Churchill Downs Incorporated Opens Derby City Gaming Bringing World’s Most Advanced Historical Racing Machines to Louisville
New 85,000-square-foot venue provides significant support to Kentucky’s signature horse racing industry
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (September 14, 2018)– Churchill Downs Incorporated (“CDI”) (Nasdaq: CHDN) is celebrating the grand opening of Derby City Gaming, a $65 million state-of-the-art historical racing machine (“HRM”) facility located at 4520 Poplar Level Road in Louisville, Kentucky. State and local officials and members of the horse racing community are joining the CDI team today to officially open the entertainment facility to the public.
Derby City Gaming is a unique new venue, boasting 900 state-of-the-art historical racing machines designed in partnership with Ainsworth Game Technology. The décor of the facility pays homage to Churchill Downs Racetrack’s (“Churchill Downs”) deep history in horse racing with references to Oaks and Derby throughout the property including pictures in the main entrance of the 144th Oaks and Derby winners and the opportunity to view the 145th Derby trophy. The property also features two quick-service, walk-up food venues, a center bar with large format televisions, and seating for over 60 guests to take in all the best sporting action year-round.
Churchill Downs has called Louisville home for well over a century and is committed to continued growth and investment in the city and the Commonwealth through its multiple entertainment venues. The opening of the new Derby City Gaming is another example of CDI leading the way for innovation in the horse racing industry. HRMs at the Derby City Gaming facility will provide an estimated $15 million to $20 million in additional purse contributions to one of Kentucky’s signature industries. Creating larger purses will boost thoroughbred sales and breeding operations throughout the Commonwealth.
“We’re excited to celebrate the grand opening of Derby City Gaming. Not only has this facility created hundreds of jobs and spurred tens of millions of dollars in economic development in our hometown of Louisville, but HRMs will provide desperately needed revenue to Kentucky purses and will help shore up the racing circuit.” said Kevin Flanery, President of Churchill Downs Racetrack.
About Churchill Downs Incorporated
Churchill Downs Incorporated is an industry-leading racing, online wagering and gaming entertainment company anchored by our iconic flagship event – The Kentucky Derby. We own and operate Derby City Gaming, a historical racing machine facility in Louisville, Kentucky. We also own and operate the largest online horse racing wagering platform in the U.S., TwinSpires.com, and we operate sports betting and iGaming through our BetAmerica platform in multiple states. We are also a leader in brick-and-mortar casino gaming with approximately 11,000 slot machines and video lottery terminals and 200 table games in eight states. Additional information about CDI can be found online at www.churchilldownsincorporated.com.
Information set forth in this news release contains various “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Act”), which provides certain “safe harbor” provisions. All forward-looking statements made in this news release are made pursuant to the Act. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by the use of terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “predict,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “will,” and similar words, although some forward-looking statements are expressed differently.
Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include the following: the effect of economic conditions on our consumers’ confidence and discretionary spending or our access to credit; additional or increased taxes and fees; public perceptions or lack of confidence in the integrity of our business or any deterioration in our reputation; loss of key or highly skilled personnel; restrictions in our debt facilities limiting our flexibility to operate our business; general risks related to real estate ownership, including fluctuations in market values and environmental regulations; catastrophic events and system failures disrupting our operations; online security risk, including cyber-security breaches; inability to recover under our insurance policies for damages sustained at our properties in the event of inclement weather and casualty events; increases in insurance costs and inability to obtain similar insurance coverage in the future; inability to identify and complete acquisition, expansion or divestiture projects, on time, on budget or as planned; difficulty in integrating recent or future acquisitions into our operations; costs and uncertainties relating to the development of new venues and expansion of existing facilities; risks associated with equity investments, strategic alliances and other third-party agreements; inability to respond to rapid technological changes in a timely manner; inadvertent infringement of the intellectual property of others; inability to protect our own intellectual property rights; payment-related risks, such as risk associated with fraudulent credit card and debit card use; compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or applicable money-laundering regulations; risks related to pending or future legal proceedings and other actions; inability to negotiate agreements with industry constituents, including horsemen and other racetracks; work stoppages and labor issues; changes in consumer preferences with respect to Churchill Downs Racetrack and the Kentucky Derby; personal injury litigation related to injuries occurring at our racetracks; weather and other conditions affecting our ability to conduct live racing; the occurrence of extraordinary events, such as terrorist attacks and public health threats, including the ongoing impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19 virus); changes in the regulatory environment of our racing operations; increased competition in the horseracing business; difficulty in attracting a sufficient number of horses and trainers for full field horseraces; our inability to utilize and provide totalizator services; changes in regulatory environment of our online horseracing business; number of people wagering on live horse races; increase in competition in our online horseracing; uncertainty and changes in the legal landscape relating to our online wagering business; continued legalization of online sports betting and iGaming in the United States and our ability to predict and capitalize on any such legalization; inability to expand our sports betting operations and effectively compete; failure to manage risks associated with sports betting; failure to comply with laws requiring us to block access to certain individuals could result in penalties or impairment with respect to our mobile and online wagering products; increased competition in our casino business; changes in regulatory environment of our casino business; and concentration and evolution of slot machine manufacturing and other technology conditions that could impose additional costs; and inability to collect gaming receivables from the customers to whom we extend credit.
Press Contacts
Nick Zangari
Vice President, Treasury, Investor
Relations & Risk Management
Phone: (502) 394-1157
Email: [email protected]