LOUISVILLE, KY and AURORA, ON, May
14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Churchill Downs Incorporated
(NASDAQ: CHDN) ("CDI") and MI Developments Inc. (TSX: MIM.A, MIM.B;
NYSE: MIM) ("MID") today announced that the joint venture TrackNet
Media Group ("TrackNet Media"), originally formed between CDI and
Magna Entertainment Corp. ("MEC"), will be dissolved. CDI and MID's
wholly owned subsidiary MI Developments Investments Inc. will
remain partners in HorseRacing TV(TM) (HRTV). MI Developments
Investments Inc. is the successor in interest to MEC's ownership
interests in TrackNet Media and HRTV pursuant to the final
resolution of MEC's federal bankruptcy proceedings.
When TrackNet Media was formed in March
2007, MEC and CDI established four primary objectives for
the entity:
1. Foster an open and competitive business environment where horse
racing content is readily available to customers through a wide
variety of distribution points and wagering platforms;
2. Create an innovation-based environment of sustainable growth for the
North American horse racing industry domestically and
internationally;
3. Enhance wagering integrity and security to address horse racing
signal piracy and ensure content creators are compensated; and
4. Benefit the horsemen and racetracks that together create racing
content through new industry growth.
For a copy of the press release announcing TrackNet Media's
formation, see
http://sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/20212/000002021207000010/0000020212-07-000010-index.htm.
CDI Chief Executive Officer Bob
Evans, noted "Three years after we formed TrackNet Media, we
believe we have largely achieved our goals, including an 'open
content' environment where ADW operators now compete for customers
based on features and value instead of exclusive access to content.
This has led to new online options for wagering, blogs, wagering
tools, sign-up offers, streaming video and an explosion in online
contests for customers - and has helped produce meaningful growth
in the ADW segment even while overall wagering has declined with
respect to North American Thoroughbred racing. Furthermore,
TrackNet Media developed integrity and security processes and
standards, monitored compliance with these standards, and required
many of the significant purchasers of TrackNet Media content to
complete rigorous compliance reviews led by the independent
Thoroughbred Racing and Protection Bureau. We intend to continue
these compliance efforts going forward in coordination with the
TRPB. We are proud of the TrackNet Media team's record and feel it
has accomplished all that can be expected of it."
Dennis Mills, Chief Executive
Officer of MID, added "TrackNet Media's team and its many
achievements are very impressive and we are grateful for their
efforts. Clearly, the horse racing industry has changed
substantially over the last three years since TrackNet Media's
formation and, as we look forward, we see many new challenges and
opportunities ahead. MID remains committed to the four primary
objectives set at the time of TrackNet Media's formation. We look
forward to working with the racing industry to further those
objectives. We also look forward to continuing to work with CDI on
our HRTV joint venture and with other industry leaders on the
numerous issues facing our industry today."
Going forward, CDI and MID will each be independently and solely
responsible for buying all unrelated third party content for their
respective wagering platforms and for selling their own content to
unrelated third party wagering platforms. After an initial
transition period during which TrackNet Media staff will facilitate
the transfer of its functions to the respective teams at MID and
CDI, the TrackNet Media organization will be dissolved and will no
longer perform any of the previous services and functions it
provided.
All existing third-party content agreements involving TrackNet
Media were entered into by TrackNet Media as an agent for each
CDI-owned and MID-owned racetrack. Accordingly, those contracts,
and their underlying rights and obligations, will continue to be
valid for the remainder of the contracts' respective terms.
About Churchill Downs Incorporated:
Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI), headquartered in
Louisville, Ky., owns and operates
four world renowned Thoroughbred racing facilities: Arlington Park
in Illinois, Calder Casino and
Race Course in Florida, Churchill
Downs Race Track in Kentucky and
Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots in Louisiana. CDI operates slot and gaming
operations in Louisiana and
Florida. Churchill Downs tracks
are host to North America's most
prestigious races, including the Arlington Million, the Kentucky
Derby, the Kentucky Oaks, the Louisiana Derby and the Princess
Rooney, along with hosting the Breeders' Cup World Championships
for a record seventh time on Nov. 5-6,
2010. Churchill Downs also owns off-track betting
facilities, TwinSpires.com and other advance-deposit wagering
channels, television production, telecommunications and racing
service companies such as BRIS and a 50-percent interest in the
national cable and satellite network, HorseRacing TV, which
supports Churchill Downs' network of simulcasting and racing
operations. Churchill Downs' Entertainment Group produces the
HullabaLOU Music Festival at Churchill Downs which premieres on
July 23-25, 2010. Churchill Downs
trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol CHDN and
can be found at www.ChurchillDownsIncorporated.com.
About MI Developments Inc.:
MI Developments Inc. (MID) is a real estate operating company
engaged primarily in the acquisition, development, construction,
leasing, management and ownership of a predominantly industrial
rental portfolio leased primarily to Magna International Inc. and
its automotive operating units in North
America and Europe. MID
also acquires land that it intends to develop for mixed-use and
residential projects. For further information about MID, please
visit www.midevelopments.com. You can also find MID's filings at
www.sedar.com and www.sec.gov.
