Churchill Downs Incorporated Appoints Paul C. Varga as New Board Member

Churchill Downs Incorporated (“CDI” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: CHDN) announced today the appointment of Paul C. Varga to the Company’s Board of Directors.

Mr. Varga most recently served as Chairman and CEO of Brown-Forman Corporation, a global spirits and wine company, from August 2007 until his retirement in December 2018. Prior to these positions, he was also President and CEO of Brown-Forman Beverages and Global Chief Marketing Officer for Brown-Forman Spirits. Mr. Varga brings robust leadership and public company experience to the Board, as well as an extensive knowledge of international business, corporate finance, strategy, brand awareness, product development, marketing, distribution and sales. Mr. Varga holds a Bachelor’s of Business Administration in finance from the University of Kentucky and an M.B.A. from Purdue University. He also currently serves on the Board of Directors for Macy’s, Inc.

“I am thrilled to have Paul Varga join the Board of Directors of Churchill Downs Incorporated,” said Bill Carstanjen, CEO of CDI. “His record of achievement as a public company CEO and board member as well as his deep understanding of the prominence and potential of The Kentucky Derby makes him an exceptional addition to our Board. We feel very fortunate that Paul will join us.”

“It is an exciting time to be a part of a Company with such a distinguished legacy and dynamic future,” said Paul Varga. “I truly look forward to this opportunity to make meaningful contributions to the ongoing success of CDI.”

Mr. Varga was appointed as a Class I Director with his term expiring in 2021, at which time he will be considered for election at the 2021 annual meeting of shareholders.

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

Tonya Abeln
Vice President, Corporate Communications

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