Online growth helps Churchill Downs to record yearly revenues

Kentucky-based operator Churchill Downs has seen a double-digit rise in online net revenues drive group net revenues to record levels.

The US$183.3m total represents 25% of the $732.4m group total, with $40.9m of this total arriving in the fourth quarter.

Online EBITDA was hit slightly by costs associated with the launch of social gaming offering Luckity, falling by $0.7m for the financial year.

Luckity, launched last October, uses the sweepstakes model to award cash prizes for achievements in bingo, match 3, arcade and numbers games.

The fourth quarter saw the operator, whose primary business concerns the ownership and operation racetracks and casinos across the US, set up its interactive division.

Group chief strategy officer Ted Gay was selected to head up Churchill Downs Interactive in October, overseeing Luckity, online betting site TwinSpires, and the US-facing operations of Bluff Media, which the operator acquired in February last year.

The operator has applied for an online poker service provider licence in Nevada, where earlier this week Governor Brian Sandoval signed an amended egaming bill into law. Gay told eGaming Review last July that the operator hoped to set up its own US-facing poker network, and it is believed to have held talks with a number of potential software partners.

Overall group revenues for the year were up 5% compared to FY 2011, with racing revenues contributing 41.2% of the total, while operating income rose 19% year-on-year to $96.8m despite a fourth-quarter decline.