Keeneland racing, sales operations contribute $590M to local economy

LEXINGTON, Ky. – A study of Keeneland’s racing and sales operations has estimated the association generates $351 million in direct economic activity in Fayette County, where Keeneland is located, and a total economic impact of $590 million on the local community.

The study, which was paid for by Keeneland and conducted by Dr. Chris Bollinger, the director of the University of Kentucky’s Gatton College of Business and Economics, is the first to measure the economic impact of Keeneland on Fayette County, according to Keeneland officials. The study focused on Keeneland’s fall race meet and its September and November sales, using surveys of customers and participants in an effort to gauge the impact of spending by residents outside of Fayette on the Lexington economy.

Bill Thomason, the chief executive of Keeneland, said the association wanted to measure the economic impact to demonstrate the importance of Keeneland’s operations on its local community. Keeneland is a nonprofit in which all dividends are put back into the association’s operations or distributed to charity.

“We wanted to be able to put together a clear and concise package that acknowledged the economic significance of our business to the community,” Thomason said.

Surveys conducted for the study indicated that more than half the 251,000 people attending Keeneland during the fall meet traveled to Fayette County for the “primary reason” of going to the races. While in Fayette, those individuals spent $12 million on retail, $15 million on lodging, $19 million on food and beverage, and $9 million on gasoline during their stays, the study estimated.

The study used the fall meet estimates and the estimates for activity during the September and November sales to extrapolate numbers for the spring meet and the smaller January and April sales.