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| Location | North Strabane Township,Pennsylvania,U.S.A. |
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| Owned by | Gaming and Leisure Properties |
| Operated by | Penn Entertainment |
| Date opened | June 28, 1963; 62 years ago (1963-06-28) (Horse racing) 2007 (Casino)[a] |
| Race type | Harness |
| Course type | Dirt |
| Notable races | The Adios |
| Official website | |
TheHollywood Casino at The Meadows, formerlyThe Meadows Racetrack and Casino, originally (1963) justThe Meadows horse-racing track, is aStandardbredharness-racingtrack andslot-machinecasino which is located inNorth Strabane Township, Pennsylvania, United States, about 25 miles (40 km) southwest ofPittsburgh. After 44 years as a racetrack, the casino was added in 2007.[a] The real estate has been owned byGaming and Leisure Properties since 2016, with the business operations owned byPenn Entertainment since 2018, including a long term lease agreement to Gaming and Leisure Properties.
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| Location | 210 Racetrack Road Washington, Pennsylvania |
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| Coordinates | 40°12′58″N80°12′07″W / 40.21622°N 80.20184°W /40.21622; -80.20184 |
| PHMC dedicated | August 01, 2009[1] |
In November 1962, ground was broken for the firstparimutuel horse-racing track inWestern Pennsylvania, to be operated by the Washington Trotting Association. The track opened on June 28, 1963, and was officially named The Meadows.[2]
The Washington Trotting Association was purchased in February 1973, by a group that includedtrainer/driverDelvin Miller. Miller's imprint still exists on the track today, with The Meadows most prestigious race bearing his name (the Delvin Miller Adios Pace for the Orchids), and a statue of his famous sireAdios located at the track's entrance. In 2009, thePennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission erected ahistorical marker at The Meadows to note Miller's historic importance.[1]
The Meadows introduced two significant technological advancements in 1983: Call-A-Bet and the Meadows Racing Network (MRN). Call-A-Bet allowed users to create individual wagering accounts and phone-in wagers for races. In conjunction, the MRN telecast each day's live races and was distributed to local cable providers. The telecast also included a half-hour preview show hosted by track announcerRoger Huston. The track used a marketing campaign to promote the services with the slogan "Every 16 minutes, the place goes crazy", alluding to the typically quick pace from race-to-race at harness tracks.
Pittsburgh lawyer Stuart A. Williams purchased the track in 1986, and subsequently sold it to England-basedLadbroke Group PLC in 1988. The company changed the name to Ladbroke at the Meadows and opened a series ofoff-track betting parlors named Ladbrokes. The first opened inNew Castle, Pennsylvania, in June 1990. Locations followed inGreensburg,Johnstown,Harmar Township,Moon, andWest Mifflin (all in Pennsylvania). The Greensburg location was closed in 2000 following the decline and eventual vacancy of theGreengate shopping mall where it was located. The Johnstown location was later sold to the Penn National Gaming corporation in July 1998. All other locations remained operational.
Magna Entertainment Corp. leased the track from Ladbroke in 2001. Magna transformed Call-A-Bet intoXpressbet, an internet- and telephone-based wagering service that allowed users to not only wager on The Meadows, but also on numerous other tracks owned by Magna or with whom a business agreement was in place. Xpressbet later expanded its operation to over 300 tracks.[3] The Meadows was also featured onHRTV, a cable television station part-owned by Magna. The OTB names were changed to "The Meadows-location" (e.g. The Meadows-Harmar). Another Greensburg OTB location was opened in 2004, but closed in 2007. The Meadows-West Mifflin also closed it doors in April 2012.
Las Vegas-basedCannery Casino Resorts purchased the track in July 2006. Magna was retained to operate the track under a five-year management contract.
In December 2007,Crown Limited, an Australian company, agreed to purchase Cannery's casino assets and The Meadows, but in March 2009 Crown backed out of the deal.[4]
In May 2014, Cannery agreed to sell The Meadows toGaming and Leisure Properties Inc. (GLPI) for $465 million. GLPI said that it would retain ownership of the real estate, while a third-party company would operate the facility.[5] The price was reduced to $440 million after GLPI filed a lawsuit accusing Cannery of misleading them about the property's financial performance.[6] The sale was completed in September 2016, withPinnacle Entertainment buying the operating business from GLPI for $138 million and leasing the property for $25 million per year.[7]
Horse racing was suspended at the racetrack in late January 2018 and 190 horses and five barns placed under quarantine after the virus EHV-1 was detected.[8] Racing resumed again less than a month later.[9]
Penn National Gaming (now Penn Entertainment) acquired the operations of The Meadows in October 2018 as part of the acquisition of Pinnacle.[10][11]
Legislation passed in Pennsylvania in July 2004 included The Meadows among the locations slated to obtain a gambling license for slot machines.[12] The legislation upheld a 2005 legal challenge by gambling opponents, and on September 27, 2006, The Meadows was awarded a gaming license by thePennsylvania Gaming Control Board.[13][14]
On November 16, 2006, The Meadowsbroke ground on construction.[15] Plans called for initial construction of a temporary casino adjacent to the track, which opened on June 11, 2007.[16]
On September 5, 2007, a ceremony was held to mark the beginning of thegrandstand removal, which was necessary to clear space for the permanent casino.[17] The permanent casino opened on April 15, 2009; the temporary building was also closed on this date. Amenities include a 350,000-square-foot (33,000 m2) casino, food court, café restaurant, premier steakhouse with view of the race track, covered grandstand, simulcast viewing area, VIP boxes, and a 24-lane, state-of-the-art bowling center.[18] The Meadows features over 3,300 slot machines.
On July 6, 2010, The Meadows Casino hosted an "invitation-only test date" for casino table games. The test runs were successful, and at 6 AM on July 8, 2010, the table games (including roulette, blackjack, craps, etc.) opened to the general public. The chips used by the Meadows Casino are RFID chips containing a microchip that identifies them as legitimate. This measure prevents counterfeit chips from entering into the play area.
On October 2, 2019, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board approved asports-betting license for The Meadows Racetrack and Casino, which will also offer online sports betting in partnership withDraftKings.[19] A soft opening for thesportsbook occurred on October 8, 2019, with the grand opening on October 10, 2019 featuring former Pittsburgh professional athletes in attendance for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.[19][20] The DraftKings online sportsbook launched on November 4, 2019.[19][21]
The Meadows, theharness racing facility in operation since 1963, forms a component part of theracino.
Therace track is a 5/8-mile (1006-m) oval. As the standard harness race distance is 1 mi (1609 m), races start on the backstretch and proceed through three turns.
The original track surface was made ofTartan track, a synthetic material manufactured by3M.[22] As problems with Tartan surfaces began to emerge, the surface was changed to a more traditional stone dust.
The track has no hub rail (inner portion is marked by pylons).[23] The stretch is 566 ft (173 m) in length, and 80 ft (24 m) in width, with an inside passing lane in the stretch, referred to as the Lightning Lane.
Unlike many other tracks in the United States, The Meadows conducts racing throughout the year, with more than two hundred days of the year featuring live racing. The specific days that the track conducts live racing vary. Racing is conducted primarily on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday afternoons with first race post time at 1:00 pm Eastern.
Races are conducted with a maximum of nine starters on the gate; horses in post ten start from the second tier.
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