Churchill Downs Racetrack Lifts Curtain on New Big Board Ahead of Kentucky Derby Week

It was a delicate job in a 150-year-old venue laden with traditions. Begun at the end of December, the 4K-capable videoboard was completed by Mitsubishi Electric before Opening Day on April 25

Headed into the 2026 Kentucky Derby Week, Churchill Downs Racetrack in Louisville, KY, is welcoming fans with a new Big Board on the inside portion of the iconic track. Containing more than15,000 sq. ft. of LED real estate, the 89- x 170-ft. 4K-capable videoboard is the largest display in U.S. thoroughbred racing and one of the seven largest traditional LED video displays in U.S. sports.

This updated Big Board will be immense for the live fan experience, says Keith Wetzler, senior director/executive producer, broadcasting, Churchill Downs. Fans want updated amenities, so the new videoboard will provide so much to anyone who comes here.

Need of a Change: Accessibility to Parts Prompts the Project

Debuting in 2014, the Big Board was an innovative addition to the overall landscape of Churchill Downs. A brand partnership between Panasonic and Lighthouse Technologies allowed the venue to share pertinent information and give spectators a chance to see the action on the track in incredible detail. (California Chrome won the first of two Triple Crown races that year with a trip to the winner's circle in Louisville.) Since then, the brand partnership has shifted away from outdoor LED videoboards, presenting a challenge to updating the display.

From 2018 to 2025, it was starting to get very hard to get new parts, Wetzler points out. You don't want to go into Kentucky Derby Week with technical difficulties on your videoboard. That's not a great fan experience.

The search for a new videoboard aligned well with the venue's approach to constantly improving its tech stack. In 2016, Alpha - a systems integrator with a 10-year working relationship with Churchill Downs - led construction of the track's dedicated production facility. Excluding COVID-19-impacted 2020, the space has received enhancements every subsequent year, including a new audio system installed in 2023. For this ambitious videoboard project, Churchill Downs went out with bids to a handful of LED manufacturers and, through Alpha's recommendation, settled on Mitsubishi Electric as the provider of the new Big Board.

An in-depth look at the installation from start to finish. We began discussions to figure out a solution that would work best for Churchill Downs, says Michael Dixon, executive sales manager, Mitsubishi Electric Power Products (MEPPI). We were thrilled to partner with a globally recognized leader in innovation that aligns perfectly with our own approach to business. We did some pre-engineering that paid dividends as we got closer to submitting our proposals.

A trusted vendor for sports teams with as much brand recognition as Churchill Downs - Dallas Cowboys, University of Michigan - and for tech-forward venues - Oracle Park, Lumen Field, the United Center -Mitsubishi Electric has more than 45 years of battle-tested experience in the industry. Its reputation was a tally in the positive column, but, from the first conversation, Wetzler was impressed with the Mitsubishi Electric team's attentive approach to filling customized requests.

They took precise measurements to give us an accurate quote and were available for all of our questions, he notes. It became very apparent that they wanted to earn our business. When you're spending a lot of money on a videoboard, you want to feel comfortable with the people you're working with.

As for the fear of not having available parts, Mitsubishi Electric's office in Warrendale, PA - about 20 miles north of downtown Pittsburgh - can receive and repair damaged parts and ship them back to Louisville.

Before the Starting Gate: The Goal Was To Finish by Season Open

Once Mitsubishi Electric was chosen, it was time to get to work. The project began at the end of December, a down period when horses head to warmer climates to train for the season. A clear track meant that cranes and other heavy machinery could be brought onsite to take away the previous board and erect the new one.

At this time, Wetzler was tasked with planning for the crown jewel of the horse-racing calendar: the Kentucky Derby. Like NASCAR, which opens its season with the Super Bowl of Racing, the Daytona 500, the horse-racing seasons opens with a week of races leading up to the Run for the Roses. Wetzler relied on Mitsubishi Electric's onsite crew and their streamlined operation to handle a brunt of the legwork.

During the winter months, the Mitsubishi Electric team was busy constructing the new Big Board at Churchill Downs. Once we got the deal done and we were all systems go, he says, they started dismantling the old board and installing the new board. We both had our own project managers to keep everyone informed on what was going on.

This project was also completed with the help of Alpha Senior Account Executive, Sports and Live Events, Dustin Culhane on the systems-integration side and Churchill Downs Director, Broadcast Engineering, Randy Garrett on the tech side. The Mitsubishi team understood Churchill Downs expectations and how the display will dramatically change the in-person experience. Operationally, they also knew that this brand-new piece of technology needed to work properly with existing control-room workflows.

We custom-fabricated LED cabinets to integrate perfectly with the existing structure, which significantly reduced installation time and minimized any impact on their daily horse and stable operations, Dixon explains. We had a very short window to do this, and, most important, this approach delivered some meaningful cost savings for Churchill Downs. This approach gave Keith and his team a lot of peace of mind, and it gave our team a lot of p

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2026/04/29/churchill-downs-racetrack-lifts...
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