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Churchill Downs Incorporated Reports 2025 First Quarter Results

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Churchill Downs Incorporated (Nasdaq: CHDN) (the “Company”, “CDI”, “we”) today reported business results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2025.

Company Highlights

  • First quarter 2025 financial results, as compared to the prior year quarter:
    • Record net revenue of $642.6 million, up $51.7 million or 9%
    • Net income attributable to CDI of $76.7 million, down $3.7 million or 5%
    • Record Adjusted EBITDA of $245.1 million, up $2.6 million or 1%
  • We opened Owensboro Racing and Gaming in Western Kentucky in February 2025, with 600 historical racing machines, a retail sportsbook, simulcast wagering, and food and beverage offerings.
  • We announced two new projects at Churchill Downs Racetrack that will enhance the 152nd Kentucky Derby experience for our guests in the Finish Line Suites and The Mansion. We also announced that we are pausing The Skye, Conservatory, and Infield General Admission capital projects due to the current economic environment.
  • In February 2025, we closed the seventh amendment of the Credit Agreement, which reduced the interest rate for Term Loan B-1 and eliminated the 0.10% credit spread adjustment.
  • In March 2025, the Board of Directors approved a new $500 million share repurchase program.
  • We ended the first quarter of 2025 with net bank leverage of 4.0x and returned $119.5 million of capital to our shareholders through share repurchases and dividends.
    • We repurchased $89.4 million of shares in the first quarter of 2025.
    • On January 3, 2025, we paid a $0.409 per share dividend to shareholders of record as of December 6, 2024, which represents the fourteenth consecutive year of an increased dividend per share.
CONSOLIDATED RESULTS
First Quarter
(in millions, except per share data) 2025 2024
Net revenue $ 642.6 $ 590.9
Net income attributable to CDI $ 76.7 $ 80.4
Diluted EPS attributable to CDI $ 1.02 $ 1.08
Adjusted EBITDA(a) $ 245.1 $ 242.5
(a) This is a non-GAAP measure. See explanation of non-GAAP measures below.
SEGMENT RESULTS

The summaries below present revenue from external customers and intercompany revenue from each of our reportable segments. All comparisons are against the applicable prior year period unless otherwise noted.

Live and Historical Racing

First Quarter
(in millions) 2025 2024
Revenue $ 276.4 $ 248.9
Adjusted EBITDA 102.0 100.8

First Quarter 2025

First quarter 2025 revenue increased $27.5 million due to an $18.2 million increase at our Virginia HRM venues, an $8.9 million increase from our Kentucky HRM venues, and a $0.4 million increase from our other Live and Historical Racing properties. The Virginia HRM increase of $18.2 million was primarily due to the November 2024 opening of The Rose Gaming Resort in Northern Virginia, partially offset by a decrease from our other Virginia HRM venues primarily due to lower unrated play from consumer softness and competition, the impact of weather, and one less day in the quarter due to the 2024 leap year. The Kentucky HRM increase of $8.9 million was primarily due to the February 2025 opening of Owensboro Racing and Gaming in Western Kentucky and growth from our Northern and Southwestern Kentucky properties, partially offset by a decrease at our Louisville properties due to the impact of weather and one less day in the quarter due to 2024 leap year.

First quarter 2025 Adjusted EBITDA increased $1.2 million due to a $3.1 million increase at our Kentucky HRM venues, partially offset by a $1.9 million decrease primarily from our Virginia HRM venues. Our Kentucky HRM venues increase was primarily due to the February 2025 opening of Owensboro Racing and Gaming in Western Kentucky and growth at our Northern and Southwestern Kentucky properties, partially offset by a decrease from our Louisville properties due to the impact of weather and one less day in the quarter due to the 2024 leap year. Our Virginia HRM venues decreased $2.0 million primarily due to lower unrated play from consumer softness and competition, the impact of weather, increased handle tax and racing-related expenses, and one less day in the quarter due to the 2024 leap year, partially offset by the November 2024 opening of The Rose Gaming Resort.

