CDI to drop online betting and igaming businesses in 2022
Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) has revealed that it will abandon its online sports betting and online gaming business within the next 6 months, in what it described as the “next step forward” for the company.
The news came as part of an earnings call for CDI’s 2021 financial results. Its online product TwinSpires – which includes horse racing as well as sports betting and igaming – brought in $431.7m in total revenue for the year. However, TwinSpires also accounted for $325.4m in costs.
Bill Carstanjen, CEO of CDI, explained that the company’s sports betting and online gaming business had not performed as expected, emphasising the competitiveness of the space.
“When the US Supreme Court overturned the federal ban on sports betting in May of 2018, we had high hopes for the potential to build a profitable business in this space,” said Carstanjen. “Our initial strategy was to leverage a variable cost technology model and be disciplined in our marketing spend with a focus on bottom ..
