Churchill Downs has stressed that “it is a privilege to have the opportunity to meaningfully support non-profits in New Hampshire” after closing the purchase of Chasers Poker Room.
The closing of the transaction, which was first detailed in March, follows approval being issued by the New Hampshire Lottery Commission and sees the group swell its historical horse racing operations to a fourth state.
The charitable gaming venue located in Salem, approximately 30 minutes from downtown Boston, debuted in 2017 and offers poker as well as a variety of table games. In 2021, the state authorised existing charitable gaming operators to offer historical horse racing at licensed facilities.
Following this completion, CDI plans to construct an expanded charitable gaming facility by up to 800 gaming positions, including historical racing machines and table games, with the potential to add more.
The company anticipates the total investment in the region, inclusive of the purchase price, will be approximately $150m.
“We are excited to build upon the success of Chasers with CDI’s proven excellence in historical horse racing operations and a state-of-the-art new facility,” said Bill Carstanjen, Chief Executive Officer of CDI.
“It is a privilege to have the opportunity to meaningfully support nonprofits in New Hampshire as the leading gaming operator in charitable contributions.”
This bring up a quartet of states that the firm operator HRMs, with New Hampshire building on a current footprint in Kentucky as well as pending venues in Virginia, upon closing of the pending acquisition of Peninsula Pacific Entertainment, which also includes its affiliated Rosie’s Gaming Emporium HRM facilities, and Louisiana, upon expansion into the company’s 14 existing off track betting facilities.
Earlier this year, Carstanjen said that a five point plan was to form the strategic focus to “transform” Churchill Downs over the next five years.
This included placing a renewed focus on driving a profitable online TwinSpires horse racing business amid a much detailed exit from online sports betting and igaming, key sponsorships and M&A.
