Breeders' Cup Bets On Big Investment

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (TheStreet) -- It's not the Super Bowl or even the Triple Crown, but sponsors, bettors and racing enthusiasts alike know the Breeders' Cup is the moneymaking equivalent of a mid-Fall Final Four.

On Nov. 5-6, $26 million in purse money, more than $40 million in revenue and more than $175 million in wagers -- nearly double the amount bet on this year's Super Bowl -- are on the line as 65 qualifying races in eight countries come down to these last legs. Zenyatta's quest for her third-straight Breeders' Cup victory and a 20-0 race record will steal the race-day headlines, but the millions changing hands behind the scenes will affect the race industry, sponsor companies and various coffers for years to come.

More than $175 million in wagers at this year's Breeders' Cup, but there are other ways to get invested in the event and culture of horseracing and breeding.

Greg Avioli, president and chief executive of Breeder's Cup Limited, which operates the Breeder's Cup World Championship, deserves much of the credit for making these little races at Churchill Downs(CHDN) in Louisville so lucrative. CEO since 2006, Avioli changed the race format in 2007 to include dozens of qualifying races in the U.S., Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Ireland. This led to a record 34 international entries in last year's Cup, a partnership with U.K.-based Internet gaming company Betfair and its 3 million customers and more than $50 million in international wagers last year.

He was also responsible for the event's eight-year broadcast partnership with Disney's(DIS) ESPN that began in 2006 and brought the event to more than 180 million households in 120 countries. Why go to such great lengths to attract a global audience? Because U.S. horse racing has two to three events that bring in more than $100 million in wagers (the Kentucky Derby, Breeders' Cup and Belmont Stakes, if the Triple Crown is on the line). Hong Kong, meanwhile, runs two races a week 40 weeks a year, with each bringing in more than $100 million in wagers.

TheStreet.com spoke with Avioli about the high stakes of his event and how big payouts, bigger bets and billions in expendable income present a tempting trifecta for savvy investors or sponsors willing to play the ponies:

What does it take to put this event together and keep it growing?

Avioli: While money alone doesn't make an event, in the case of trying to build a world championship where you're trying to attract the top horses from eight or nine different countries, you have to have a level of prize money that's sufficient to get their attention. That purse started out in 1984 at $10 million and it stayed relatively stable at $14 million until 2006. In my first year here, we raised it on the existing eight races to $20 million. Over the last couple of years, we kept inching up to where we have 14 races and $26 million.