Should World Jai-alai Tolerate Players Ripping Refs on Live Stream?
March 16, 2026: At least on two occasions now, players have come on the live stream after winning the match and criticize how their referees are performing.
It happened during the last week on last season and recently happened again a couple of weeks ago. Players come on the live broadcast – totally at the expense of World Jai-alai on their own “network” and rip the refs for the performance. Missing calls happens in every sport, but when gambling is directly involved, things can get sticky. Yes, football, baseball, basketball players complain all the time. I remember a couple of guys in the 70s playing tennis that were famous for it. It made it interesting, however.
A question one must ask, with a sticky reputation in the past with strangers saying “That game is rigged” which is often heard when the word “Jai-alai” is brought up, one must wonder how can this be allowed? Should players be allowed to criticize the company they work for – on their platform and broadcast, to release their frustrations in such a manner? Were the players fined at all? Is World Jai-alai going to address it, or have they already? Or do they accept it as “that’s the way it is today”.
In the old days, you could not even talk to the players or anybody on the other side of the screen. Frontons even had a guy from the state sit up in the broadcast booth area monitoring things. Even at the grand opening at Calder Jai-alai, I was scolded for trying to talk to Brodie making his pro debut. But he was gone after that performance and never seen again that I know of and has never appeared at Magic City during their 8–9-year run.
What are your thoughts? I’ll start a thread on Tigers site after this story posts. Look forward to hearing the comments.
The sport of Jai-Alai is inextricably linked to the original Miami “Land boom” of the early 1920’s which had been facilitated by the completion of Henry Flagler’s East Coast Railway. Significant real estate speculation, freedom from State income taxes, mild winters & heavy advertising by Carl Fisher led to the migration of approximately 2.5 million residents and extensive development between 1924 & 1926. Jai-Alai would become the State’s first professional sport. In November of 1923 Miami realtors Carson Bradford and Joe Adams founded the South Florida Amusement Company to bring the sport of Jai-Alai to Miami from Cuba.
Jai-Alai had been played professionally for 22 years in Havanna, Cuba beginning in 1901, expanding to 2 seasonal frontons. American visitors to Havana would be well familiar with the novel sport. A 1904 New York Times article referred to Jai-Alai as “Havana’s Favorite Recreation.” Fronton Hialeah was built in 1923 and held its Grand Opening on February 2nd, 1924. The building was constructed of reinforced steel and concrete at a reported cost of about $200,000. Half the interior was dedicated to a playing court of 60 by 150 feet. “The arena included a grandstand for 3,600 spectators, a dance area for 500 and a canteen.”
Public affairs specialist and Florida Historian Jane Feehan describes opening night “drawing capacity crowds, including high society women dressed in sequined gowns and fur wraps and men in dinner or polo jackets. Attendees came from Miami, Miami Beach, from yachts and hotels. The “in” crowd included Hialeah Mayor and Ms. Edward Romfh, Ms. Jane Fisher, wife of Miami Beach developer Carl Fisher, William Jennings Bryan, a Coconut Grove winter resident and political figure of national stature, and James Deering of the Deering Harvester Company and the Vizcaya Estate.” From the outset, much like all of South Florida, Miami was a seasonal town and Jai-Alai would be played Seasonally from 1924 to 1980.
The Hialeah Fronton, would be in operation from 1924 to 1926. During this period Jai-Alai players would play a circuit, traveling between Europe, Mexico, Cuba and the United States. Seasonal operations at the Hialeah Fronton were well attended and plans were made to build a second, competing fronton at 36th Street and 37th Avenue in Miami in the Fall of 1925. The foundation for what would become “Biscayne Jai-Alai” (Later Known as “Miami Jai-Alai” – The “Yankee Stadium” of Jai-Alai) was laid in the fall of 1925 with steelwork going up in January of 1926. Tex Rickard, a colorful and somewhat scandalous boxing promoter, founder of The New York Rangers and builder of the third incarnation of Madison Square Garden was the lead partner in the group which built Biscayne Jai-Alai.