Wagering Services and Solutions

First Quarter
(in millions) 2025 2024
Revenue $ 115.8 $ 114.1
Adjusted EBITDA 41.3 39.6

First Quarter 2025

First quarter 2025 revenue increased $1.7 million due to a $3.1 million increase from Exacta due to incremental HRMs in Virginia and New Hampshire and a $0.8 million increase in TwinSpires Horse Racing. These increases were partially offset by a $2.2 million decrease from our sports betting business.

First quarter 2025 Adjusted EBITDA increased $1.7 million due to a $3.8 million increase from Exacta due to a $2.7 million increase primarily from incremental HRMs in Virginia and New Hampshire and a $1.1 million decrease from lower compensation expense. These increases were partially offset by a $1.1 million decrease from our sports betting business and a $1.0 million decrease from TwinSpires Horse Racing due to increased legal expenses.

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Gaming

First Quarter
(in millions) 2025 2024
Revenue $ 267.2 $ 243.2
Adjusted EBITDA 123.5 122.8

First Quarter 2025

First quarter 2025 revenue increased $24.0 million due to a $31.6 million increase from the April 2024 opening of the Terre Haute Casino Resort, partially offset by a $7.6 million decrease primarily due to regional gaming softness, increased competition, one less day in the quarter due to the 2024 leap year, and the impact of weather at certain properties.

First quarter 2025 Adjusted EBITDA increased $0.7 million due to an $11.5 million increase attributable to the opening of the Terre Haute Casino Resort in April 2024, partially offset by a $6.6 million decrease from our wholly owned gaming properties and a $4.2 million decrease from our equity investments primarily due to regional gaming softness, increased competition, higher labor and benefit expense, one less day in the quarter due to the 2024 leap year, and the impact of weather at certain properties.

All Other

First Quarter
(in millions) 2025 2024
Revenue $ 2.0 $ —
Adjusted EBITDA (21.7 ) (20.7 )

First Quarter 2025

First quarter 2025 revenue increased $2.0 million increased due to intercompany revenue related to the captive insurance company that was established in April 2024. All captive revenue is eliminated in consolidation.

First quarter 2025 Adjusted EBITDA decreased $1.0 million driven primarily by increased corporate compensation-related expenses and other corporate administrative expenses as a result of enterprise growth.

CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

Share Repurchase Program

On March 12, 2025, the Board of Directors of the Company approved a common stock repurchase program of up to $500 million (“2025 Stock Repurchase Program”). The 2025 Stock Repurchase Program includes and is not in addition to the $125.6 million remaining under the prior 2021 Stock Repurchase Program authorization.

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The Company repurchased 798,250 shares of its common stock at a total cost of $89.4 million in the first quarter of 2025. We had approximately $434.6 million of repurchase authority remaining under the 2025 Stock Repurchase Program as of March 31, 2025.

NET INCOME ATTRIBUTABLE TO CDI

First Quarter 2025 Results

The Company’s first quarter 2025 net income attributable to CDI was $76.7 million compared to $80.4 million in the prior year quarter.

The following factors impacted the comparability of the Company’s first quarter 2025 net income to the prior year quarter:

  • a $6.7 million after-tax decrease in other recoveries, net primarily driven by insurance claim proceeds recorded in the prior year quarter.

This was partially offset by:

  • a $5.6 million after-tax decrease in transaction, pre-opening, and other expenses.

Excluding the items above, first quarter 2025 adjusted net income attributable to CDI decreased $4.8 million primarily due to the following:

  • a $3.0 million after-tax decrease in equity income from our unconsolidated affiliates;
  • a $2.0 million after-tax increase in interest expense associated with lower capitalization of interest related to capital projects in the current year, partially offset by lower interest rates; and
  • a $0.5 million after-tax decrease due a portion of United Tote’s income being recognized as noncontrolling interest.

