CDI will close its iGaming and online sports betting operations
During the company's fourth quarter earnings call, Churchill's CEO Bill Carstanjen announced the bad news, saying, "We do not see for us a path in which this business model delivers predictable and acceptable margins for at least several years, if ever."
Since the US Supreme Court struck down the federal gambling ban in 2018, businesses have scrambled to seize a piece of the country's expanding sports betting market.
However, doing so has frequently come at the expense of immediate or, as Carstanjen added, "potentially even long-term profitability," and Churchill doesn't seem willing to forgo margin in favour of market share.
Carstanjen declared that CDI will leave online sports betting and iGaming to concentrate on its in-person activities due to the industry's "highly competitive" character and "an ever-increasing number of participants."
He said, "We will concentrate on our profitable retail sports betting operations and, as necessary, seek to monetize our market access rights to other participants."
As we wind down the online business, "we do expect to still see a slight drag in the high single-digit range for the year on our Adjusted EBITDA from the combined retail and online sports and casino businesses."
"We'll do our best to reduce this drag as much as we can. Although this isn't the outcome we had in mind when we began this venture in late 2018, it is the sensible course of action for our business.
Carstanjen pointed out that Churchill Downs is still dedicated to its TwinSpires Horse Racing division, saying: "TwinSpires Horse Racing is where we see the promise for our organisation right now.
"I don't like to dwell on the abstract for too long. In the end, you deploy your team, monitor your performance, and make necessary adjustments.
And we've discovered through time—it's been well over ten years—that our TwinSpires Horse Racing company—our internet business for horseracing—is a very successful one.