MIAMI, Feb. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Magic City Jai-Alai, the only professional jai-alai fronton in the United States, launches its fifth season on February 14 with the announcement of three multi-year content distribution deals of its Jai-Alai H2H* (Head-to-Head) and H2H Battle Court seasons. The content distribution partnerships with FTF Sports, LaLiga Sports TV and Triple-B Media dramatically broadens the reach of the world’s fastest ball sport to a combined potential audience of 115 million households.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with FTF Sports, LaLiga Sports TV and Triple-B Media to bring the most exciting ball sport in the world to a mainstream audience. Today’s historic announcement demonstrates our long-term commitment to the sport of jai-alai, and these partnerships will enable us to engage fans like never before,” said Scott Savin, Chief Operating Officer at Magic City Casino, home of Magic City Jai-Alai.
The games are currently viewable via the Jai-Alai app and www.watchjaialai.com. The new distribution deals will allow content subscribers to catch the live action of 15 head-to-head matches per week through Samsung TV Plus, The Roku Channel, Xumo and other leading platforms.
“This is a strategic mix of content partners that sees the potential in this thrilling sport and supports us to amplify its reach and its long-term viability,” continues Savin.
FTF Sports is an emerging free ad-supported television sports network serving the passionate fan’s appreciation for competition, sportsmanship and performance. FTF features a 24/7 broadcast, including live and on-demand video (VOD), games, events, analysis and a variety of original programming. FTF will carry the majority of Magic City’s 2022 game days live, along with other archived content.
LaLiga Sports TV is an over-the-top (OTT) media platform that offers free coverage of live and pre-recorded content, with an approximate reach of 1.9 million viewers. The platform offers greater visibility and exposure of other sporting disciplines that are not covered by the traditional channels and whose content is disseminated in a limited way amongst fans. The distribution to LaLiga illustrates the significant international following of the sport.
Triple-B Media is a full-service television and digital media company, specializing in the operation of free, ad-supported television networks. To date, Triple-B Media owns or operates six television networks including FTF Sports, Lacrosse Sports Network, Fido TV, ACL Cornhole TV, MotoAmerica TV and Billiard TV. Triple-B is creating a stand-alone FAST channel, Jai Alai TV, that will feature live matches as well as archived content including past tournaments, player bios and game explanation videos. The channel will also feature more than 300 hours of library matches. Specific distribution agreements for Jai Alai TV will be announced in the upcoming months.
*Jai-Alai H2H is an alternate form of play to traditional parimutuel jai-alai that features two or four similarly skilled players competing against each other in a setup similar to tennis. The H2H format aims to make the game easier to understand and wager on.
About Magic City Jai-Alai Since 2018, Magic City Jai-Alai has presented an innovative take on the sport of jai-alai by taking the best features of the “world’s fastest game,” combining them with a state-of-the-art glass court and marrying these to the skill sets of an athletically-diverse roster. The fronton at Magic City Jai-Alai is located at 450 N.W. 37th Avenue in Miami. For more information on the Magic City Jai-Alai program, go to www.magiccitycasino.com/jai_alai, www.jaialaichannel.com or www.watchjaialai.com.
About FTF Sports FTF Sports is owned by Lax United Marketing which also distributes lacrosse programming under Lax Sports Network/LSN brand. The FTF Sports networks are available for free in 115M households, in the United States and in select countries outside the United States, via Samsung TV Plus (Channel 1167), Xumo (Channel 711), The Roku Channel (Channel 228), Twitch, DistroTV (Channel 38), Local Now, Fanatiz, SelecTV, Zingo, and others. For more information on FTF, please visit www.ftflive.com or connect with our PR Contact – Rob Wallace / rwallace@ftflive.com
The new and exciting take on H2H Jai-Alai at Magic City Casino & Jai-Alai, called Battle Court H2H, makes its debut on Monday, February 14th at 5-pm EST following the first PMW games of 2022 where the Cesta Cyclones take on the Chula Chargers. Battle Court H2H is essentially a team concept for H2H that involves four Squads of 6-players per Squad that will compete against each other in singles and doubles H2H games.