This was partially offset by:

  • a $0.7 million after-tax increase primarily driven by the results of our operations.

Conference Call

A conference call regarding this news release is scheduled for Thursday, April 24, 2025 at 9 a.m. ET. Investors and other interested parties may listen to the teleconference by accessing the online, real-time webcast and broadcast of the call at http://ir.churchilldownsincorporated.com/events.cfm, or by registering in advance via teleconference here. Once registration is completed, participants will be provided with a dial-in number containing a personalized conference code to access the call. All participants are encouraged to dial-in 15 minutes prior to the start time. An online replay will be available by noon ET on Thursday, April 24, 2025. A copy of the Company’s news release announcing quarterly results and relevant financial and statistical information about the period will be accessible at www.churchilldownsincorporated.com.

Use of Non-GAAP Measures

In addition to the results provided in accordance with GAAP, the Company also uses non-GAAP measures, including adjusted net income, adjusted diluted EPS, EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization), and Adjusted EBITDA.

The Company uses non-GAAP measures as a key performance measure of the results of operations for purposes of evaluating performance internally. These measures facilitate comparison of operating performance between periods and help investors to better understand the operating results of the Company by excluding certain items that may not be indicative of the Company’s core business or operating results. The Company believes the use of these measures enables management and investors to evaluate and compare, from period to period, the Company’s operating performance in a meaningful and consistent manner. The non-GAAP measures are a supplemental measure of our performance that is not required by, or presented in accordance with, GAAP, and should not be considered as an alternative to, or more meaningful than, net income or diluted EPS (as determined in accordance with GAAP) as a measure of our operating results.

We use Adjusted EBITDA to evaluate segment performance, develop strategy, and allocate resources. We utilize the Adjusted EBITDA metric to provide a more accurate measure of our core operating results and enable management and investors to evaluate and compare from period to period our operating performance in a meaningful and consistent manner. Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered as an alternative to operating income as an indicator of performance, as an alternative to cash flows from operating activities as a measure of liquidity, or as an alternative to any other measure provided in accordance with GAAP. Our calculation of Adjusted EBITDA may be different from the calculation used by other companies and, therefore, comparability may be limited.

Adjusted net income and adjusted diluted EPS exclude discontinued operations net income or loss; net income or loss attributable to noncontrolling interest; transaction expense, which includes acquisition and disposition related charges, as well as legal, accounting, and other deal-related expense; pre-opening expense; and certain other gains, charges, recoveries, and expenses.

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Adjusted EBITDA includes our portion of EBITDA from our equity investments and the portion of EBITDA attributable to noncontrolling interest.

Adjusted EBITDA excludes, as applicable in each period:

  • Transaction expense, net which includes:
    • Acquisition, disposition, and property sale related charges;
    • Other transaction expense, including legal, accounting, and other deal-related expense;
  • Stock-based compensation expense;
  • Rivers Des Plaines’ impact on our investments in unconsolidated affiliates from legal reserves and transaction costs;
  • Asset impairments;
  • Gain on property sales;
  • Legal reserves;
  • Pre-opening expense; and
  • Other charges, recoveries, and expenses.

For segment reporting, Adjusted EBITDA includes intercompany revenue and expense totals that are eliminated in the Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income. See the Reconciliation of Comprehensive Income to Adjusted EBITDA included herewith for additional information.

Latest News

Industry-first: Dynamic, ‘Live Data’ feature in ads drives up to 20% growth in first-time depositors for iGaming customers

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Industry-first: Dynamic, ‘Live Data’ feature in ads drives up to 20% growth in first-time depositors for iGaming customers

 

