It looks like Orlando Jai-alai is holding its “season” this week. Yep, for some reason they are still holding the once required motion to hold a certain about of jai-alai performances to maintain other gambling options such as parimutuel wagering on horse tracks and poker playing.
They have done this 2-man sham thing every year as a precaution to keep their hopes alive to eventually reopen the gambling room somewhere in the area.
Getting the politicians to agree on that has not been so lucky. Even a huge $500 million dollar investment on the 50-acre lot Birdoff owns was turned down because they wanted a small poker room as part of the plans.
The building is currently a church the last time I heard, and somehow they must get out there on the court a hold their 7 performances a day for the week.
We have the latest updates on the upcoming Dania Jai-alai season. There really isn’t much earth-shattering news to report on and may reflect the lack of any updates from management.
Benny is working on the roster as we speak but is in the process of waiting for players to confirm or decline returning. It’s a hard commitment on the players end – they all come from the Basque/Spain/France region – and the season is only three months long. I’m sure the deadline will be sooner than later.
Depending on how many players decline to return this season, Benny might be making a scouting trip to area where it all started in September. It’s unconfirmed at the moment if he is going but I think he will know withing the next 3 weeks or so.
The season runs December 2nd to February 28th.
There has been a change in the weekly schedule. They will be playing a double on Tuesday’s with a matinee and evening performance. The fronton will be dark on Monday and Wednesday’s. Not sure why they are closing on the Wednesday nights, when that hump day usually signals the beginning of the week of playing. Play will also be held on Thursday and Friday nights, a double performance on Saturday followed by a Sunday matinee.
We will keep you posted on the latest news as it happens.
On a sad note, I see my favorite pizza and Italian restaurant in Miami has closed their doors. “Crust” had national acclaim and was located near the Miami river. The best pizza and chicken parm you can cut with a fork. The reviews on Trip Adviser back then were among the highest of any restaurant in America. New owners took over two years ago and ran it into the ground. Bring it back Anita!
I’m sure you have heard the rumors. Magic City will be moving to Miami Casino Jai-alai. The 99-year-old building and “birthplace” of jai-alai in the United States is one of the top locations to continue the World Jai-alai League as their lease runs out at the Magic City Casino this year. However, as of now, it is just a rumor, and nothing has been formally announced.
Since my last story on this matter, I’ve had a lot of people ask me how this glass only back wall format would work. I had reported that this glass back wall concept was one of the plans being kicked around if their new headquarters would go to one of the two existing jai-alai cancha’s – in Dania and Miami.
The existing front and side walls would be used with a newly constructed all glass back wall getting installed along the10 line. This unique concept would bring back a truer jai-alai format that had existed before. Of course, the pelota, now two layers of goat skin would have to be formulated to adjust to a shorter court. The front walls are about 18” thick of granite. The back wall, being glass, would likely withstand any cracking since there is not a direct throw coming at it.
The length of the court would be close to the existing court at Magic City with this glass addition. A great feature of the glass back wall maintains the fantastic view that everybody can enjoy. Of course, Arra, Stu, and Andrew won’t lose the seats Bob Uecker would crave. Anything that can bring back that distinct sound of the pelota hitting the front wall would be an additional bonus. The camera angles from the back of the court would remain too.
The width of the court being proposed would be to keep it the same as it is now – about 45 feet – for a few reasons. This would create more kill shots, which management realizes needs to happen to speed the game up. Some of the top A players can play catch for several minutes at a time before a kill shot even develops. This would give players a wide area to retrieve a carom instead of running into a net that they are not allowed to touch and resume play. Another reason is to go back to the sound of the ball hitting the wood as it goes out of bounds. Currently the judges make the difficult call with no sound to go by. Instant replay has been used a few times on questionable calls.
The height of the wall would likely be cut down somewhat. Not sure how much it would be lowered, but if the width is to remain the same as it was with goat skin jai-alai, it would be unproportional. Generally, the height and width of the walls are about the same, with the length about 4 times that. Talk of adding a new overhead screen that is lower than the existing would to compensate the shorter dimensions.
To me, there is a lot of work to do, but certainly the most cost economical one vs building an entire new place that would take a year or two to complete with permitting, etc. An entire new name and marketing plan would have to be implemented too.
How long would this take? I’m not a contractor but I would assume at least 6 months. That would put them on a time frame to keep on schedule for 2026. The players all receive a salary year-round, so any delay hurts not only them from not receiving bonus money but ownership too from not being open at all.
Again, this is all part of the planning that goes on when making a difficult and important decisions as to where your future is heading. Nothing has been finalized till officially announced by Magic City Jai-alai.
