Boyd Gaming (BYD) Risk Factors

Generally, all of our facilities are subject to the risk that operations could be halted for a temporary or extended period of time due to casualty, forces of nature, mechanical failure, or extended or extraordinary maintenance, among other causes. We currently conduct our Treasure Chest, Par-A-Dice, Blue Chip, Sam's Town Shreveport, Amelia Belle and Belterra Resort gaming operations on riverboats. Each of our riverboats must comply with the United States Coast Guard ("USCG") requirements as to boat design, on-board facilities, equipment, personnel and safety. Each riverboat must hold a Certificate of Inspection for stabilization and flotation and may also be subject to local zoning codes. The USCG requirements establish design standards, set limits on the operation of the vessels and require individual licensing of all personnel involved in the operation of the vessels. Loss of a vessel's Certificate of Inspection would preclude its use as a casino.

We rely extensively on our computer systems to process customer transactions, manage customer data, manage employee data, and communicate with third-party vendors and other third parties, and we may also access the internet to use our computer systems. Our operations require that we collect and store customer data, including credit card numbers and other personal information, for various business purposes, including marketing and promotional purposes. We also collect and store personal information about our employees. Breaches of our security measures or information technology systems or the accidental loss, inadvertent disclosure or unapproved dissemination of proprietary information or sensitive personal information or confidential data about us, or our customers, or our employees, including the potential loss or disclosure of such information as a result of hacking or other cyber-attack, computer virus, fraudulent use by customers, employees or employees of third party vendors, trickery or other forms of deception or unauthorized use, or due to system failure, could expose us, our customers, our employees or other individuals affected to a risk of loss or misuse of this information, result in litigation and potential liability for us, damage our casino or brand names and reputations or otherwise harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations. We rely on proprietary and commercially available systems, software, tools and monitoring to provide security for processing, transmission, and storage of customer information, such as payment card, employee information and other confidential or proprietary information. Our data security measures are reviewed and evaluated regularly; however, they might not protect us against increasingly sophisticated and aggressive threats, and disruptions in our computer systems can occur notwithstanding the data security measures and disaster recovery plans that we have in place. Further, our systems are not fully redundant, and our disaster recovery planning cannot account for all possible scenarios. The cost and operational consequences of implementing further data security measures could be significant. Any loss, disclosure of, misappropriation of, or access to customers' or other personal, proprietary information or any other breach of our information security could result in extensive legal proceedings or legal claims, including regulatory investigations and actions, or liability for failure to comply with state or federal privacy and information security laws, including for failure to protect personal information or for misusing personal information, which could disrupt our operations, cause extensive damage to our reputation, and expose us to legal claims from customers, financial institutions, regulators, payment card associations, employees, and other persons, any of which could have an adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations, and cash flow. Additionally, the collection of customer and employee personal information imposes various privacy compliance related obligations on our business and increases the risks associated with a breach or failure of the integrity of our information technology systems. The collection and use of personal data are governed by privacy laws and regulations enacted by the various states, the federal government of the United States, and various foreign jurisdictions. Privacy laws and regulations continue to evolve and on occasion may be inconsistent between jurisdictions. California has enacted a privacy law, known as the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (the "CCPA"), which provides to California consumers certain access, deletion and opt-out rights related to their personal information, imposes civil penalties for violations and affords, in certain cases, a private right of action for data breaches. Compliance with the CCPA may require us to incur significant costs and expenses. Similar laws have been passed or proposed in other states and at a federal level, reflecting a trend toward more stringent privacy legislation in the United States. In addition to fines and penalties that may be imposed for failure to comply with state law, some states provide for private rights of action to customers for misuse of or unauthorized access to personal information. Compliance with these changing and increasingly burdensome and sometimes conflicting privacy laws and regulations may increase our operating costs and/or adversely impact our ability to market our products, properties, and services to our customers. In addition, non-compliance with applicable privacy laws and regulations by us (or in some circumstances non-compliance by third-party service providers engaged by us) may also result in damage to our reputation, result in vulnerabilities that could be exploited to breach our systems and/or subject us to fines, payment of damages, lawsuits or restrictions on our use or transfer of personal information. While we maintain cyber insurance coverage to protect against these risks to the Company, such insurance is unlikely to fully mitigate the impact of any information breach.

