TwinSpires Consolidates Focus to Online Horse Betting
Legal sports betting in the US first expanded in early 2018. New Jersey had just won its extended court battle against the federal government as well as prominent US sports entities such as the NFL, MLB and NCAA.
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When the US Supreme Court gave individual states the right to govern and regulate legal sports betting within their borders in May of that year, the gold rush in the US market was on. As more and more states amended their gaming laws to add legal sports betting to the menu, more and more US-based sportsbook operators got into the game.
The biggest winners out of the gate were FanDuel and DraftKings as prominent daily fantasy sports sites. Las Vegas gaming giants entered the market led by MGM Resorts International mobile sportsbook BetMGM. More recently, Caesars Sportsbook has made some major inroads through gains in market share.
The list goes on and on with other operators such as Barstool Sportsbook, Bet Rivers, PointsBet and Bally Bets fighting for their piece of the pie. However, at some point in time industry consolidation is going to claim more than a few sports betting operators along the way. In January of this year, it was reported than Wynn Resorts was actively shopping its online sports betting brand WynnBET.
Case in point for consolidation is TwinSpires recent decision to shut down its mobile sportsbook and iGaming app. Owned and operated by Churchill Downs in Louisville, company CEO Bill Carstanjen has cited profitability issues in a highly competitive marketplace as the primary reason to close this business division.
Churchill Downs will phase out the TwinSpires’ online sports betting and iGaming brand over the next six months. The decision was released through a company earnings call at the end of February.
Carstanjen believes that there is limited opportunity for profitable growth in this sector of the company’s online gaming products. At the same time, he mentioned that Churchill Downs’ four retail sportsbooks in land-based casino locations have been profitable.
This list includes Harlow’s Casino in Greenville, Mississippi. Also on the list are retail sportsbooks in Erie (PA), Belin (MD) and Des Plaines (IL). Church Hill Downs has recently entered into an agreement to purchase Peninsula Pacific Entertainment. This deal includes land-based gaming properties in Iowa, New York and Virginia.
In early 2021, the company decided to rebrand BetAmerica into TwinSpires Sports. This gathered online horse betting, sports betting and iGaming under one centralized brand. Strong ties to Churchill Downs has made the TwinSpires’ online horse betting mobile app a profitable venture. However, in markets where online sports betting and iGaming was launched did not follow suit.
The company’s commitment to online horse betting remains strong along with its expansion plans into additional land-based sports and gaming options.
The online sports betting app was available in Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The latter three states also offer legal online casino games through iGaming mobile apps.
Success in those markets was rather limited. Most of the online sports betting business was confined to Pennsylvania, Michigan, Indiana and Arizona. The high cost of new player acquisition through promotional incentives ate into any profits earned.
Carstanjen made a point to emphasis TwinSpires commitment to online horse racing. He stated:
“We remain absolutely committed to TwinSpires horse racing, as its top line, bottom line and margins continue to demonstrate that this is a special online business, with a sustainable, scaleable and unique business model that delivers profitable growth today, just as it has since we started this business well over a decade ago.”
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