Meadows Casino has record $116.7 million in jackpot payouts in 2015
Meadows Casino customers hit the jackpot like never before in 2015.
They received $116,728,248 in jackpot payouts during the year, the largest annual amount since the facility opened in 2007. But that wasn’t the only record recorded, as the August payout was the highest for a month in the casino’s history — a figure that was then broken in September. The Meadows’ best October, November and December followed.
Over the year, 109 guests took home jackpots of $25,000 or more.
This was the third year in a row that the casino in North Strabane Township topped $100 million in payouts. Annual jackpots have risen 43 percent since 2010, from $79,451,890 that year to $116 million-plus in 2015.
Apparently, the marketing and advertising strategy officials at the Meadows Racetrack & Casino had in place over the past 18 months paid off in those payouts. They promoted the casino as a place of big jackpots, comfortable gambling experience and excitement.
Enhancements have been added as well, including “loosening” some slot machines to allow 99 percent payouts; upgrading the casino’s nightclubs and restaurants; opening of an on-site hotel; and the ongoing development of the mixed-use Street at the Meadows nearby.
“The Meadows continuously implements new initiatives that have positioned our facility as the premier casino in the tri-state region,” Sean Sullivan, Meadows vice president and general manager, said in a statement.
Casino players last month reeled in $9,944,137 in jackpots. But there was a more newsworthy financial transaction there in December: the sale of The Meadows to Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc. for $440 million. The companies had reached a deal in May 2014.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board and Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission must approve the sale, which is expected to close in the second half of this year.
Gaming and Leisure, from Wyomissing in eastern Pennsylvania, is getting a casino with 180,000 square feet and a complex that employs about 1,400 — making it one of the top employers in Washington County.