St. Petersburg: August 11, 2026: Puryear Park’s first ever “Battle Court” tournament draft was held last night at Glory Days Grill, at their north St. Pete location. A crowd of about 20 showed up, all of whom were drafted. Attendance was not required, but may have hampered players in the bottom half of the lineup
The chart, made by Brodie, was posted on a wall as the four team captains all made their draft picks. You can see the draft chart as well as entries for the upcoming event here as well as a few photos.
We will analyze the teams over the next couple of weeks and talk to others to come up with some “odds” to win the event, etc. The Hard Rock and other betting sites will not offer odds on this – you will have to wait till the middle of September with JAM jai-alai operating then!
The main event is on Saturday, August 29th – now scheduled to start at 10:30am. Games will go to 9 points and 7 points for the deciding set if it is tied at 1-1.
Puryear Park Players Excited for First Battle Court Draft
August 9, 2026: St. Petersburg, FLA: Battle Court Jai-alai is coming to St. Petersburg on August 29th and the first ever draft will be this Monday night at Glory Days Grill.
Four team captains – all front-courters – will draft from a roster of 24 players. Brodie won the rights to the first pick, event organizer Rastock will pick second, Anthony will pick 3rd, followed by Rule with the 4th pick. Each team will comprise of 6 players and will follow the exact format that Magic City “invented” – but not allowing a second serve. There will be best of 3 format for each match. The number of points to win a game has not been determined. A 9-point game all going to 3 sets in every match could result in a 9-hour day! Organizers may elect to match the 6 points as used by Magic City or go with 7 or 9 points for the win.
The draft will be held Monday night at Glory Days Grill on 4th Street and 99th Ave in St. Petersburg, just north of Derby Lane. There will be a normal performance Monday evening at Puryear Park, and the draft will follow afterwards. Assuming no rain (yes the forecast has it mainly dry for the next week or two) the draft time could be around 8:30pm, but no guaranteed time set. Several players are expected to attend. Glory Days Grill is a chain of 39 restaurants located in 6 states. The principal owner is Bob Basham, the co-founder of Outback Steakhouse, which started across the bridge in Tampa Florida in 1988. Players on the winning team each get a certificate for chicken wings. Oddly, Puryear Park has had a rule of any team not scoring a point in a game (they normally go to 15 points) they would have to buy chicken wings for all the other players after the performance.
The Pelota Press will have the full draft results and story Tuesday.
If the event is successful, look for future events like this.
St. Petersburg, FLA: July 27, 2026: Magic City’s (yes, I’m still calling them MC!) popular sports betting format of Battle Court Jai-alai is now coming to St. Petersburg’s Puryear Park.
The event will be held Saturday, August 29th, tentatively set for 11am, but the time is subject to change. The rain date would be held the following day – Sunday, August 30th.
and the draft will be held at their north St. Pete location on 4th Street (about 3 miles north of the cancha) on Monday, August 10th immediately following the normal Monday night performance.
There will be four teams that will be drafting 5 players each. The four team captains are Anthony, Rastock, Brodie and Rule. They will be picking the players over 5 rounds to fulfill the 6 player teams.
Tentatively, the team’s nicknames and logos have been assigned, subject to team leaders’ approval. The names were the ideas of event promoter Rastock, Alex and JLaca with the team logos the idea of Alex and of course, AI.
Here are the teams:
Anthony’s Aces
Brodie’s Barracudas
Rastock’s Rebels
Rule’s Rollers
The draft order of the team captains is as follows:
1 Brodie
2 Rastock
3 Anthony
4 Rule
Round two will go backwards, per the Snake Draft format. 4-3-2-1.
The first match will feature the Barracudas vs. the Rollers, and the second match features the Rebels vs the Aces.
Here is the roster to be drafted from, not including the four team captains:
Front court
Alex *
Armando
Cachin *
Daniel *
Echeva
Eric A
MagicMike
Seminole King *
RG3 *
Ty
Armenta *
Back court
Adam
Belota *
Butler *
Chip
Fred
Garby
George
JLaca (on IR will announce)
Sea Cow Leo
Matt
Paul B *
Rick B
Scott King *
Thomas
Castanos
PhatBoy
Not all of the above have been confirmed or even any knowledge of the event.
* means player can play front or back court.
With a shortage of frontcourters, it appears most of the backcourters with the asterisk will end up in the front. This is something the team leaders need to consider when drafting their teams.
The Battle Court style will have the best of 3 set to 9 points a game. The games will all be doubles with teams winning, not individuals. There will be six matches and then a playoff only happening by the # 1 doubles team if game day is tied 3-3.
A total of 20 players will be drafted. There will likely be a few that are not drafted, but they would be available on the day of the match to get drafted if someone does not show up.
With Glory Days Bar and Grill sponsoring the event, the winning team’s 6 players will each receive a certificate for free chicken wings. There is no cost to play or watch the event live at Puryear Park. Parimutuel wagering will not be available on the Hard Rock app.
