TwinSpires Will Shut Down Sports, Casino Online Business But Retain Horse Racing App

Churchill Downs Inc. is shutting down its TwinSpires Sportsbook and casino platforms to focus on horse racing, the company announced Thursday.

Churchill Downs CEO Bill Carstanjen said the company is “excited” about the TwinSpires horse racing app but is getting out of online sports betting and casinos.

“Pre-COVID, we were about 40% of the horse racing market,” he said, according to the National Post. “That jumped to 60% in 2020 and then in 2021 saw a steady state of 50% market share, so this is a very successful business.”

However, the company’s 2021 earnings report shows an online sports betting loss of $31.9 million.

The TwinSpires Sports mobile platform was operational in Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

TwinSpires Casino is live in Michigan, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Carstanjen said shutting down the sports betting sites and casino platforms is not the result the company wanted but is “the prudent next step.”

The process to shut down the sports betting and casino platforms is expected to take several months to complete.

Company Boasts Horse Racing Legacy

The TwinSpires Horse Racing app offers advance-deposit betting opportunities at domestic and international horse tracks.

Churchill Downs Inc., a publicly-traded company based in Louisville, Kentucky, also owns the historic horse track in that city. The track is home to the annual Kentucky Derby, the first of the Triple Crown races.

The company owns other gaming properties, including the Fair Grounds Race Course and Slots in New Orleans.

Churchill Downs Expands Operations

Churchill Downs Inc. also recently announced it has entered into a purchase agreement to acquire most of Peninsula Pacific Entertainment, known as P2E, for $2.48 billion.

The acquisition includes the del Lago Resort and Casino in Waterloo, New York.

According to news reports, the purchase does not include P2E’s shuttered riverboat casino in Bossier City, Louisiana.

The Louisiana Gaming Control Board last week gave P2E 60 days to sell the DiamondJacks riverboat casino or forfeit its gaming license. The company was negotiating with Mississippi-based Foundation Gaming to purchase the property and obtain the Louisiana license. 

Earlier this year, the Cordish Companies announced plans to acquire Diamond Jacks Casino & Hotel in Bossier City and transition the riverboat into a Live! land-based resort.

Bossier City is in northwestern Louisiana, across the Red River from Shreveport.

Peninsula Pacific Entertainment had hoped to transfer its gaming license to a proposed land-based casino near New Orleans. That plan had to be abandoned when St. Tammany Parish residents voted against the proposal in December.