Online gambling to create more jobs at Churchill Downs

US gambling group Churchill Downs could be hiring up to 50 additional skilled workers at an average annual package of over $100,000 each to handle its increased online gambling activities, the Courier-Journal newspaper reports.

The Louisville-based casino and racetrack company received Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority approval Thursday for $1 million in tax incentives to add employees at its headquarters as part of a $4 million expansion, the newspaper reports.

Bob Evans, the CEO and president of the company said that the hires would be mainly in IT and depend on the political legalisation of online gambling as the issue evolved at federal and state levels.

The Courier-Journal report reveals that Churchill Downs application lists the new jobs with benefits at an average of $81/hour on a 40 hour work week, totalling an average of around $168,480 a year.

Interstate online gambling on horse racing is already allowed under a separate federal law that covers Churchill’s TwinSpires.com and simulcasting.

Churchill Downs acquired the Bluff Media online poker publisher last year, flagging its early interest in legal online poker . The company went on to obtain a Nevada online poker licence in July this year.

Churchill Downs also launched Luckity.com last year, a mobile and online website offering games and prizes with results linked to horse races.