On a Battle Court H2H day (following PMW games), a Squad will compete against another Squad with five events: 3-singles games and 2-doubles games. A singles win is worth 1-point and a doubles win is worth 1.5 points. Points are accumulated for the Battle Court season from Feb 14 through April 10 and the two Squads with the most points will square-off in the Battle Court Championship on April 12. There is a bonus of $6,000 per player on the winning Squad.
The names of the four Squads are the Cesta Cyclones, Chula Chargers, Rebote Renegades and Wall Warriors. There is one Captain per team, designated by (C) after the captain’s name. The squads were able to formulate their own doubles teams. No player could play on more than two teams and each player had to play on at least one team. According to Stu Neiman, “The players are excited, it’s fun and the interest has been wonderful. New synergies, sponsorships, exclusivity agreements and other sources of potential revenue are already opening up. Which, in essence, means that the fixed odds, sports betting model is already working because it’s about far more than what is bet on each match. BetRivers has even opened a line on which team will win the whole thing.”
Scratches will be handled differently for Battle Court H2H. A lower ranked player can fill in for a scratched player in singles or doubles, however, if a scratch occurs during a match, that match will be forfeited as in the past. Rankings are 1-6 for singles (S1-S6) and 1-4 for doubles teams (D1-D4) within each Squad. A singles S1 player competes against other S1 players in other Squads and likewise for the other singles ranks. It’s different for doubles as D1 & D2 ranked teams can compete against each other and D3 & D4 ranked teams can compete against each other. Here are the Squads with players, rankings, and captain designations:
H2H Sports Betting is now expanded into seven states under BetRivers.com and is also approved in Nevada, however there is no partner yet (like BetRivers) to carry it. The seven states now with Magic City H2H sports betting through BetRivers are Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
The 2022 Magic City Jai-Alai pari-mutuel wagering (PMW) season starts on February 14th with an expanded roster. Manu (Ladutxe), Inaki (Goitia), Nicolas (Yeche), Goixerri, Aratz and Robin will be playing in the short-court Magic City Jai-Alai PMW games. Jairo has also been added to the MC roster but won’t be playing PMW games as he will be judging PMW games. Manny, aka Manuel, the top Calder player, will continue judging PMW games and both he and Jairo will be competing in the Battle Court H2H games this year.
The PMW games have no changes in number of games or bet types offered. There will be 3-categories of singles games this year; early (games 1,2), middle (games 3,4) and late (games 6,8). Vuelo is back and will be playing in early games. RonRon will still be sidelined at the start due to his back but is expected to start playing in PMW games at the end of this month. Spinner is still recovering from his injury but could be back in May/June. Both Vuelo and RonRon will be judging Battle Court H2H games. Norge Alvarez (played at Calder) will continue judging both PMW and H2H at Magic City. He’s been judging since 2018. Doubles games will continue being games 5 and 7.
The scouting report on Magic City Jai-Alai has been 100% great news. Practices are high-energy and for the first time the Magic City players have picked-up where they left off the previous year. Nicolas has been standing out and Manu has been adjusting well to the smaller court. Both Stu and Andrew have used the same word in describing the practices at Magic City so far; FANTASTIC!
There are (4) name changes on the roster for previous Magic City players (now using their last name); Juice is now Joseph, Anderluck is now Correa, Tennessee is Roque and Cool Fitness is Williams. The one and only El Barba is still playing under the name El Barba. He had knee surgery over the break and is expected to be playing in PMW games next week in the first two singles games.
The highly popular $1 Pick 5 Jackpot wager called the Jai-5 is expected to be more difficult to hit this year with the addition of new players making singles games more competitive. A bettor can only win the Jai-5 jackpot if they have the only winning ticket correctly selecting all five winners of games 3-7. The minimum jackpot is $2,000 if you are the only winning ticket. Likewise, the Mighty Ocho, a $1 Pick 8 Jackpot wager for games 1-8 will also be more difficult to hit. Last year the first ever Mighty Ocho was won by a lucky bettor, and they were paid the minimum $5,000 for that score. The largest Jai-5 in Magic City history was a whopping $27,348 last April to one lucky winner.
