{"id":220512,"date":"2025-10-23T14:58:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T14:58:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/220512\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T14:58:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T14:58:07","slug":"churchill-downs-record-revenue-paves-way-for-improvements-changes-at-kentucky-derby-cdc-gaming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/220512\/","title":{"rendered":"Churchill Downs record revenue paves way for improvements, changes at Kentucky Derby \u2014 CDC Gaming"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first Kentucky Derby was in 1875.\u00a0 But during Thursday\u2019s investors call, Churchill Downs CEO Bill Carstanjen said the event, in a nod to the upcoming World Series, is only in its third inning.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very dynamic evolving event, as we develop it and as the country changes and as we see things moving towards experiential customer spend,\u201d Carstanjen said. \u201cI think the future is very bright for the Derby, and there\u2019s a lot more to come. I think it\u2019s important to have a breadth of offerings for the Derby and a lot of that is still yet to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Churchill Downs reported record revenue for the third quarter of $683 million, a year-over-year increase of $54.5 million, or 9% The company also announced record third-quarter Adjusted EBITDA of $262.3 million, an 11% increase over 2024 third quarter\u2019s $27 million.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The company recently announced plans for Victory Run, a $280 million-$300 million project at Churchill Downs Racetrack that will encompass the space just past the finish line between the Sky Terrace and the first turn section. Carstanjen said the project will replace uncovered ground level box seats and dated dining areas with premium hospitality offerings, including private suites, indoor and outdoor dining areas, and covered box seats. Construction on the Victory Run project will begin after the 2026 Kentucky Derby and is scheduled to be completed in time for the 2028 Kentucky Derby.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe targeted 20% unlevered IRR (the expected rate of return on an investment without consideration of financing or debt),\u201d Carstanjen said. \u201cThat\u2019s what we shoot for; we\u2019re really focused on year three. It takes time in this business to introduce the new asset, get a trial, and then get word-of-mouth out.\u201d<\/p>\n

In July, Churchill Downs signed a definitive agreement to acquire most of the outstanding equity interests of Casino Salem in New Hampshire, with the right to develop a charitable gaming, entertainment and dining destination featuring historical horse racing machines.<\/p>\n

Carstanjen said the acquisition was the result of increased activity and clarity in markets.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re both an opportunistic acquirer and we\u2019re also a seller when opportunities afford themselves,\u201d Carstanjen said. \u201cWe\u2019re always a flexible participant in the market and we like to pay attention to the trends and the activities we see, so everything is relevant and interesting to us. What I would say, in general, you are seeing a pickup in activity over the very recent term.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prediction markets have emerged during 2025 as an ongoing threat \u2013 and opportunity \u2013 for the traditional gaming industry. Carstanjen said Churchill Downs has not been in contact with any operators offering prediction markets, and noted that because horse racing abides by the rules of the Interstate Horse Racing Act, it\u2019s different than betting on a football game or any other sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are governed by a specific dedicated federal law about how wagering works on horse racing, so that makes us quite different,\u201d Carstanjen said. \u201cThe requirements under that law are very clear about what it takes. In order to take a wager on a horse race, you have to have a contract with the content provider. That\u2019s us. You have to have a contract with our horsemen.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, our philosophy on the prediction markets are, if we approach them, we will explain to them the legal construct under which activity on our sport happens, how the wagering activity on our sport happens. We\u2019ll explain both the civil and criminal elements of the Interstate Horse Racing Act and why compliance with it is so clear and we\u2019ll take it from there. But we do not have a deal with any prediction markets companies to take wagers on our products and we are not in discussions to do that at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The first Kentucky Derby was in 1875.\u00a0 But during Thursday\u2019s investors call, Churchill Downs CEO Bill Carstanjen said…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":220513,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[9464,12055,3004,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-220512","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-racing","8":"tag-churchill-downs","9":"tag-earnings","10":"tag-racing","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220512\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/220513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}