After years of an upward trend, the Kentucky Derby Museum was hit hard like the rest of the tourism industry in 2020. Museum Vice President Katie Fussenegger on Wednesday spoke virtually to the Owensboro Rotary about how her team handled the challenges and was able to find success.
Fussenegger is also the incoming chair of KY Tourism Industry Association Executive Board.
She told Rotary members that the Kentucky Derby was not only important to Louisville, but to the entire Commonwealth as a whole.
The museum was awarded Nonprofit Business of the Year in 2016 by Louisville First. Things continued to progress in 2018, when the museum was renovated to add 11,000 square feet of space. In 2019, the museum continued its success with a “banner year,” Fussenegger said, with 240,000 visitors.
Then things took a big step back.
“2020 was a rough year,” Fussenegger said. “We made $8.7 million in revenue in 2019. We made only $3.3 million last year. It dropped by about 62%.”
The museum was able to overcome the loss in revenue with the help of CARES Act funding and a sizable endowment that wasn’t earmarked for anything specific, she said.
“We decided, ‘How could COVID-19 be a positive?’ As you can imagine, the news of the Derby being moved from May to September was devastating,” Fussenegger said. “We were sitting on a lot of derby merchandise. We came up with a campaign that garnered over $200,000 in revenue.”
With a prioritized focus on education, Fussenegger listed a number of upcoming events and exhibits taking place, including an “African Americans to Thoroughbred Racing project that has grown into six programs as part of its Black Heritage and Racing Collection.
At the end of March, the museum will hold a live performance highlighting the historical horse racing events of the past, while a traveling exhibit will launch in June.
Right to Ride — a new exhibit featuring historical insight and artifacts about female jockeys on the racetrack — will also continue its programming into 2021.
Rotary Club members expressed interest in becoming involved with the museum’s traveling exhibit, though no details were discussed during Wednesday’s meeting.