The event should last around two hours or so, allowing for plenty of open play after the event.
Keep an eye on the Pelota Press for more details as the event unfolds. Brodie’s Barracudas are on the clock!
Dania Beach, Fla: July 20, 2026: The 5th Annual Dania Beach Invitational Event held at the Casino @ Dania Beach, has announced its schedule for 2027. The three-month event has been pushed a full month ahead of when the previous 4 events were commenced. Instead of opening in early December, the season will now start on Tuesday, January 5th with a matinee at 1pm.
The new running dates are January 5th-March 31, 2027 with a new matinee and evening lineup. There will be 3 matinee’s a week – Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday’s all beginning at 1pm and 5 evening performances – Tuesday thru Saturday, all beginning at 7pm.
Management decided that it was best to avoid the holidays when most people are spending money on gifts for everyone and not gambling. Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Years Eve, and New Years Day all fall on a Thursday and Friday this year, further complicating the schedules for many. March is also the traditional spring break time and the busiest time of the year in Florida with tourists. Missing out of that month is missed opportunity, especially with Easter falling on the 28th of March when the beaches, hotels and cruise ships are loaded with visitors.
Behind the scenes, Benny Bueno continues to work on putting together a roster, signing contracts, handling licensing, and filling in a few vacancies that are on the roster. We’re still many months away from the season and getting more details.
Wouldn’t it be nice if Dania could pull off another “season” in the middle of the year – such as mid-June thru mid-September – right in the middle of the “dead” jai-alai time of the year with World Jai-alai closed? At least Dania opens its doors to the public. Watching jai-alai live is like watching hockey in person – much better than your phone or on a TV. But competition from the casinos, the lottery and now sports betting on your phone makes it difficult to turn a profit.
Laca had his leg brace removed Tues 7/14 morning and continues to improve way faster than expected. I anticipate being able to play in about 3 months – just in time for the nice weather and play 100% by the Scott King tournament.
Anthony wants to play this weekend and getting ready for Matt’s tournament in October. He will play with Rocco for the first time up there and is expected to be a top finisher.
The I-4 Boys are not expected to play again until the beginning of August. Former I-4 player Rastock is expected back sometime in August. He’s in South Carolina now as you all know.
Skinny Joe C is expected to join Laca in basic workouts sometime in mid August, information that might be news to him! He is getting antsy to play again and thinks he might have trouble hitting the wall initially.
Alex is expected back very soon from his arm surgery.
June 23, 2026: The USA may be co-hosting the FIFA World Cup right now and that likely has given Matt DiDomizio an idea to host a version of his own at his Berlin, Connecticut cancha.
Matt has finalized the date of the event for October 2nd thru the 4th that was formally announced today. The three-day event will be hosted over the first weekend of the month, a beautiful time of the year for the Nutmeg state.
The event is looking for players nationally and internationally with a “Pick your Partner” , “double elimination” format.
A Singles Event will start Friday at 12 noon.
A Doubles Event will start Saturday at 9am.
Sunday kicks off at 10am, with the Playoffs and Finals for those that qualify.
First and Second place will be rewarded with trophies for the Singles and Doubles for the Elite and Major Divisions.
DiDomizio is asking for players to wear WHITE PANTS with TEAM JERSEYS of same color is highly recommended.
Entry fees have been announced at:
$75.00 for Singles and $150 for Doubles ($75 a player) for all local players.
Those travelling get a discount with fees at $50 for Singles and $100 for Doubles ($50 per player).
To sign up, you must contact Matt directly (call or text) at 860-335-6346. He urges that Tea, spots will be limited so get you teams together and sign up early.
The Pelota Press, which has been in hiatus for the past 2 ½ months due to a serious knee injury that will sideline yours truly for a year from playing jai-alai again, is hoping to cover the event live – if he is able to get on a plane and drive a car. The injury was his first ever and happened right on the cancha while n his 50th year of playing jai-alai. It involved dreadful 4-day stint in the hospital for the first time ever in addition.
Berlin, CT: May 4, 2026: Former Dania proUlisses has won the 2026 Annual Spring Connecticut AmateurTournament, beating out Tampa Bay’s Antohny Sutton by one point.
See the scoresheets. There was a ton of substituting as many players were unable to play both on Friday night and Saturday, thus the confusion. I was not in attendance due to a jai-alai injury that will have me sidelined for a year.
Here are the sheets labeled
There were B group Qualifiers and final match
Singles on Friday for fun. 2 groups of 4 qualifiers to 4 in finals.
The tournament was 4 groups of 4 qualifiers .
1st place finishers from each group played in 1st final
2nd place finishers from each group played in 2nd final
3rd place finishers from each group played in 3rd final
4th place finishers from each group played in 4th final.
Remember Matt was herding Cats every day. Guys didn’t show up and there were lots of Substituting.
Couple of groups had to play Partido’s when guys just left.
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.