  • Creatopy’s new Live Data feature connects creative assets to real-time data streams, enabling brands to deliver ads that update automatically based on live variables such as odds, pricing, availability or performance metrics
  • iGaming customers experience up to a 20% uplift in first-time depositors in the first 3 months of their campaign
  • Superbet is the latest company to adopt this new feature
  • Initial Live Data release also popular among travel, finance, retail and entertainment sectors
  • This news also follows a series of senior leadership appointments, including: Maikao Grare (CFO), Thibault Imbert (Chief Product & Growth Officer) and Ovidiu Gavril (CTO)
AI-powered ad campaign platform Creatopy has launched Live Data, a new feature that connects creative assets to real-time data streams.
An industry-first solution, it has already demonstrated significant results for the iGaming industry with an increase of up to 20% in first-time depositors observed over a 3-month period.
Live Data enables brands to deliver dynamic online ads that automatically update based on live variables such as odds, pricing, availability or performance metrics. There is no need for manual intervention. Once a design template has been created, the published ad can be updated automatically based on the parameters set. For iGaming companies, this can be a specific game or an entire competition; the tool can also dynamically display stocks and casino games based on current trends and performance.
The new solution offers several key advantages for advertisers, including:
  • Personalisation: allowing for ad delivery that precisely aligns with real-time audience interests, shifting market conditions or changes in available inventory.
  • Real-time performance: displaying up-to-the-minute prices, availability or exclusive offers, which in turn create a sense of urgency and significantly boost conversion rates.
  • Transparent metrics: showcasing verifiable, live information directly within the ad creative – this fosters greater trust and authenticity with consumers.
Superbet, an international gambling company, has become the latest to adopt Creatopy’s tech.
While the initial release focuses on the iGaming and gambling industry, Live Data offers a wide range of applications across various sectors, including Travel with live pricing for flights and hotels; finance with real-time stock movements or FX rates; and entertainment with live streaming stats and event availability.
Tammy Nam, CEO at Creatopy, said: “With Live Data, we’re making ads truly real-time. While static ads have their benefits, they can’t capture live market changes. Live Data changes that. By displaying real-time updates, marketers can expand the lifespan of their campaigns, ensuring that as circumstances change, the ads reflect the most current data and messaging. This isn’t about personalization someday but about delivering the right message, informed by the latest data, at the exact moment that matters most. This continued relevance is a key driver behind the 20% increase in first-time deposits that we’re witnessing with our iGaming customers.”
The launch follows a series of appointments to the company’s senior executive team, including Maikao Grare as the new Chief Financial Officer, Thibault Imbert as Chief Product and Growth Officer, and Ovidiu Gavril as Chief Technology Officer.
With over 15 years of experience in product management and growth at leading technology companies including Picsart, Adobe and GitHub, Imbert is responsible for overseeing product strategy, development and execution, as well as leading the company’s growth initiatives to expand its market reach and impact.
Grare brings over 20 years of experience scaling high-growth startups and is helping to accelerate the company’s momentum, shape long-term strategy, and support international expansion. Most recently, Grare served as Vice President of FP&A and Strategic Finance at MasterClass, and SVP of Finance at Picsart before that. Grare has also held top finance roles at Bolt Threads, Rdio and Skype.
Gavril brings a wealth of tech leadership experience from prominent tech companies, including Raft, Picsart, Trilogy, Jive Software, Crossover for Work, Optivia and Wave Motion Labs. Gavril’s appointment signals Creatopy’s strong commitment to accelerating its technological advancements with AI at its center. As CTO, Gavril will lead the company’s engineering and technology strategy, drive innovation, and expand the platform’s capabilities to further empower marketers with sophisticated AI-driven tools.
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Compliance Updates

PHAI Files Lawsuit in Pennsylvania Over Caesars’ Dangerous Online Casino Promotion and “Pay Through Bonuses”

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The Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI), a nonprofit advocacy organization that continues to lead the movement to develop a comprehensive public health response to the threat posed by the gambling industry, announced a new lawsuit filed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, seeking to expose and stop an alleged dangerous, misleading, and illegal “deposit match” promotion by Caesars Online Casino and its brick-and-mortar partner Harrah’s Philadelphia Casino.

