LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- The sagging economy is catching up to the Kentucky Derby Festival. The festival, which attracts about 1.5 million people each year, is struggling to find corporate sponsors. Compared with a year ago, the festival is about $250,000 behind in sponsorship commitments for events, and some sponsors have pulled out, festival President and CEO Mike Berry told The Courier-Journal of Louisville. “Because of the economy, this is the most difficult year we have ever experienced lining up corporate sponsorships,” said Patrick Armstrong, the festival’s senior vice president of marketing and development. As a result, the price of Pegasus Pins will be a dollar higher, rising to $4 at retailers and $5 at events. It’s the first price hike since 2003 for the pins, about 350,000 of which are purchased annually. The operating budget for this year’s 54th Derby Festival is $6 million, up a fraction from $5.9 million in 2008, Berry said. About half that money comes from corporate sponsors. The rest comes from the sale of pins and festival merchandise, event entry fees and ticket sales and concession sales. Berry said much of the drop-off in sponsorships has been among “small to medium sponsors, in the $750 to $10,000 range.” Exactly how the sponsorship issues might affect the festival isn’t clear. Officials said they were not ready to say whether events might be cut or scaled back until fund raising is completed. The 2009 festival calendar shows 70 events, almost identical to last year’s number. One event has been dropped—a Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association dinner that Berry said “didn’t make a lot of money for us” and was ended by mutual consent. Two events are new to the festival—a “Dancing With the Stars” knockoff and the Illumination Derby Ball, a prom-style party being held May 1 for teenagers. Meanwhile, Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom helped fund several events in 2008 but is “out completely” of the 2009 festival, Berry said. Local Six Flags spokeswoman Carolyn McLean said the amusement park decided to “make some adjustments” in its spending and it intends to renew business with the festival in the future. Despite the economy, a few new sponsors have come aboard, including the Friends of Coal Kentucky, a non profit in Lexington that promotes the coal industry and that will be sponsoring a major concert planned at Kroger’s Fest-a-Ville. Friends of Coal spokesman David Moss declined to say how much the group is putting up for the concert or to name the music act. But he said the concert “is a way for us to remind people that coal is a vibrant industry.” Berry also expects the economic downturn will cause the festival to lose money on its premier event, the huge air and fireworks show known as Thunder Over Louisville. Berry acknowledged that the festival “almost always” loses at least $100,000 on Thunder, adding that “the goal is to minimize the loss.”
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