Churchill CEO says demand for some Kentucky Derby tickets is down, blames economy

The Kentucky Derby, the state’s premier thoroughbred racing event, might be ever so slightly less crowded this year and tickets might not even sell out, according to Churchill Downs, thanks to President Trump’s trade war.

CEO Bill Carstanjen, in discussing the Louisville-based gambling and racing company’s first-quarter earnings, said Churchill is experiencing “hesitancy” in sales, particularly for lower-tier tickets, which he pointed out are still pretty pricey at $1,000 or so.

“In 2025, in my opinion, we took a little bit of a jolt, because we didn’t have the endless pool of demand that we’ve seen in prior years,” he said.

Upper-tier seats are still selling fine and, in fact, Churchill plans to move forward with two projects that will cater to deep-pocketed bettors and racing fans, including a renovation of The Mansion, the track’s most exclusive area, and the Finish Line Suites, prestigious areas used by sponsors for corporate entertainment.

“I don’t see any any real concerns or weaknesses in the upper-tier seats that we have, and I think it’s pretty strong throughout,” he said. But “over the last eight or nine weeks, I think in the lowest tier, which are not inexpensive tickets — call them $1,000-plus tickets — we’ve seen less demand for those than we’ve seen historically, but still strong demand. And I think when you see this Derby this year, it’ll look like every other Derby. It’ll be a packed house.”

Despite positive first-quarter results with record revenue, Carstanjen said that the company is seeing overall “softness” in some areas of betting, including a slip in sports wagering of more than $1 million, and blamed faltering consumer confidence.

“I think we’ve seen a trend over the last eight or nine weeks which correlates perfectly with some of these trade war disputes and tariffs,” Carstanjen said. “We’ve seen a difference in the lower-end ticket sales for Derby, that’s a fact. We’ve seen a difference, but the demand is so strong for the event that it’s not going to show up when you see the crowds or anything like that, but there has been a change and I acknowledge that, but I don’t think you’ll see it affect our performance in any material way for the event.”

On Wednesday, Churchill Downs announced it is pausing plans for a multiyear, nearly $900 million renovation, announced in February.

“A lot has changed in the world in the past nine weeks since that earnings call, including increased general economic uncertainty and risk of significant inflation, driven in part by the new tariffs that the U.S. intends to charge on products from almost every country in the world. This has created unanticipated and currently unquantifiable expected cost increases in most materials,” Carstanjen said.

“Due to these factors, we’ve made the difficult decision to temporarily pause this multiyear effort in order to let things settle down so that we can better determine any permanent changes in the cost of this project and better evaluate any changes in the overall economic environment.”

Churchill Downs will release attendance and betting numbers for Derby Week, which runs from May 1-3 this year, next month.

This story was originally published April 24, 2025 at 12:50 PM.

Janet Patton

Lexington Herald-Leader

859-379-5233

Janet Patton covers restaurants, bars, food and bourbon for the Herald-Leader. She is an award-winning business reporter who also has covered agriculture, gambling, horses and hemp. Support my work with a digital subscription