In this promotion, Caesars and its partners are luring new customers with a false and misleading promise of a “$2500 deposit match,” according to the lawsuit. Only in the small-print terms and conditions is it disclosed that a new customer playing Blackjack is required to gamble and risk $375,000 in just the first seven days after opening an account. In other words, no money or winnings can be withdrawn unless a total of $375,000 is gambled and risked. All money lost during the first 7-day period is kept by Caesars and Harrah’s Casino.

The lawsuit alleged that Caesars and its partners have effectively rewritten the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania by mandating that new customers gamble up to $375,000 before being paid any of their winnings. The public is not told that the promotion is designed to snare new customers in a “wild chase of action,” where the bonus is unattainable and therefore impossible to win.

Under the leadership of Executive Director Mark Gottlieb, PHAI continues to spearhead the burgeoning movement to bring comprehensive public health change to the threat posed by the gambling industry and its partners across the US.

Gottlieb said: “We know the gambling industry, with the assistance of the American Gaming Association (AGA) and the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States (NCLGS), is aggressively attempting to push the legalization of online casino gambling across the United States. Thus far, the seven states with online casino gambling seem ill-prepared or unwilling to regulate the wild tactics of the industry. This promotion, engineered by Caesars, is among the most egregious we have seen to date.”

Dr. Harry Levant, Director of Gambling Policy at PHAI, warned that Caesars and others in the gambling industry are acting with impunity, disregarding existing laws, and placing the public directly at risk.

According to Dr. Levant: “It is unconscionable for a gambling company to knowingly require people to gamble excessively and put their mental health at risk as a condition to cash out their winnings. More importantly, nothing in Pennsylvania’s gambling rules or laws permits a casino to refuse payment unless and until customers begin gambling to excess. This is dangerous to Caesar’s customers, immoral, and just plain wrong.”

PHAI Director of Litigation Andrew Rainer, Esq., said: “PHAI continues to utilize the courts to protect clients and the public from unreasonable risks of harm caused by the negligent, careless, and reckless conduct of the gambling industry.”

PHAI Founder and President. Dr. Richard Daynard said: “The mission of the Public Health Advocacy Institute is to protect public health and advance social justice. The days of the gambling industry disregarding public health and safety are coming to an end. When Caesars doesn’t play fair, it puts players’ health at risk.”

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The case is Brubaker vs Chester Downs and Marina LLC et al. (Ct of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County, First Judicial District, Case ID 250602325).

In December 2023, PHAI and its Center for Public Health Litigation filed a class action suit against DraftKings in Massachusetts that garnered nationwide headlines. In August 2024, a judge in Massachusetts denied DraftKings’ motion to dismiss, allowing the litigation to move forward.

In October 2024, PHAI filed a lawsuit against the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, asking the court to compel the MGC to adhere to state law and turn over data that casinos compile to track player behavior. Under Section 97 of the Expanded Gaming Act, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission is required to collect behavioral data from casino operators and share anonymized customer data with researchers. This data is essential for analyzing what casino practices are causing harm and who is being harmed. The Gaming Commission has been subject to the legal requirement to collect this data since its formation in 2011. Now, more than a decade later, the Commission has yet to collect a single piece of data from any licensee or make any data available to researchers.

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Latest News

High Roller Technologies to Present at the Small Cap Growth Virtual Investor Conference on June 26

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High Roller Technologies Inc., operator of award-winning premium online casino brands High Roller and Fruta, announced that Seth Young, SVP Corporate Strategy & Investor Relations, will present live at the Small Cap Growth Virtual Investor Conference hosted by VirtualInvestorConferences.com, on June 26, 2025

DATE: June 26

TIME: 12:00 PM ET

Available for 1×1 meetings: July 1, 2025

This will be a live, interactive online event where investors are invited to ask the company questions in real-time. If attendees are not able to join the event live on the day of the conference, an archived webcast will also be made available after the event.

It is recommended that online investors pre-register and run the online system check to expedite participation and receive event updates.

Learn more about the event at virtualinvestorconferences.com.

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