TWO MIAMI FRONTONS – TWO COMPANIES SEPARATED BY 10 MILES IN 1926? While we can dream of a multi-year, intercity rivalry between the two Jai-Alai Frontons in Miami there is no information to support that both facilities were operational at the same time. Based on the state of construction displayed in the Miami News in January of 1926 (steelwork with no roof of walls) principal construction of the Biscayne Fronton would have been completed shortly before “The Great Miami Hurricane,” a Cat 4 storm directly hitting greater Miami on September 17-18, 1926. We do know that the original Hialeah Fronton was damaged beyond repair whereas the newer and larger Biscayne Fronton sustained roof and window damage. Repairs were made and a charity tournament for the Red Cross was held in October of 2026. The Winter of 1926 has always been held as the official opening of “Miami Jai-Alai.” Miami Jai-Alai would stand as the sole North American Jai-Alai Fronton for 27 years. During this time Jai-Alai would be played seasonally, December through April and was sold-out nightly.
“EARLY” ATTEMPTS AT EXPANSION INTO OTHER STATES:
(1) “Jai-Alai Club” New Orleans (1925-1938) Owner / promoter Jow W. Brown ran seasonal Jai-Alai in a multi-purpose facility which included a dance hall and slot machines. It is believed that jai-Alai was played there until 1938. The public was indifferent to the sport and the historic building was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.
(2) “Chicago’s Rainbow Fronton” (1927-1929) With as many as 3,000 seats, Promoter Al Mann built a sports arena adjacent to the rainbow room. The building was a fronton, designed to host games of Jai-Alai. Mann brought in 35 young men from Spain’s Basque region to play in the fronton, which was operated by a newly formed corporation, the Rainbow Exhibition Company. A Tribune reporter writing under the byline “Mexican Joe” observed: “The spectators weren’t one-tenth as enthusiastic as are the spectators in Mexico City or Havana. The enthusiasm may have increased as the Rainbow came up with a legal loophole allowing a form of betting—spectators could contribute money to a fund for the athletes, receiving a dividend if their selected player won. The operation was plagued by issues related to prohibition. A significant cultural note of the time, Al Jolson came to Chicago in the spring of 1928 and spent a few weeks starring in a show at the Four Cohans theater. He made an appearance at the Rainbow Fronton; “As an indoor sport, Jai-Alai is the most fascinating game I have ever witnessed,” Jolson said, according to a Rainbow advertisement. “It is exciting and full of thrills and when I am not with an audience I am at Fred Mann’s Rainbow Fronton. The crowds that have attended the games the first year of the sport indicate a great future.” Operations ceased in 1929
(3) “New York City’s Hippodrome” (1938-39) The New York Times announced the opening of Jai-Alai in New York City on September 9th, 1938. Promoters Mike Jacobs and Lee Shubert (of the Shubert Theater) in partnership with Richard Berenson brought Jai-Alai to Manhattan for one season. A 150ft court was erected and one of the sport’s earliest stars “Guillermo” was prominently featured.
JAI-ALAI AS A PARIMUTUEL SPORT IN FLORIDA – Florida passed is first Parimutuel wagering laws in 1931 which allowed for PMW wagering on Thoroughbreds and Greyhounds. Ownership of Biscayne Jai-Alai brought-in Richard Berenson through the Bank of Boston to promote and further develop Jai-Alai. Though popular as a sport and unofically serving as Florida’s first professional sport, it was believed to have increased potential with the expansion of Parimutuel wagering in Florida. Jai-Alai joined Thoroughbreds and Greyhounds in 1933 and came under the regulation of State Gaming Authorities. Biscayne Jai-Alai changed its name to Miami Jai-Alai and for the next 20 years the facility at the corner of 36th Street and 37th avenue remained the only facility in the United States where one could watch and wager on the sport of Jai-Alai.
Berlin, Conn: March 16, 2026: The Connecticut Amateur Jai-alai facility led by Matt DiDominzio recently announced a new date for their upcoming spring tournament.
