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Commitments and Contingencies
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2021
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies Commitments and Contingencies
Participation Agreements
In addition to the space lease agreements described in “Note 11 — Leases” and “Note 2 — Summary of Significant Accounting Policies,” the Company enters into slot placement contracts in the form of participation agreements. Under participation agreements, the Company and the business location each hold a state issued gaming license in order to be able to receive a percentage of gaming revenue earned on the Company’s slot machines. The business location retains a percentage of the gaming revenue generated from the Company’s slot machines. The Company is considered to be the principal in these arrangements and therefore, records its share of revenue generated under participation agreements on a gross basis with the business location’s share of revenue recorded as gaming expenses.
The aggregate contingent payments recognized by the Company as gaming expenses under participation agreements were $211.5 million, $133.2 million and $158.6 million for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively. For the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, such contingent payments also included $0.7 million and $0.9 million, respectively, incurred in related party agreements described in “Note 13 — Related Party Transactions.”
Collective Bargaining Agreements
As of December 31, 2021 the Company had approximately 6,300 employees, of which approximately 1,600 were covered by various collective bargaining agreements. The Company’s collective bargaining agreements expire between 2022 and 2024. There can be no assurance that, upon the expiration of existing collective bargaining agreements, new agreements will be reached without union action or that any such new agreements will be on terms satisfactory to the Company.
Employment Agreements
The Company has entered into at-will employment agreements with certain of the Company’s executive officers. Under each employment agreement, in addition to the executive’s annual base salary, the executive is entitled to participate in the Company’s incentive compensation programs applicable to executive officers of the Company. The executive officers are also eligible to participate in all health benefits, insurance programs, pension and retirement plans and other employee benefit and compensation arrangements. Each executive officer is also provided with other benefits as set forth in his employment agreement. In the event of a termination without “cause” or a “constructive termination” of the Company’s executive officers (as defined in their respective employment agreements), the Company could be liable for estimated severance payments of up to $4.5 million for Blake L. Sartini, $3.0 million for Charles H. Protell, $2.4 million for Stephen A. Arcana, and $0.9 million for Blake L. Sartini II (assuming each officer’s respective annual salary and health benefit costs as of December 31, 2021, subject to amounts in effect at the time of termination and excluding potential expense related to acceleration of stock options, RSUs and PSUs).
Legal Matters and Other
From time to time, the Company is involved in a variety of lawsuits, claims, investigations and other legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of business, including proceedings concerning labor and employment matters, personal injury claims, breach of contract claims, commercial disputes, business practices, intellectual property, tax and other matters for which the Company records reserves. Although lawsuits, claims, investigations and other legal proceedings are inherently uncertain and their results cannot be predicted with certainty, the Company believes that the resolution of its currently pending matters should not have a material adverse effect on its business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity. Regardless of the outcome, legal proceedings can have an adverse impact on the Company because of defense costs, diversion of management resources and other factors. In addition, it is possible that an unfavorable resolution of one or more such proceedings could in the future materially and adversely affect the Company’s business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity in a particular period.
In January 2021, the Company was affected by a ransomware cyber-attack that temporarily disrupted the Company’s access to certain information located on the Company’s network and incurred expenses relating thereto. The Company’s financial information and business operations were not materially affected. The Company implemented a variety of measures to further enhance its cybersecurity protections and minimize the impact of any future cyber incidents. The Company has insurance related to this event and has recovered a portion of the costs it incurred to remediate this matter, which was received and recorded in 2021.
In September 2018, the Company entered into an agreement with American Wagering, Inc. and William Hill U.S. HoldCo, Inc. (collectively, “William Hill”), which contemplated that William Hill would be obligated to make a one-time payment to the Company in the event of a change of control transaction with respect to William Hill. Under this agreement, as amended, the April 22, 2021 acquisition of William Hill PLC by Caesars Entertainment, Inc. (“Caesars”) constituted the change of control event triggering this payment. On May 26, 2021, the Company, William Hill and Caesars executed an amendment to the agreement requiring William Hill and Caesars, as the acquiring party, to make an initial payment in the amount of $60 million by July 15, 2021 and to provide for a second contingent payment in the event of a sale of the William Hill business in the United Kingdom, as discussed below. The Company received this initial payment in July 2021 and recognized $60 million in non-operating income for the year ended December 31, 2021.
The May 26, 2021 amendment also provided for a contingent payment to be paid by Caesars to the Company of up to $15 million in the event Caesars completes a sale of the William Hill business in the United Kingdom. The amount of this contingent payment is calculated in accordance with the terms set forth in the amendment and will depend on the amount of proceeds Caesars would receive from the sale, if any. In September 2021, Caesars announced that it executed an agreement to sell the non-US assets of William Hill to 888 Holdings Plc. Based upon the announced sales price, the Company does not expect to receive any additional payments related to the contingency. Accordingly, as of December 31, 2021, the Company does not expect to realize any of the remaining contingent payment related to the purchase of William Hill by Caesars.