Be sure to watch Magic City PMW games the day after the Super Bowl, one week from Monday! Battle Court H2H makes its debut at 5-pm following the PMW performance Monday the 14th. The popular H2H handicapping contest will continue and start on February 20th. Stay tuned for blog posts on Magic City Battle Court H2H and World Super Court qualifying rounds!
It starts with a single drip. A small pinhole in a dam that gradually gets larger. In the end, the dam breaks causing a massive flood. Or, a tiny spark that ignites a twig, that becomes a massive forest fire causing catastrophic destruction. This happened to us. This happened to my sport. An insignificant drip, a small spark that unknowingly led to the end of Jai-Alai.
It was now late 1987, I was in Tampa meeting with my close friend Rick McEwen (son of legendary Tampa Tribune Sports Editor, Tom McEwen). Rick was a director at WFLA-TV, but had a small production company on the side. He had pitched us the idea of making a promotional film on the sport. The video could be used for condo groups, trade shows, or other media opportunities. It, also, could be a slick presentation for the promotion of our company, World Jai-Alai. Donovan agreed on a budget for us and the project began.
Our friendship went back a long way. Rick and I played Junior High School golf against each other. We maintained our close friendship throughout our lives, even after my departure to Miami. Thus, it was great that we could work on this project together.
I wrote the script. His team would shoot fresh video of action, crowd scenes, and interviews with the players. He would edit any existing footage we had and integrate the new shots into the script. I wanted the narrator to sound like the legendary voice of the NFL Films, John Facenda. Rick found an almost exact match. I knew this was going to good, but didn’t realize how good.
I remember specifically many of the player interviews. Some were with our American players, specifically Daniel and Corky. But, many were with the Basques. There were quotes like, “The company has done everything for us, given us everything… it’s like a big family.”
The testimonials from our players about the sport could not have been more positive. They even praised World Jai-Alai and how they were treated by the company. This would remain in the back of my mind as that narrative would quickly change.
The production was finished in late January of 1988. We called it, “Jai-Alai, There’s Nothing Like it!” I said it then, and I will say it now, it was the best documentary on the sport of Jai-Alai ever produced.
Rick (who passed away last year) did a phenomenal job on the film. I still get goose bumps when I watch it. But, some of those player quotes are filled with such irony. (here is a link to it: ” THIS IS JAI-ALAI ” Documentary 1988 – YouTube )
On one of my trips to Tampa during production, someone mentioned that a player in Connecticut (Bridgeport Jai-Alai, not associated with World Jai-Alai) had gotten upset with management and ripped up his contract. He soon went on a food strike, touting low pay and poor working conditions for Jai-Alai players. The drip.
When word got back to us in Florida about the antics of this disgruntled player, we all thought “he was crazy.” Some on the Tampa roster knew him from the Basque country. They dismissed his antics as “loco,” a player with a personal problem. It seemed all our players in World Jai-Alai (Miami, Tampa, Ocala, and Ft. Pierce) were happy and had no major issues. A few weeks passed, then, the spark.
Years earlier, Ricardo Lasa Sotil had played on the Miami Jai-Alai roster before being cut. He was angry and some say carried a grudge against Miami Jai-Alai for his abrupt dismissal from the roster. That anger carried on for decades.
Ricardo Lasa Sotil, Jr. was now a star player on the Hartford Jai-Alai roster. When hearing of the situation in nearby Bridgeport, father and son joined the cause of the disgruntled Bridgeport player. They thought salaries were too low and the players weren’t treated with the respect they deserved. Contract negotiations were one-sided and players had little or no choice in accepting contracts. The father/son duo began pushing for a “player’s association” that could negotiate as a group on behalf of all players.
On March 6th, 1988, they soon formed the International Jai-Alai Players Association (known as IJAPA). Ricardo Sotil, Jr, known as Ricky Lasa, became president. Thus, began the movement, starting in Connecticut and quickly spreading to Florida, for a recognized “player’s association.”
