Derby City Gaming's Lackluster Downtown Louisville Debut

Derby City Gaming had a disappointing opening in downtown Louisville.

The new Derby City Gaming located in the center of Louisville didn't make as much money as it was expected to. The historical horse racing venue, which cost $90 million and is owned by Churchill Downs Inc., has been struggling to attract visitors since it opened in December. The venue has taken over the old US Bank building at 140 S. 4th Street, but it's not as busy as its sister location on Poplar Level Road.

Comparing the Two Locations

• Derby City Gaming Downtown has around 500 HHR machines.
• Original Derby City location boasts over 1,300 gaming seats.
• Downtown monthly gross for each machine was about $2,520.
• Airport vicinity location's per machine monthly gross was near $11,600.

Derby City Downtown has about the same amount of HHR (Historical Horse Racing) machines as the first location, but it's only making less than a quarter of the money for each machine. Bill Carstanjen, the CEO of Churchill Downs, acknowledged that the place started off slowly but expects it to do better when it's warmer and more tourists and local people visit.

Churchill Downs expects their new facility to have a positive effect on Louisville's downtown area. Even though it didn't start off with strong interest, the company had planned for a slow start. They believe that over time, more visitors and local people walking around downtown will help businesses in the area grow.

HHR (Historical Horse Racing) gaming machines resemble traditional slot machines in appearance but work in a different way. Instead of random symbols, they display old horse races and the outcome of these races decides whether a player wins or loses. When placing bets on these machines, players pick a horse quickly and often don't know that they are choosing the winning horse from a real previous race. The state of Kentucky permits these machines because they follow the rules of parimutuel betting, which is a betting system used in horse racing.

Kentucky has passed laws to permit betting on Historical Horse Racing (HHR) machines, and the state earns money by collecting 1.5% of all wagers placed on these machines.

Derby City Gaming Downtown is expected to attract more customers, including people living in and visiting Louisville, because of its innovative HHR betting system.

The bosses at Churchill Downs aren't worried yet. They know starting in winter might not have been perfect. Now, they are waiting for spring and summer to see if the new Derby City Gaming Downtown will really help Louisville's economy.