v3.26.3
Lease Assets and Lease Liabilities Lease Assets and Lease Liabilities
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2026
Leases [Abstract]  
Lease Assets and Lease Liabilities Lease Assets and Lease Liabilities
Lease Assets

The Company is subject to various operating leases as lessee for both real estate and equipment, the majority of which are ground leases related to properties the Company leases to its tenants under triple-net operating leases. These ground leases may include fixed rent, as well as variable rent based upon an individual property’s performance or changes in an index such as the CPI, and have maturity dates ranging from 2038 to 2108, when considering all renewal options. For certain of these ground leases, the Company’s tenants are responsible for payment directly to the third-party landlord. Under ASC 842, the Company is required to gross-up its condensed consolidated financial statements for these ground leases as the Company is considered the primary obligor. In conjunction with the adoption of ASU 2016-02 on January 1, 2019, the Company recorded right-of-use assets and related lease liabilities on its condensed consolidated balance sheets to represent its rights to use the underlying leased assets and its future lease obligations, respectively, including for those ground leases paid directly by our tenants. Because the right-of-use asset relates, in part, to the same leases which resulted in the land right assets the Company recorded on its condensed consolidated balance sheets in conjunction with the Company's assumption of below market leases at the time it acquired the related land and building assets, the Company is required to report the right-of-use assets and land rights in the aggregate on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Land rights, net represent the Company's rights to land subject to long-term ground leases. The Company obtained ground lease rights through the acquisition of several of its rental properties and immediately subleased the land to its tenants. These land rights represent the below market value of the related ground leases. The Company assessed the acquired ground leases to determine if the lease terms were favorable or unfavorable, given market conditions at the acquisition date. Because the market rents to be received under the Company's triple-net tenant leases were greater than the rents to be paid under the acquired ground leases, the Company concluded that the ground leases were below market and were therefore required to be recorded as a definite-lived asset (land rights) on its books.

Components of the Company's right-of-use assets and land rights, net are detailed below (in thousands):
September 30, 2026December 31, 2025
Right-of-use assets - operating leases
$239,747 $242,053 
Land rights, net817,300 830,110 
Right-of-use assets and land rights, net$1,057,047 $1,072,163 
Land Rights

The land rights are amortized over the individual lease term of the related ground lease, including all renewal options, which ranged from 10 years to 92 years at their respective acquisition dates. Land rights, net, consist of the following:
September 30,
2026		December 31,
2025
(in thousands)
Land rights $948,303 $948,303 
Less accumulated amortization (131,003)(118,193)
Land rights, net$817,300 $830,110 

As of September 30, 2026, estimated future amortization expense related to the Company’s land rights by fiscal year is as follows (in thousands):
Year ending December 31,
2026 (remainder of year)$4,270 
202717,079 
202817,079 
202917,079 
203017,079 
Thereafter744,714 
Total$817,300 

Operating Lease Liabilities

At September 30, 2026, payments under the Company's operating lease liabilities were as follows (in thousands):
Year ending December 31,
2026 (remainder of year)$4,321 
202716,785 
202816,672 
202916,709 
203016,715 
Thereafter769,515 
Total lease payments$840,717 
Less: interest(600,568)
Present value of lease liabilities
$240,149 

Lease Expense

Operating lease costs represent the entire amount of expense recognized for operating leases that are recorded on the condensed consolidated balance sheets. Variable lease costs are not included in the measurement of the lease liability and include both lease payments tied to a property's performance and changes in an index such as the CPI that are not determinable at lease commencement, while short-term lease costs are costs for those operating leases with a term of 12 months or less.

The components of lease expense were as follows (in thousands):
Three Months Ended September 30,Nine Months Ended September 30,
2026202520262025
Operating lease cost$4,310 $4,315 $12,939 $12,945 
Variable lease cost 5,304 5,200 16,082 15,528 
Amortization of land right assets4,270 4,270 12,810 12,809 
Total lease cost$13,884 $13,785 $41,831 $41,282 
Amortization expense related to the land right intangibles, as well as variable lease costs and the Company's operating lease costs are recorded within land rights and ground lease expense in the condensed consolidated statements of income.

Supplemental Disclosures Related to Leases

Supplemental balance sheet information related to the Company's operating leases was as follows:
September 30, 2026
Weighted average remaining lease term - operating leases51.88 years
Weighted average discount rate - operating leases6.26%

Supplemental cash flow information related to the Company's operating leases was as follows:

Three Months Ended September 30,Nine Months Ended September 30,
2026202520262025
(in thousands)(in thousands)
Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities:
  Operating cash flows from operating leases (1)
$414 $417 $1,250 $1,248 

(1) The Company's cash paid for operating leases is significantly less than the lease cost for the same period due to the majority of the Company's ground lease rent being paid directly to the landlords by the Company's tenants. Although GLPI expends no cash related to these leases, they are required to be grossed up in the Company's condensed consolidated financial statements under ASC 842.

Financing Lease Liabilities

In connection with the acquisition of certain real property assets included in the Maryland Live! Lease and the Strategic Gaming Leases, the Company acquired the rights to land subject to long-term ground leases which expire in June 2111 and April 2062, respectively. As these leases were accounted for as Investment in leases, financing receivables, the underlying ground leases were accounted for as financing lease liabilities on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. In addition, the Company acquired an airplane hangar subject to a lease arrangement which expires in July 2066, with the option of two five-year renewals, which was accounted for as a financing lease liability on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. In accordance with ASC 842, the Company records revenue for the ground lease rent paid by its tenant with an offsetting expense in interest expense as the Company has concluded that as the lessee it is the primary obligor under the ground leases. The Company's weighted average discount rate on the fixed minimum annual payments was 5.08% to arrive at the initial lease obligations. At September 30, 2026, payments under the Company's financing lease liabilities were as follows (in thousands):

2026 (remainder of year)$694 
20272,790 
20282,814 
20292,840 
20302,865 
Thereafter312,039 
Total lease payments$324,042 
Less: Interest(261,339)
Present value of finance lease liability$62,703