The new dates are May 1 and 2nd – a Friday and a Saturday tournament Quinella Style with switching partners. There will also be two divisions.
Players are required to wear white pants and the cost to participate is $50 per player. Look for the action to begin Friday night around 6:30pm and a good part of Saturday starting around 9am morning, but actual hours are set by the promotor.
You will have plenty of time to sign up with the deadline April 25th. There appears to be a good response, and a decent turnout is expected. Several players from Tampa Bay have committed to play including the “Ant”, Anthony Sutton who has sparingly played in St. Pete due to a hand injury last year.
February 16, 2026: Miami, Fla.: The World Jai alai League opened its doors to the public Friday night to a crowd estimated at between 150-200 people as jai-alai has returned to the original home of USA jai-alai. Miami Jai-alai Fronton is now called the JAM Arena (Jai-alai Miami) and is now officially 100 years old.
Formally known as Magic City Ja-alai, the new fronton uses the original front and side walls but has added a glass back wall near the serving line area. As reported earlier, the pace of play has slowed somewhat, but the big story is how nice the newly remodeled fronton looks. A multimillion-dollar investment has cleaned up the place what had looked like a war zone for decades. The building now holds 1,500 seats – all fixed up along with enhancements all around and including the lobby area.
Jai-alai was not the only activity to make place there, as a comedy show followed the jai-alai performance at 11pm. It is not known how many attended that. Tickets for the comedy show were $89 and $99. The next jai-alai performance is Friday February 20th at 7pm while the next comedy show of Matt Friend will be on Friday March 27th.
The only complaint we heard was from people sitting in the VIP area – basically the first 4 rows. Front row seats were $32 and included a “free” drink and “free” valet parking. The seats are below the stage with several large speakers on the stage blocking the view.
Special thanks to George Quinn and Bob Garby for supplying the photos. The Pelota Press was unable to attend as their parent company, The New York Times, did now allow travel reimbursement of $700 a night hotel rooms for 3-star hotels, or $450 for 2-star hotels with optional bed bugs located directly under Miami Airport’s flight path with unbearable noise 24 hours a day. Only successful actors, musicians, and drug dealers can afford living there, I guess.
World Jai-alai League’s New Home at JAM Arena Review
February 11, 2026: The World Jai-alai League had it’s opening day yesterday afternoon at a new location – the JAM Arena – formally known as the “Yankee Stadium” of jai-alai – Miami Jai-alai.
There were lots of good things but on the other hand, there was some bad. It’s the bad that is troublesome.
First the Good News…….
The ball sounded almost like a goatskin pelota coming off the front wall. Love the sound like all of us do. I couldn’t stand the sound of the Magic City court when the ball hit the front wall. Especially when you were there live and in person watching. It sounded like contraction going on. Bam. Bam. Bam. Terrible. With this revised Calder ball they are using smacking the granite front wall, it had that same sound that could be heard 100 years ago on the court.
The screen height is 15 feet higher than the Magic City court. This makes a huge difference for sure.
The court is longer by 6 feet. It is now 126 feet long vs. the Magic City 120 feet.
The court is a few feet wider now. This allows for more carom action. Players touching the out of bounds netting that protects the spectators is much less likely to get hit.
Chick-chaks actually took place.
Now for the Bad News……
Balls hitting the glass back wall had that horrible sound as expected and was very inconsistent in the way they came off the wall.
The rebotes do not come back as far as Magic City did.
Now for the real killer. The pace of play is much slower. The larger court – a much higher front wall and longer court are contributing factors. The ball may have something to do with it too. The original Magic City Jai-alai called or much faster action than the standard goatskin, 175 foot plus long courts. We did not see that yesterday. There weren’t too many pelota’s snagged by the frontcourter in doubles play. Points seemed slow-paced with nowhere near the action of Magic City Jai-alai. Watch the old videos that they were playing before and between games. It was on the old Magic City cancha. I hate to say this, but I think I might be missing the old court even though I disliked the sound of the pelota hitting the front wall and players hitting the overhead screen. Perhaps the players will be better accustomed to the court and things will change. The ball also seemed to slow down later in the performances or something. There was excitement all the time in almost every point on the Magic City court. It’s only one performance and players are still getting adjusted to the new court. But it just doesn’t have that same Magic anymore. I just hope I’m wrong. And it is too early to tell for sure.
