Churchill Downs Incorporated Opens Rosie’s Gaming Emporium in Emporia, Virginia

Grand Opening Celebrated with $25,000 Donation to Local Nonprofits


EMPORIA, Va., Sept. 26, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Churchill Downs Incorporated (“CDI”) (NASDAQ: CHDN) announced today the opening of the newest Rosie’s Gaming Emporium in Emporia, Virginia (“Rosie’s Emporia”). Rosie’s Emporia is located on West Atlantic Street, convenient to Interstate 95 and features 150 Historical Racing Machines (“HRMs”), simulcast horse racing, a restaurant and bar. The grand opening celebration demonstrated CDI’s commitment to community and the successful “Rosie’s Gives Back” program with a $25,000 donation to five local charities: the Family YMCA of Emporia/Greenville, Community Youth Center, Ltd, Emporia Greenville Recreation Association, Communities in Schools of Virginia and H.E.A.R Me Out Inc.

“This marks our seventh Rosie’s gaming property and adds to our tremendous success in Virginia, taking us to the Southern border of the state for the first time,” said Bill Carstanjen, CEO for CDI. “The Emporia location builds on CDI’s commitment to providing top-quality jobs and generating significant tax revenues across the Commonwealth while delivering quality entertainment.”

Rosie’s in Emporia will create more than 100 full and part-time jobs and generate approximately $1 million in annual tax revenue for the City of Emporia. Since the opening of the first Rosie’s five years ago, more than $400 million has been invested in Rosie’s and Colonial Downs across the Commonwealth of Virginia creating over 1,200 new jobs and now contributing $54 million a year in state and local tax revenue.

About Churchill Downs Incorporated

Churchill Downs Incorporated (“CDI”) (NASDAQ: CHDN) has been creating extraordinary entertainment experiences for nearly 150 years, beginning with the company’s most iconic and enduring asset, the Kentucky Derby. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, CDI has expanded through the development of live and historical racing entertainment venues, the growth of the TwinSpires horse racing online wagering business and the operation and development of regional casino gaming properties. More information is available at churchilldownsincorporated.com.

About Colonial Downs and Rosie’s Gaming Emporium

Colonial Downs and Rosie’s Gaming Emporiums employ over 1,200 team members in the Commonwealth of Virginia, paying over $30 million in annual salaries, wages and benefits. Rosie’s Gaming Emporium in Dumfries, Emporia, Hampton, New Kent, Richmond and Vinton offer innovative Historical Racing Machines (HRMs) and full card simulcasting. Rosie’s Game Room in Collinsville features a limited selection of some of the best HRM titles. Colonial Downs Racetrack in New Kent hosts live Thoroughbred racing on two nationally-renowned surfaces – Secretariat Turf Course, the widest turf course in North America and a 11/4-mile dirt track. More information is available at rosiesgaming.com.

This news release contains various “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by the use of terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “predict,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “will,” and similar words or similar expressions (or negative versions of such words or expressions).

Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Important factors, that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include the following: the occurrence of extraordinary events, such as terrorist attacks, public health threats, civil unrest, and inclement weather, including as a result of climate change; the effect of economic conditions on our consumers' confidence and discretionary spending or our access to credit, including the impact of inflation; additional or increased taxes and fees; the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, including the emergence of variant strains, and related economic matters on our results of operations, financial conditions and prospects; lack of confidence in the integrity of our core businesses or any deterioration in our reputation; loss of key or highly skilled personnel, as well as general disruptions in the general labor market; the impact of significant competition, and the expectation the competition levels will increase; changes in consumer preferences, attendance, wagering, and sponsorships; risks associated with equity investments, strategic alliances and other third-party agreements; inability to respond to rapid technological changes in a timely manner; concentration and evolution of slot machine and historical racing machine (HRM) manufacturing and other technology conditions that could impose additional costs; failure to enter into or maintain agreements with industry constituents, including horsemen and other racetracks; inability to successfully focus on market access and retail operations for our TwinSpires Sports and Casino business and effectively compete; online security risk, including cyber-security breaches, or loss or misuse of our stored information as a result of a breach including customers’ personal information could lead to government enforcement actions or other litigations; reliance on our technology services and catastrophic events and system failures disrupting our operations; inability to identify, complete, or fully realize the benefits of our proposed acquisitions, divestitures, development of new venues or the expansion of existing facilities on time, on budget, or as planned; difficulty in integrating recent or future acquisitions into our operations; cost overruns and other uncertainties associated with the development of new venues and the expansion of existing facilities; general risks related to real estate ownership and significant expenditures, including risks related to environmental liabilities; personal injury litigation related to injuries occurring at our racetracks; compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or other similar laws and regulations, or applicable anti-money laundering regulations; payment-related risks, such as risk associated with fraudulent credit card or debit card use; work stoppages and labor problems; risks related to pending or future legal proceedings and other actions; highly regulated operations and changes in the regulatory environment could adversely affect our business; restrictions in our debt facilities limiting our flexibility to operate our business; failure to comply with the financial ratios and other covenants in our debt facilities and other indebtedness; increases to interest rates (due to inflation or otherwise), disruption in the credit markets or changes to our credit ratings may adversely affect our business; increase in our insurance costs, or inability to obtain similar insurance coverage in the future, and any inability to recover under our insurance policies for damages sustained at our properties in the event of inclement weather and casualty events; and other factors described under the heading “Risk Factors” in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and in other filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

We do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Investor Contact: Kaitlin BuzzettoMedia Contact: Tonya Abeln
(502) 394-1091(502) 386-1742
Kaitlin.Buzzetto@kyderby.comTonya.Abeln@kyderby.com