Casino REIT VICI Funding Expansion Of BigShots Golf Entertainment Concept
VICI Properties, a REIT that specializes in hospitality and entertainment properties, has reached an arrangement with BigShots Golf to provide $80M in mortgage financing for the development of as many as five new BigShots Golf facilities nationwide.
BigShots, which is majority-owned by private golf and country club specialist ClubCorp, offers a driving range, but also indoor and outdoor lounges, sports bars, mini-golf, outdoor patios and private event spaces. Each facility serves food, cocktails, craft beer and wine.
Players at BigShots can compete with other players at the same venue, but also in real time with players at other BigShots Golf locations through a system the company calls Live Play.
Five new locations would nearly double the number of existing BigShots Golf facilities. Currently, the company has three open locations, one each in Fort Worth, Texas, Springfield, Missouri, and Vero Beach, Florida. Three more are in the works: one each in Bryan, Texas, St. George, Utah, and Naples, Florida.
The arrangement is still subject to definitive documentation, VICI said, but once it is finalized, the REIT will have a call right to acquire the real estate assets associated with any financed BigShots Golf facility in a sale-leaseback transaction.
"This arrangement enables VICI to continue expanding into attractive experiential sectors and new geographic markets in a prudent manner, while securing additional long-term growth opportunities for VICI,” VICI Properties President and Chief Operating Officer John Payne said in a statement.
VICI has been on a growth trajectory. In August, it inked a deal to acquire MGM Growth Properties, whose Las Vegas Strip portfolio includes Excalibur, Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand Las Vegas and Luxor, for $17.2B. The company also acquired The Venetian Resort Las Vegas, Palazzo and the Sands Expo and Convention Center for $4B.
VICI's portfolio consists of 28 gaming facilities totaling over 47M SF, about 17,800 hotel rooms, and more than 200 restaurants, bars and nightclubs.