Couple more things……
Bring back the banners of ESPN 3, Betrivers, Draft Kings in the players room where they sit between games. It gives everything more creditability.
The court needs painting on the floor to remove the old white lines from the 175-foot version cancha. It was confusing. And on the side wall, Stu can no longer say “It must land between the 4 and 7 lines” anymore. They are out of sync and he and Andrew had a good laugh about it on the live broadcast. Good stuff.
February 10, 2026: It was old-timers’ day last Saturday at Puryear Park with a couple of jai-alai legends showing up to watch.
“Mr. Orlando”, Elorri himself, was there on a make-up visit from missing the Scott King Tournament held the previous weekend. He like dozens of others, wisely stayed home due to the terrible weather of extreme cold and wind on Saturday and more of the same circumstances Sunday but with rain in addition.
Making a return was former pro Goitia. Author of the popular jai-alai book “The Other Side of the Screen”, Goitia was there along with his son Patrick. Patrick had showed up a couple days before the Scott King event using one of the cesta’s his dad had used in the 80s. Patrick was able to secure a win in his first game with Rastock and played quite well for someone making their first appearance on the St. Pete cancha. But a little later in the performance, a pelota went right thru his cesta – likely from the aging basket sitting in a closet for decades.
It was good seeing Elorri and Goitia again and we welcome Partrick to the roster in about two weeks after having surgery a few days ago.
World’s Oldest Jai-alai Player, Al Almada, has Passed Away at 98
West Hartford: February 9, 2026: The World’s oldest jai-alai has passed away. Al Almada of West Hartford was 98. Not only was he the oldest known jai-alai player in the world – playing into his 90s – he was one of the finest human beings you could ever meet. A true gentlemen in every respect. And boy, did he love the game of jai alai. For someone his age, he was a sharp as one could be and I was lucky to have played with him on the Jai-alai Heaven court, located just outside Hartford many times and at Matt’s court once. Jai-alai was his passion and he played on a regular basis – at least once a week – if not more. Al also made cesta traveling bags, and I still use it today on my travels to Miami, Connecticut, or Cancun.
Ever since “Four Decade Pro” Randy threw the first pelota in the state of Connecticut at the Hartford Fronton, Al was in love with jai alai. Soon after, he started playing jai-alai while he was in his 40s and continued for nearly 5 decades. Al and several other gentleman had their own cancha in the basement of a rec center located on a huge church’s property. They played for decades until the church sadly pulled the plug on their operation with little warning and no valid reason. I was lucky to have also played with Al Almada at Matt’s court once, and he count still catch and throw the ball very well for someone 90 years old. He competed with anyone. His friendship with the fellow players and respect of everyone was immeasurable.
That day at Matt’s court, about 8 years ago, he gave me a collection several pelota’s from start to finish in the assembly of them – goatskin and all. I made a great display of it in the museum that was inside a custom-made wall with a glass covering and a plaque explaining the procedure of the making of a pelota and the donation in his name. In my opinion, it was one of the coolest displays in my museum. It was educational and perfect for a museum that few in the jai-alai world had any idea how a pelota was made. What a great idea Al had. When the museum was flooded 16 months ago, that was one of the first things I checked on to see if the flooding had reached it or not. It came up 46” and Al’s collection he donated was 46 ?” above. Unfortunately, the drywall wall had to come down and the museum was closed.
