Churchill Downs Paddock Club + Jockey Suites

Consisting of viewing suites and common areas, the Paddock Club & Jockey Club Suites cater to an elite segment of guests. Churchill Downs wanted to provide the best possible viewing experience not only for horseracing enthusiasts, but also for their family members and guests. To carry out its vision, Churchill Downs engaged longtime partner Alpha to design a solution that combined ease of use with customizability of content.

A key focus of this project was to enable guests in viewing suites to tailor video content to their needs by controlling each display separately. To that end, Alpha installed 2-4 displays per suite, transitioned the legacy QAM AV technology to the VITEC EZTV system of IPTV, and enabled control via touch panels and tablets. Families with young children could use a monitor to show cartoons, for example, while other guests watched live race feeds or news updates among a wide variety of other content. In addition, Alpha installed displays throughout the common areas so that guests could follow the action wherever they were within the Paddock Club & Jockey Club Suites.

VITEC’s IPTV system not only enables guests to enjoy a wide range of content, it provides a superior user experience. One example: Live feeds that once had a two-second lag now have an imperceptible 0.25-second delay. In addition, each suite features more powerful, yet simplified, operational control. From an operational standpoint, Alpha’s solution allowed Churchill Downs to transition seamlessly from QAM to IPTV in a manner that was seamless, predictable and cost-effective.