Litigation, Contractual Commitments, and Contingencies (Notes)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2018

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block]

Litigation, Contractual Commitments, and Contingent Liabilities

Litigation

Caesars is party to ordinary and routine litigation incidental to our business. We do not expect the outcome of any such litigation to have a material effect on our consolidated financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.

Contractual Commitments

Except as described in Note 7, during the nine months ended September 30, 2018, we have not entered into any material contractual commitments outside of the ordinary course of business that have materially changed our contractual commitments as compared to December 31, 2017.

Exit Cost Accruals

As of September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, exit costs were included in Accrued expenses and other current liabilities and Deferred credits and other liabilities on the accompanying Balance Sheets for accruals related to the following:

(In millions)	Accrual Obligation End Date	September 30, 2018		December 31, 2017
Iowa greyhound pari-mutuel racing fund	December 2021	$	33	$	40
Future obligations under land lease agreements (1)	December 2092	43		43
Permanent closure of international properties (2)	January 2032	10		18
Total		$	86	$	101

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⁽¹⁾  Associated with the abandonment of a construction project near the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

⁽²⁾  Properties include Alea Leeds, Golden Nugget and Southend.

NV Energy

In September 2017, we filed our final notice to proceed with our plan to exit the fully bundled sales system of NV Energy for our Nevada casino properties and purchase energy, capacity, and/or ancillary services from a provider other than NV Energy. The transition to unbundle electric service was completed in the first quarter of 2018 (the “Cease-Use Date”). As a result of our decision to exit, an order from the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada required that we pay an aggregate exit fee of $48 million. These fees are payable over three to six years at an aggregate present value of $36 million as of September 30, 2018 and are recorded in Accrued expenses and other current liabilities and Deferred credits and other liabilities on the Balance Sheets.

For six years following the Cease-Use Date, we will also be required to make ongoing payments to NV Energy for non-bypassable rate charges, which primarily relate to each entity’s share of NV Energy’s portfolio of above-market renewable energy contracts and the costs of decommissioning and remediation of coal-fired power plants. As of the effective date of the transition, total fees to be incurred were $31 million, which was accrued at its present value in the first quarter of 2018. As of September 30, 2018, $25 million was recorded in Accrued expenses and other current liabilities and Deferred credits and other liabilities on the Balance Sheets. The amount will be adjusted in the future if actual fees incurred differ from our estimates.

Golf Course Properties

Concurrently with the execution of the leases CEOC LLC maintains with VICI, certain golf course properties (the “Golf Course Properties”) were sold to VICI, and CEOC LLC entered into a golf course use agreement (the “Golf Course Use Agreement”) with VICI. An obligation of $143 million is recorded in Deferred credits and other liabilities as of September 30, 2018 representing the fair value of the $10 million in annual payments to be made under the Golf Course Use Agreement, which exceeds the fair value of services being received.

The obligation is being amortized using the effective interest method over the term of the Golf Course Use Agreement which continues through October 2052. The amortization on this obligation for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 was $3 million and $8 million, respectively, reflected in Interest expense in our Statement of Operations.

Resolution of Disputed Claims

Prior to the Effective Date, CEOC’s financial statements included amounts classified as liabilities subject to compromise, which represented estimates of pre-petition obligations impacted by the Chapter 11 reorganization process. These amounts represented the Debtors’ then-current estimate of known or potential pre-petition obligations to be resolved in connection with CEOC’s emergence from bankruptcy.

Following the Effective Date, actions to enforce or otherwise affect repayment of liabilities preceding January 15, 2015 (the “Petition Date”), as well as pending litigation against the Debtors related to such liabilities, generally have been permanently enjoined. Any unresolved claims will continue to be subject to the claims reconciliation process under the supervision of the Bankruptcy Court. CEOC LLC will continue the process of reconciling such claims to the amounts listed by the Debtors in their schedules of assets and liabilities, as amended. The amounts submitted by claimants that remain unresolved total approximately $614 million. We estimate the fair value of these claims to be $73 million as of September 30, 2018, which is based on management’s estimate of the claim amounts that the Bankruptcy Court will ultimately allow and the fair value of the underlying CEC common stock and CEC Convertible Notes held in escrow for the purpose of resolving those claims.

Pursuant to the Plan, CEC and CEOC deposited cash, CEC common stock, and CEC Convertible Notes into an escrow trust to be distributed to satisfy certain remaining unsecured claims (excluding debt claims) as they become allowed. As claims are resolved, the claimants receive distributions of CEC common stock, cash or cash equivalents, and/or CEC Convertible Notes from the reserves on the same basis as if such distributions had been made on or about the Effective Date. To the extent that any of the reserved shares, cash, and convertible notes remain undistributed upon resolution of the remaining disputed claims, such amounts will be returned to CEC.

As of September 30, 2018, approximately $51 million in cash, 8 million shares of CEC common stock, and $33 million in principal value of CEC Convertible Notes remain in reserve for distribution to holders of disputed claims whose claims may ultimately become allowed in the escrow trust. The CEC common stock and CEC Convertible Notes held in the escrow trust are treated as not outstanding in CEC’s Financial Statements. We estimate that the number of shares, cash, and CEC Convertible Notes reserved is sufficient to satisfy the Debtors’ obligations under the Plan.

Contingent Liabilities

Self-Insurance

We are self-insured for workers compensation and other risk insurance, as well as health insurance effective in the first quarter of 2017 when the liability related to certain health insurance contracts was transferred from CEOC to Caesars Enterprise Services, LLC (“CES”). Our total estimated self-insurance liability was $185 million and $192 million, respectively, as of September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017.