When I first heard about this in our corporate offices, I personally felt the players had the right for an association. I knew it existed in the NFL and the NBA. If the players had some problems, why not let them discuss it with management.
But, I quickly found out the answer. Dick Donovan, our president, and the other company owners were adamantly opposed. They felt a player’s association would lead directly to unionization. Management hates unions. No way did they want to give up ANY power to the players, no matter what.
So, a meeting was hastily called by all the fronton owners throughout the country. The meeting was to be held right down the hall from me in Donovan’s office. All were invited… The Connecticut frontons (Hartford, Bridgeport, and Milford), Rhode Island (Newport, owned by Palm Beach), and all the Florida facilities.
The purpose of the meeting was simple: how to prevent unionization of the Jai-Alai players. Recommendations would be heard for hiring top labor attorneys to represent the group. Donovan already had his recommendation, Hogg, Allen, and Rice, a top labor firm located in Miami. This meeting would bring together a group with a history of strong rivalries and bad-blood battles.
I quickly understood the ancient proverb: “The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” when Buddy Berenson walked into Miami Jai-Alai to attend the meeting. Buddy, past major stockholder of World Jai-Alai whose family is credited with being the “founders” of the sport in this country, had unfairly been ousted from the company.
Amid lawsuits and acrimony, the Berenson family had been exiled from the sport until purchasing Hartford Jai-Alai from World Jai-Alai almost 10 years earlier. Yet, Buddy Berenson courageously swallowed his pride and attended that meeting. Hartford, indeed, was in the crosshairs of Ricky Lasa. Buddy knew he needed allies in order to fight a player’s union. He knew this was going to be another battle for survival.
I have distinct memories of the day of the meeting. I was asked to attend, since undoubtedly there was the potential for a large media response.
The owners began to file into Donovan’s office sitting at his large conference table. Then, L. Stanley “Buddy” Berenson made the familiar walk upstairs to Donovan’s 2nd floor office, which was his Conference Room during his reign. When I saw him, I greeted him with a smile and we shook hands, knowing how tough this had to be for him.
Buddy, son Richard, and I met for lunch occasionally back in those days as I maintained my close friendship with both of them after they left World Jai-Alai. I always appreciated their kindness toward me and giving me the start in my Jai-Alai career.
Then, the other owners saw Buddy and greeted him warmly. As Donovan approached and reached out his hand, I wondered if Buddy would actually shake it. As painful as I’m sure it was for him, he quickly shook it and sat down right next to me.
Donovan, being the president of the largest Jai-Alai company and host of the meeting, spoke first. “We all know this “association” is leading to a player’s union,” he said. “There is no way I’m going to negotiate anything with Ricky Lasa.”
The other fronton owners nodded their heads in agreement. Art Sylvester, Palm Beach’s colorful owner, said that he had a friendly relationship with his players. “Maybe an association is all they want?” he said.
Berenson and the Connecticut frontons were ardently opposed to a player’s association. “Connecticut is a union state. I guarantee you this is going to lead to a strike,” Buddy said. I noticed, probably for the first time ever, Donovan wholeheartedly agreeing with Berenson.
Then, Dick Donovan told them he had invited Jesse Hogg, managing partner of a law firm that specialized in labor disputes, to speak to the group. Dick said he felt Hogg should represent all the frontons not only to save money, but to speak as one voice. Hogg entered the office.
Jesse Hogg looked like his name. He was a big, burly guy that had a friendly demeanor, but a certain toughness about him. After being introduced, Hogg discussed his view of the situation.
“The players had probably applied to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to certify their association. This was tantamount to becoming a union. We can oppose certification,” said Hogg. “There are reasons the NLRB does not have jurisdiction in this matter. The state regulates this industry, not the federal government,” he went on to say.
But, his closing statement to the group still rings in my mind. “We will sue on the jurisdictional issue,” he said. “We will delay and delay. The players will eventually give up. They will never have a union,” he concluded.
With those comforting words, the meeting adjourned. The Florida frontons agreed to hire the Hogg firm. The Connecticut frontons decided on separate representation. Both were determined to see Hogg’s words become a reality. “The players will never have a union.” A drip, a spark, and …..!