Churchill Downs is the operator of the legendary Churchill Downs Racetrack and the broader Live and Historical Racing, Wagering Services and Solutions, Gaming, and All Other segments, and the question for the next twelve months is whether the company can convert the record Derby Week contribution to Adjusted EBITDA, the 24.4 million peak viewership, the Kentucky Oaks primetime premiere, and the $980 million record net revenue quarter into the kind of operating profile the company has been telegraphing. The Q2 2026 print was the cleanest test of that thesis, and the cleanest signal is that the 152nd Kentucky Derby generated all-time record Derby Week contribution to Adjusted EBITDA alongside all-time record all-sources wagering and the highest average viewership of 19.6 million viewers up 11% versus the prior year. The strategic tension is the Derby Week concentration against the broader Live and Historical Racing diversification, and the forward question is whether the company can sustain the Derby Week tailwind in 2027 and whether the Wagering Services and Solutions segment can build on the $10 million Q2 2026 revenue growth and the Gaming segment can build on the $4 million Q2 2026 revenue growth.
The Derby Week story was the cleanest read on the operating platform, and it came with all of the supporting metrics working in the same direction. The 152nd Kentucky Derby delivered the highest peak viewership of 24.4 million viewers, the highest average viewership of 19.6 million viewers, and the all-time record all-sources wagering for the Kentucky Derby Week. The 152nd Kentucky Oaks in primetime for the first time drew 2.4 million viewers and produced the record all-sources wagering for the Kentucky Oaks race day card. The Q2 2026 net revenue grew to $980 million, the all-time record net revenue, up $46 million or 5% year over year.
The Q2 2026 net income attributable to CDI of $241 million, up 11% year over year, and the Q2 2026 Adjusted EBITDA of $477 million, up 6% year over year, anchored the print. The company ended Q2 2026 with net bank leverage of 3.7x. The forward question is whether the Derby Week inflection translates into the 2026 full-year results, and whether the Live and Historical Racing segment's $575 million Q2 2026 revenue growth extends the racetrack and HRM venue growth pattern.