Churchill Downs Raises Prices for Spring Meet

Here’s a bit of news you’ve never heard before: Churchill Downs is raising its prices. Shocking, right?

After a record $273.8 million was wagered and 147,294 people attended Kentucky Derby 148, Churchill Downs has cleaned up the paddock and is prepared to reopen its gates to patrons for Twilight Thursday. Better known by some as “Dollar Beer Night,” the event might need a new nickname this year.

Churchill Downs has raised prices for general admission tickets during the spring meet from $5 to $7. For more than a decade it cost $2 to get into the racetrack. The cost of entry doubles to $14 for Saturday’s Downs After Dark.

In addition to the additional few dollars to enter the gates, the $1 beers on Thursday evenings are now $2. A pessimist might be angered by the 100% increase in price, while an optimist would be pleased to get an 83% discount from Derby week beer prices.

If you pay any attention to this blog, you know that Churchill Downs is my happy place, particularly on Twilight Thursdays. I am also the first to complain about the money hungry suits running Churchill Downs Incorporated. An extra buck for a beer is not a big deal. However, raising the price of admission strikes a chord with me. For years the philosophy was simple: Make it cheap to get in, then make money off the individual’s bets and concessions. Churchill Downs is slowly but surely getting away from that, incrementally chipping into the common man’s betting budget. I guess they have to raise money for their new $200 million palatial paddock somewhere.

Even though I don’t like it, they still got me. I’ll be there for the first post Thursday evening at 5 pm ET and Saturday for the 6 pm ET post time.