Churchill Downs Inc (CHDN)

[Mobile Betting News]

Churchill Downs Profits from Online Gambling 15 March 2011 - James Santiago/Gamblingcity.net

Churchill Downs, home of the “fastest two minutes in sports” recently reported that its revenues for 2010 increased by nearly 25 percent, from US$470.5 million in 2009 to US$585.3 million in 2010.

Last year, Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby horse race, acquired the online gambling site Youbet.com and integrated it with its own horse race betting site, TwinSpires.com. The TwinSpires site allows players to bet on horse races around the world and offers handicapping advices for serious horse bettors.

The online gaming arm of the Churchill Downs company now nearly surpasses revenues from the primary business. The reports show that the online betting business grew by US$17.2 million.

The company also owns several land-based casinos, including the Calder Casino in Florida, which they acquired in January 2010.

Despite the increased revenues, Churchill Downs still finished the year in with a loss. For the fourth quarter of 2010, the company reported a loss of US$1.9 million, or 12 cents per share. However, the loss was much less than that over the same period in 2009, when the
company lost US$6.9 million at the end of the year.

Bob Evans, CEO of Churchill Downs Inc., said that the capital expenditures the company made to acquire Calder Casino in January and Youbet.com in June accounted for most of the losses.

““We look forward to an even stronger performance in 2011 as we record the full year results from the combined TwinSpires.com-Youbet.com account-wagering platform,” he said in a statement.