Churchill Downs Inc. Targets Technology To Attract Fans

Churchill Downs Inc. (CDI) President & CEO Robert Evans announced that the company is “putting a team, initially of six to eight people, in California’s [Silicon Valley] to work on initiatives to bring more fans to racing and other ventures,” according to Gregory Hall of the Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL. Evans said California is “where we can build a team of people on the cutting edge of technology innovation. We’ll benefit from the perspective of those outside the traditional racing business. ... I think we have a pretty aggressive plan.” He added that he would “provide specifics early next year.” However, Evans also mentioned “finding new products for [CDI], citing slots and video poker machines as opportunities.” Hall notes only one of CDI’s five tracks, Fair Grounds Race Course, “is authorized for alternative gaming — but the company has pursued expanded gambling for its other properties.” Evans also said that technology “could reinvent the way its races are offered in the simulcast market, which accounts for about 90[%] of the overall handle.” Evans: “I can guarantee you that the Generation X and Y consumers that hold the most potential to create growth in the racing business use technology in nearly every facet of their daily economic lives” (Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL, 11/9).