Consumer demand for entertainment and other amenities at casino hotel properties such as ours are particularly sensitive to downturns in the economy and the corresponding impact on discretionary spending on leisure activities. Changes in discretionary consumer spending or consumer preferences brought about by factors such as inflation, rising interest rates, perceived or actual general economic conditions, effects of declines in consumer confidence in the economy, including any future housing, employment and credit crisis, the impact of high energy and food costs, the increased cost of travel, the potential for bank failures, decreased disposable consumer income and wealth, or fears of war and future acts of terrorism could further reduce customer demand for the amenities that we offer, thus imposing practical limits on pricing and negatively impacting our results of operations and financial condition. In 2008, we experienced a profound reduction in consumer demand as a result of the economic recession in the U.S. economy, and we are now experiencing the impacts of inflation, which are significantly impacting customer visitations and business revenue. Consumer spending habits changed significantly due to the recession in 2008, and we expect that consumer behavior as a result of inflation and the COVID-19 pandemic may be similarly altered for an extended period of time. We cannot say when, if ever, or to what extent, customer behavior in our various markets will fully revert to prior trends. Because our business model relies on consumer expenditures on entertainment, luxury and other discretionary items, an ongoing economic downturn could materially adversely affect our operating results and financial condition.

Extreme weather conditions may interrupt our operations, damage our properties and reduce the number of customers who visit our facilities in the affected areas. For example, certain of the properties we operate have been forced to close for extended periods due to floods and hurricanes. In addition, certain of our properties are in areas that have been identified by the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency ("FEMA") as a special flood hazard area. Furthermore, our properties in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Ohio and Pennsylvania are at risk of experiencing snowstorms, tornadoes and flooding. In the past, snowstorms and other adverse weather conditions have interrupted our operations, damaged our properties and reduced the number of customers who visit our facilities in an affected area. If there is a prolonged disruption at any of our properties due to natural disasters or other catastrophic weather events, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially adversely affected. While we maintain insurance coverage that covers certain of the costs and loss of revenue that we incur as a result of some extreme weather conditions, our coverage is subject to deductibles and limits on maximum benefits. There can be no assurance that we will be able to fully collect, if at all, on any claims resulting from extreme weather conditions. If any of our properties are damaged or if their operations are disrupted because of extreme weather in the future, or if extreme weather adversely impacts general economic or other conditions in the areas in which our properties are located or from which they draw their patrons, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

We lease the real estate of Ameristar Kansas City, Ameristar St. Charles, Belterra Resort and Belterra Park (each an "OpCo," and collectively the "OpCos") from GLPI, pursuant to two triple net REIT Master Leases (the "Master Leases"). Current annual rent under the Master Leases is $108.4 million, with rental increases over time. The Master Leases also include substantial additional obligations that may require future uses of free cash flow, including obligations to maintain and repair the properties, including minimum annual capital investment requirements, and provides that we have assumed the risk of loss with respect to any casualty or condemnation event, including the obligation to repair or rebuild the facility. These obligations, should the circumstances arise, could significantly impact free cash flow and could adversely impact our ability to invest in our operations or seek additional development or strategic opportunities. For example, our obligations under the Master Leases may: - limit our ability to prepay or repay our long-term debt and to obtain additional indebtedness;   - limit our ability to fund working capital, capital expenditures and other general corporate purposes; and   - limit our ability to respond to changes in our business and the industry in which we operate, including pursuing new markets and additional lines of business, development opportunities, acquisitions and other strategic investments that we would otherwise pursue. Any of the above listed factors could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. The Master Leases include additional provisions that restrict our ability to freely operate and could have an adverse effect on our business and financial condition, including the following: - Escalations in Rent - We are obligated to pay base rent under the Master Leases, and base rent is composed of building base rent and land base rent. Every year of a Master Lease's term, building base rent is subject to an annual escalation of up to 2% and we may be required to pay the escalated building base rent regardless of our revenues, profit or general financial condition.   - Variable Rent - We are obligated to pay percentage rent under the Master Leases, which is re-calculated every two years. Such percentage rent shall equal 4% of the change between (i) the average net revenues for the trailing two-year period and (ii) 50% of the trailing 12 months net revenues as of the month ending immediately prior to the execution of the Master Leases. We may be required to pay an increase in percentage rent based on increases in net revenues without a corresponding increase in our profits.   - Pooled Lease - One of our Master Leases is a pooled lease arrangement, which prohibits us from divesting any individual OpCo without GLPI's prior consent. Any divestiture of all of the OpCos also requires GLPI's prior consent, except for limited circumstances where the purchaser meets various financial and gaming operations experience requirements. These limitations on transfer could adversely impact our ability to manage our business.   - Guaranties - One of our Master Lease Agreements is guaranteed by certain subsidiaries of the tenant (the "Lease Guarantors"). A default under any of such Master Lease guaranties that is not cured within the applicable grace period will constitute an event of default under the Master Lease.   - Effect of End of Term or Not Renewing the Master Leases - If we do not renew the Master Leases at the stipulated renewals or we do not enter into new master leases at the end of the applicable terms, we will be required to sell the business of the relevant tenant. If we cannot agree on acceptable terms of sale with a qualified successor tenant, GLPI will select a successor tenant to purchase our business through a competitive auction. If this occurs, we will be required to transfer our business to the highest bidder at the auction, subject to regulatory approvals.