It’s hardly unusual for Kentucky Derby betting handle to rise year-over-year. But even while taking that into account, this year’s spike was pretty astonishing.
Churchill Downs Inc. (CDI) reported that wagering on the Kentucky Derby day program was up 11% to a record $320.5 million, up from the previous standard-bearer of $288.7 million in 2023. As Bloodhorse wrote, “CDI’s recent willingness to cooperate with some of the country’s biggest sports betting platforms — FanDuel and DraftKings — appears to be paying massive dividends.”
Those deals came in 2022, with FanDuel entering into a partnership with its longtime rival — Churchill in this instance, not DraftKings — in September and DraftKings following suit with its CDI-powered DK Horse advance deposit wagering platform two months later.
