economic impact – UofL News Fri, 17 Apr 2026 17:45:05 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Financial impact of Churchill Downs and Derby week /post/uofltoday/financial-impact-of-churchill-downs-and-derby-week/ Fri, 28 Apr 2023 18:56:03 +0000 /?p=58472 The Derby is good for business in Louisville and Kentucky.
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, an economics professor in the has compiled a new report on the economic impact of Churchill Downs and Kentucky Derby week activities in the Louisville metro area. The report includes estimates of returns on tax incentives.听
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Using data from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, Churchill Downs, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and IMPLAN, a software program for assessing economic impact, Lambert reports that in a typical year, the Derby and Churchill Downs generate $396 million in direct, indirect and induced spending and approximately $47 million in local, state and federal tax revenue.听
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  • Estimated Derby week economic impact of Churchill Downs:听 $302 million
  • Estimated Derby week direct, indirect and induced spending on hotels, restaurants,听 听 听 听 etc.:听 $94 million
  • Total Derby week economic activity: $ 396 million
Lambert estimates that local and state governments provide $3-4 million in tax incentives and services to Churchill Downs and the Kentucky equine industry each year. However, these tax losses are offset by $17 million in tax revenue for local and state government generated by Churchill Downs and local businesses during Derby week.听
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In the report, Lambert also shows some of the impact of COVID-19 on Derby-related revenue in 2020 and 2021, which significantly reduced revenues for Churchill Downs, the community and taxing authorities.
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Lambert notes that thanks to Derby week and diversification into historical horse racing and racing casinos like Turfway Park in Florence, Kentucky, Churchill Downs has offset a trend of declining revenues and attendance at most racetracks, including its own, in the United States.
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]]> UofL Equine Industry Program, KEEP launch second round of COVID-19 Kentucky Equine Business Impact Survey /post/uofltoday/uofl-equine-industry-program-keep-launch-second-round-of-covid-19-kentucky-equine-business-impact-survey/ Tue, 30 Jun 2020 18:30:11 +0000 http://www.uoflnews.com/?p=50709 The and the Kentucky Equine 成人直播 Project (KEEP) have released the second round of their COVID-19 Kentucky Equine Business Impact Survey. The survey will be shared with employers throughout Kentucky’s horse industry and community to further capture the impacts of the pandemic on the Commonwealth’s signature industry.

The second round of the COVID-19 Kentucky Equine Business Impact Survey will close July 13. .

The previous survey, conducted in May, showed that the pandemic resulted in Kentucky’s equine businesses cutting costs and postponing capital improvement projects. However, the survey indicated that the vast majority of respondents did not have to lay off employees.

Since the last survey, horse racing has resumed in Kentucky, although without spectators, and historical horse racing facilities have reopened with limited capacity. The second round of the COVID-19 Kentucky Equine Business Impact Survey will capture how this is affecting the equine businesses across the state. Churchill Downs announced last week that the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby, scheduled for Sept. 4 and Sept. 5, will occur with a limited number of spectators.

Survey participants will not be identified in the published results.

“Since we completed our first survey in May, the state has lifted some of the restrictions on the horse industry, which should provide a boost to equine business across the state,鈥 said Elisabeth Jensen, KEEP’s executive vice president who oversees the daily operations of the organization. 鈥淗owever, we have yet to see the impact of how the pandemic is affecting horse sales and what that means for Kentucky’s equine economy. We hope that this second round of our survey can, when combined with the data from our May survey, paint a clearer picture of the challenges the industry will face.”

“The UofL Equine Industry Program educates and trains the next generation of leaders for Kentucky’s signature industry,” said Sean Beirne, director of the UofL Equine Industry Program in the . “The COVID-19 Kentucky Equine Business Impact Survey provides us with an incredible up-to-the-moment view of the challenges that the industry will face in the coming years. In addition to helping inform policymakers on the status of the industry, we can also use this data to prepare our students for the challenges of the industry they will be entering.”

The is a not-for-profit grassroots organization created in 2004 to preserve, promote and protect Kentucky’s multi-breed horse industry.

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