LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Some of the biggest events Louisville plays host to this year are expected to generate hundreds of millions of dollars of economic impact.
Louisville Tourism released its estimated economic impact Monday for the city's top 20 events this year, totaling more than $750 million. The 150th Kentucky Derby and the 106th PGA Championship headline the events coming this spring.
"We know Louisville will be in the national limelight several times throughout the year, elevating the city’s brand well past 2024," said Cleo Battle, president and CEO of Louisville Tourism. "With Travel + Leisure recently designating our city as one of the ’50 Best Places to Travel to in 2024,’ Louisville is coming out of the gate with a strong start to the year."
Some of the events and estimated economic impact include:
| Event | Anticipated attendance | Estimated economic impact |
| 150th Kentucky Derby and Oaks | 256,000 | $405 million |
| 106th PGA Championship | 200,000 | $78.5 million |
| TFN Run 4 Roses Classic and Championship | 195,000 | $30.4 million |
| Mid-America Trucking Show | 59,000 | $29.3 million |
| Equip Exposition | 27,000 | $26.0 million |
Louisville Tourism said the city has a goal of welcoming 25 million annual visitors by 2030.
The Kentucky Derby 150, sponsored by Woodford Reserve, is Saturday, May 4, 2024, at historic Churchill Downs in Louisville.
General admission tickets for the infield are $80 for Derby Day and $60 for Kentucky Oaks Day. Infield tickets for both days are $130 per person. Those tickets don't include a seat, food or drink, but you get to mingle with some of the most colorful characters at the track.
Tickets are sold as a two-day package for both Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby starting at $693 person, but that does include all-inclusive food and drink. Off-site parking is available at the Kentucky Exposition Center with a complimentary shuttle.
Ongoing renovations to Churchill Downs are scheduled to be complete for Derby 150. Construction crews continue work on a $200 million project to transform the paddock area at the track while horses trudged through the track on the opposing side of the grandstand.
The PGA Championship will return to Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville next spring, and crews are hard at work around the property finishing the final major projects before the pros arrive.
In late-2021, the club began work to re-sod the entire golf course. The course was transitioned from a cool-season Bentgrass to a warm-season Zyosia grass, allowing for easier maintenance of the course during the warm season, course superintendent John Ballard said.
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