Charles Town: Handle up for 15th straight month

Press Release

Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races posted a 2% gain in its average daily handle for July 2011 versus the same period last year, allowing the track to run its streak of handle increases to 15 consecutive months.

Following a dip in April 2010, Charles Town has reeled off 15 straight months of year-over-year handle increases, with 10 of those reaching into double digits.  The high watermark increase came in February 2011 when the track realized a 30.9% gain over 2010.  The average daily handle of $1,205,474 in February also marked the largest monthly figure in Charles Town's 77-year history.

“It's great to see our growth, especially in the simulcast market,” said Director of Racing Operations, Erich Zimny.  “We've been pretty aggressive in branding our signal using higher profile events and daily television coverage to capture the residual fan interest off of that.”

One of those high profile events, the Charles Town Classic – run for the third time in April, is responsible for the three highest single card handles in track history.  June's Charles Town Sprint Festival and September's Race for the Ribbon programs have been successful and the 2010 West Virginia Breeders' Classics shattered the previous handle mark for the event by more than 20%.

Through July, average daily handle at Charles Town is up 18% versus 2010.  The average monthly handle increase since May 2010 began has been almost 15%.

“Keeping this streak going will be tough as we run into some months where the benchmark is high for us, but anytime you're looking at 15 straight months of gains, especially in this economy, you have to be pleased.”