The average ticket price to Saturday's Kentucky Derby "has fallen from around $1,100 last month to below $800 this week," according to data from secondary ticket marketplace TickPick. Average ticket prices "rose last year in the first week of May from about $1,300 to $1,900." As of early Friday afternoon, general admission tickets to the infield and paddock "were going for $75 on Ticketmaster." As of 1:00pm ET on Friday, StubHub "listed 1,023 tickets available ... the most expensive being a pair of seats in Millionaires Row each priced at $3,675" (COURIER-JOURNAL.com, 5/5).
Meanwhile, Vineyard Vines has signed a five-year contract extension with Churchill Downs as the official style of the Derby through '21 (Vineyard Vines).
Celebrity chef and restaurateur Bobby Flay will join NBC’s Saturday coverage of the Kentucky Derby. Flay, who has invested in several thoroughbreds in recent years, discussed his involvement in the sport for an SBJ feature in January. NBC's coverage also will feature a segment in which NBC analyst Jerry Bailey helps golfer Jason Day try to pick a Derby winner with a closest-to-the-pin effort at TPC Sawgrass' famed "Island Green" par-3 17th. See the full video (THE DAILY).