February 4, 2026: St. Petersburg, FLA: Despite some of the worst weather in at least 16 years in the Sunshine State (not counting the hurricanes), the Scott King/Sunshine City League tournament went off without a glitch this past weekend. Yes, it was cold, nasty, extremely windy and then the rain came Saturday afternoon to further dampen the endeavor. Early Sunday morning was greeted with snow flurries 6 hours before the tournament resumed with feel-like temperatures in the upper 20s.
Before a crowd of 64 over the 8-hour day Saturday and about 25 on Sunday, a total of 31 players participated in the 3rd annual Scott King/Sunshine City League event. Several players from Connecticut made the trip as well as several from the Miami area, mostly ex-pros familiar to many in the jai-alai world.
The doubles tournament turned out to be a St. Pete vs. Miami battle and was won by Rastock and RG3. They beat Armenta and Super Jules in overtime. The Miami boys won the first game, 10-5, the St. Pete guys won the second game 10-7, forcing a 5-point winner take all game 3. Rastock and RG3 took that game 5-2.
The singles tournament came down to two St. Pete regulars. That event was delayed a day to Sunday and was mostly players from the St. Pete roster that participated. One of the best exchanges of a point involved Rocco and Brodie in the finals. The video can be viewed compliments of tape sent to the Pelota Press by Armenta. Rocco took the contest 10-8 over Brodie.
The B League tournament was won by Seminole King and Alex.
Overall, the event was fun despite the weather. It was good to see the out of towners from Connecticut and Miami come dressed as jai-alai players as opposed to the regular St. Pete players who normally don’t get dressed up – including the guy writing this story who normally won’t even wear a shirt and wears $4 shorts bought at Walmart.
You can track all the players, the game-by-game results and view numerus photos below in this story. A special thanks to Scott King for putting on his 3rd annual event and we look forward to next years event. And a special thanks to all those the donated to the court for keeping it up to date despite thousands or games being played on it yearly.
Miami: February 4, 2026: We have some new images of the new Jam Arena – the former original Miami jai-alai fronton that will be hosting the newly located World Jai-alai League.
As you can see, the 1,500 seats have been fixed up, furniture and chairs from the Magic City location moved up to the front for a VIP experience and much more improvements completed. The court has been redone, with a glass back wall (not visible in the photos) on the 126-foot long cancha.
The new Jam Area will open this coming Tuesday for the new season. However, spectators will be forbidden from entering the building until Friday, where the Friday only admission is in effect. I personally don’t like it and makes planning a long-distance trip to visit for a 3-hour night hard to justify with $300 “Motel 6” like hotel rooms this time of year.
The season opens Tuesday the 10th with the Warriors and Chargers squaring off at 3pm. YouTube will have to be your way to watch.
January 29, 2026: St. Petersburg, FL : Ever play jai-alai in the snow? Perhaps in the Basque region on the mountains and all if your outside. But in central Florida? Highly doubtful.
That might come to an end as there is a 20% chance of snow flurries early Sunday morning, and that will be during the second day of the Scott King/Sunshine City League’s big annual event where 30 players from all over the USA compete. To make things even weirder, across the bridge in Tampa will be a Boston Bruins-Tampa Bay Lightning HOCKEY game played outdoors at Raymond James Stadium in front of 70,000 people. All the worries of the ice melting in what was called hockey’s biggest challenge ever will be greeted with temperatures in the upper 30s by the end of the game.
The last time it snowed in central Florida was in 1977, nearly 50 years ago and that is the only known time in recorded history it has snowed in the area. Playing jai-alai in the cold and extremely windy conditions is going to be tricky especially with 35mph winds Saturday, the first day of the event. However, the side and back wall will block out the NW winds and it might not be that bad.
The event starts at 10am with “free” admission and all are welcome. The cancha is all fixed up and ready to go. Special thanks to Scott King and Eric Lanctot for getting the repairs all done and to all those the helped out in the painting party. Donations are certainly welcome to help preserve our public court – the only one in the country! And always a special thanks to Paul Kubala and Tom “Corky” DeMint, Bill Foster and others to making it all happen 18 years ago!