Forward-looking Statements for Churchill Downs Incorporated
Information set forth in this discussion and analysis contains
various "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section
27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995 (the "Act") provides certain "safe harbor" provisions for
forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements made in
this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q are made pursuant to the Act.
The reader is cautioned that such forward-looking statements are
based on information available at the time and/or management's good
faith belief with respect to future events, and are subject to
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or
results to differ materially from those expressed in the
statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date
the statement was made. We assume no obligation to update
forward-looking information to reflect actual results, changes in
assumptions or changes in other factors affecting forward-looking
information. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by
the use of terms such as "anticipate," "believe," "could,"
"estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "might," "plan," "predict,"
"project," "should," "will," and similar words, although some
forward-looking statements are expressed differently. Although we
believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking
statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such
expectations will prove to be correct.
Important factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from Churchill Downs Incorporated's expectations
include: the effect of global economic conditions, including any
disruptions in the credit markets; the effect (including possible
increases in the cost of doing business) resulting from future war
and terrorist activities or political uncertainties; the overall
economic environment; the impact of increasing insurance costs; the
impact of interest rate fluctuations; the effect of any change in
our accounting policies or practices; the financial performance of
our racing operations; the impact of gaming competition (including
lotteries and riverboat, cruise ship and land-based casinos) and
other sports and entertainment options in those markets in which we
operate; the impact of live racing day competition with other
Florida and Louisiana racetracks within those respective
markets; costs associated with our efforts in support of
alternative gaming initiatives; costs associated with customer
relationship management initiatives; a substantial change in law or
regulations affecting pari-mutuel and gaming activities; a
substantial change in allocation of live racing days; changes in
Illinois law that impact revenues
of racing operations in Illinois;
the presence of wagering facilities of Indiana racetracks near our operations; our
continued ability to effectively compete for the country's horses
and trainers necessary to achieve full fields horse races; our
continued ability to grow our share of the interstate simulcast
market and obtain the consents of horsemen's groups to interstate
simulcasting; our ability to execute our acquisition strategy and
to complete or successfully operate planned expansion projects; our
ability to successfully complete any divestiture transaction; our
ability to execute on our permanent slot facility in Louisiana and permanent slot facility in
Florida; market reaction to our
expansion projects; the loss of our totalisator companies or their
inability to provide us assurance of the reliability of their
internal control processes through Statement on Auditing Standards
# 70 audits or to keep their technology current; the need for
various alternative gaming approvals in Louisiana; our accountability for
environmental contamination; the loss of key personnel; the impact
of natural disasters on our operations and our ability to adjust
the casualty losses through our property and business interruption
insurance coverage; any business disruption associated with a
natural disaster and/or its aftermath; our ability to integrate
businesses we acquire, including our ability to maintain revenues
at historic levels and achieve anticipated cost savings; the impact
of wagering laws, including changes in laws or enforcement of those
laws by regulatory agencies; the outcome of pending or threatened
litigation; changes in our relationships with horsemen's groups and
their memberships; our ability to reach agreement with horsemen's
groups on future purse and other agreements (including, without
limiting, agreements on sharing of revenues from gaming and advance
deposit wagering); the effect of claims of third parties to
intellectual property rights; and the volatility of our stock
price.
Forward Looking Statements for MI Developments Inc.:
This press release may contain statements that, to the extent
they are not recitations of historical fact, constitute
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable
securities legislation, including the United States Securities Act
of 1933 and the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Forward-looking statements may include, among others, statements
relating to the MEC Chapter 11 Proceeding and MID's participation
therein and statements regarding MID's future plans, goals,
strategies, intentions, beliefs, estimates, costs, objectives,
economic performance or expectations, or the assumptions underlying
any of the foregoing. Words such as "may", "would", "could",
"will", "likely", "expect", "anticipate", "believe", "intend",
"plan", "forecast", "project", "estimate" and similar expressions
are used to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements should not be read as guarantees of future events,
performance or results and will not necessarily be accurate
indications of whether or the times at or by which such future
performance will be achieved. Undue reliance should not be placed
on such statements. Forward-looking statements are based on
information available at the time and/or management's good faith
assumptions and analyses made in light of our perception of
historical trends, current conditions and expected future
developments, as well as other factors we believe are appropriate
in the circumstances, and are subject to known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other unpredictable factors, many of which are
beyond MID's control, that could cause actual events or results to
differ materially from such forward-looking statements. Important
factors that could cause such differences include, but are not
limited to, the risks set forth in the "Risk Factors" section in
MID's Annual Information Form for 2009, filed on SEDAR at
www.sedar.com and attached as Exhibit 1 to MID's Annual Report on
Form 40-F for the year ended December 31,
2009, which investors are strongly advised to review. The
"Risk Factors" section also contains information about the material
factors or assumptions underlying such forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date the statements
were made and unless otherwise required by applicable securities
laws, MID expressly disclaims any intention and undertakes no
obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements
contained in this press release to reflect subsequent information,
events or circumstances or otherwise.
SOURCE MI Developments Inc.