brandon Moore. But the underlying asset portfolio was strong. “They’re going to be a very good partner.”
Carlino added that he’s opened two projects with Bally’s. Queen Casino has exceeded all expectations, he said, and the in-progress Belle of Baton Rouge is looking excellent. “They’ve totally transformed that market.
“They’re pretty much on autopilot in Baton Rouge,” he resumed later. Chicago is taking “a lot more attention from us. It’s going to take a lot of time. Remember, we’re not the developer. Bally’s is.”
As for Bally’s takeover of Australia’s Star Entertainment, Moore said GLPI hasn’t been invited to participate, although “those assets have come up several times over the last several years.” CFO Desirée Burke interjected that GLPI looks at international transactions regularly, but tax complications are involved when it comes to repatriating revenue.
Turning to the company’s five construction projects with Penn Entertainment, Chief Development Officer Steven Ladany said, “It’s a constant dialogue” as to whether or not they draw funds in 2025. “The operators we talk to are starting to focus on their brick-and-mortar assets,” a priority GLPI applauded. Carlino added, “Penn is, digital aside, in a very strong position.”
GLPI staff said gaming expansion is being monitored closely; it’s unlikely in Alabama and Georgia, likelier in Illinois. Texas, Carlino added with a chuckle, would come “in somebody’s near-lifetime.”
Moore noted, “I don’t know that we have any more visibility” into the next four years of potential expansion, “than you do.” Still, he said he believed the southeastern United States would open up in that time, although, since 2026 is an election year, it poses “a more challenging environment.”
Carlino rejoined that GLPI will be an active participant and lobbyist in such state-level discussions: “We stay close to the hoop.”
Of tariff impacts, Carlino said, “It’s hard to know because we’re so early in the game.” Besides, costly project components had already been purchased and received. Also, many of them were domestically sourced, rendering tariffs irrelevant. “The tariff thing, as you know,” the CEO continued, “is pretty fluid. We’ll know it as you see it.”
Moore said the company’s collaboration with the Ione Band of Miwok Indians, in California, was “going great. We’re enthusiastic.”
The COO added that GLPI had attended IGA and met with tribes, finding “a healthy level of interest” in the company and “the need to consider it as part of their overall financial program.” He said it would take time to gain traction with tribes on additional, post-Ione deals.
“I’m not prepared to say that we can’t get something signed in 2025,” Moore continued. He added that the conversations weren’t confined to green-field projects and many were with tribes’ professional financial advisors.
Returning to the world of private-sector casinos, the question arose as to whether GLPI would exercise its 20 percent option on Cordish Cos.’ Petersburg, Virginia casino. Moore said Cordish was busy with its temporary facility there and it was too soon to comment on potential GLPI investment, to which his CEO added, “If it’s alive and breathing, we’re looking at it. We’ll see.”
On the subject of the overall economy, Carlino concluded, “Things are fine. I’m not losing any sleep over how any of our tenants are doing.”
