Click program pic above to download Final Performance of Puryear Park 1
America’s first public court started construction exactly 14 years ago – June 18, 2007 – and now it’s about to get a huge makeover.
This Sunday, June 20th, a big tournament has been set up with little notice as we learned that the dismantling of the current court will begin the following day – Monday June 21st. The start date had been scheduled for the first quarter of 2021, but delays in getting materials as a result of COVID-19 took place and the start date was delayed.
There will be 6 jai-alai trophies handed out to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners for both front court and back court. Complete rules of the tournament can be seen on page 3 of the 8 -page color program that will be available. (You can download above)
The event starts at 1pm this Sunday. It is expected to last about 3 hours with 7 games to 10 straight points followed by two exciting partidos to 15 points to award the winners in the qualifying rounds. Former Tampa players Scott King and Corky are on the card. Daniel was on the card but canceled because of Father’s Day.
Unfortunately, Buster’s Courtside Grill and Pro Shop will not be open due to losing money on the Magic City event we had a year and a half ago. Players and spectators are encouraged to bring their own food and drinks and of course chairs and umbrellas.
The event has no rain date, and any rain delay will limited to no more than an hour so families can enjoy dinner together later at a reasonable hour.
America’s First Public Jai-alai court is about to go out in a blast! St. Petersburg’s Puryear Park is about to see the wrecking ball. But before that can happen, NJAA organizers are quickly putting together one of their big tournaments on the day before the big plans commence.
Those plans will turn Puryear Park into a larger, near regulation-sized amateur court (check out my previous stories on this in my Pelota Press blogs for full details).
When I announced the courts approval exactly 14 years ago on Tigers Chalk Talk, the jai-alai world was stunned. The approval of a public jai-alai was the result of a decade of persistence by local residents Paul Kabala and Tom “Corky” DeMint. Within minutes, former players like Benny, Randy and Daniel were all reaching out with congratulations. But some people weren’t happy with the size of the court and the wall height. I spent the next couple days explaining why it was going to be built that way. We got what we could do at the time when the economy and real estate industry were about to crash.
But the NJAA crew were not giving up on future plans to expand. A couple of months ago it was all approved. The new expansion will include knocking down the front wall and extending it into the practice court area while extending the height and width of the walls. Extensive netting will further protect the area outside the court.
With the fencing to come down, some slabs pulled up and the front wall getting demolished all scheduled to begin Monday, June 21st , organizers are putting together a big event the day before – Sunday – Father’s Day at 1pm. Players are now signing up and several ex-pros have confirmed into playing including former Tampa and Miami star player “Daniel”. The tournament will be like Matt’s Spectacular 9 but everybody plays the same number of games and players. The top point getters will play in Partido for the championship. There will be 6 jai-alai trophies handed out – 1st, 2nd and 3rd to both the frontcourter and the backcourters.
Anthony Sutton (aka “Ant” at the last Magic City Tournament) will be in charge of the tournament but won’t play. He’s been on the IL list since suffering a torn rotator cuff injury while falling during practice at Matt’s last tournament in Connecticut.
Everyone is welcome to come watch. Again, Puryear Park’s final performance for the court as it is now will be Sunday, June 20th at 1pm. The court will reopen a couple of months later, but being the summer time coming up with much needed rain, it may take longer.
We have some really good news, when some good news has been hard to find this week for those in the jai-alali world.
Dania Jai-alai is going to resume their season after the regular season closes down Memorial Day weekend.
Their next “season” is still set for September 1st thru November 30th and live full court jai-alai will continue.
A CBA is in place until March of 2023 with the players, and it is very likely Dania will continue operations at least thru those dates.
As I have reported in my last blog, the owners DO like jai-alai and they DO like Benny. They like the idea of having something different to offer to spectators or gamblers entering the building that the Tribe does not offer. Often, those jai-alai fans wander into the casino or have a meal and drinks.
This is not to say a buy-out is not impossible, but it would be expensive and the owners do not look at business like that.
No one is going to tell you what to do with your money, but we hope Jai-alai fans across America help support Dania to make the decision of Decoupling a difficult one. The only thing in the way now is a John Hancock from the Governor, and a possible lawsuit from No Casinos who claim decoupling is “an expansion of gambling”.
As you know likely know by now, the sport of jai-alai has been decoupled in the State of Florida. The stunning news was finalized as the House approved in Wednesday afternoon, a day after the Senate had passed the measure.
Decoupling in the jai-alai pari-mutuel industry gives the owners the right to drop conducting the game in order to keep their more lucrative card games (poker and the designated-player games) going. The savings, in some cases, can save the permit holder millions of dollars a year.
Lets look into the what happened. When I posted a previous story a month ago, I gave the odds at 9-2 that decoupling won’t happen. There were several reasons for these odds, because for the past ten years or show, that had been the outcome.
Those 9-2 odds drastically changed in an opposite direction as several stunning announcements were made.
Strike 1
First, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis reached a 30-year deal with the Seminole Indians in a massive gambling bill that could make Florida the next gambling mecca in the United States. This announcement by DeSantis and the Tribe surprised everybody. He’s a smooth negotiator that others had failed at. Right now, the Tribe pays nothing in taxes to the State of Florida, as they successfully were able to stop making $350 million dollar payments three years ago. The courts agreed that by allowing the parimutuels to conduct the designated player games at the facilities was an infringement of the Tribe’s rights to be the sole operator of such card games. Getting a deal that would satisfy the Tribe, the parimutuels and the Florida legislature seemed impossible. Nobody was willing to budge for years. But along came the prospect of Sports Betting – a whole new “ball game” in gambling terms and opportunities.
DeSantis and others were able to come up with an agreement that was signed off my the Tribe and the pari-mutuels about two weeks before the 60-day legislative session was too end. Those short sessions always seemed to be an issue as the gambling issues like decoupling had been kicked down the road as more important things keep the House and Senate busy. But now, a gambling pack was in place. Signed, sealed and Delivered. A big Strike 1. Now is was a matter of needing the time to go over it.
Strike 2
Time was about to run out again, but another stunning announcement was made. Congress was going to be called back to their seats just 2 ½ weeks later for a Special Session to discuss solely the gambling issues. An event like that is rare, but in this case is was important. Billions of dollars’ worth important to the State. This deal was complicated and involved a lot of moving parts. Legislators needed to be educated on many things – all from the eyes of the Tribe and pari-mutuel viewpoints. And what’s in store to the State of Florida.
So instead of the issue of time running out in the regular session, a common experience, an entire new session – only to involve gambling issues – was coming the week of May 17th. A huge Strike 2. Now time and agreement was in place and only the legislators needed approval. The gambling issues were three things – getting an agreement approved that was already agreed upon by the Tribe and the pari-mutuels, the formation of a gambling commission; and the decoupling of jai-alai & harness racing – which pari-mutuel owners had been lobbying years for.
Strike 3
By Wednesday May 20th, it was all over. The Senate had approved the vote 38-1. The House approved it 97-17.
The Tribe gets run sports betting with hubs set up at parimutuels, along with the more lucrative mobile sports betting on cell phones and computers. In three years, they can apply for slots and roulette gambling on the phones. The sports betting will start October 15th but there are several issues with that. We will get into that shortly. The Tribe gets three more casinos to be operated on their property either in Hollywood (Florida) or Tampa. Those hotels would operate under a different name like Wynn or Bally. They also get “real” Roulette and Craps games (not only the electronic ones). The State will get $500 million a year in return.
Jai-alai can legally stop their games as of July 1st and continue all the other operations. So what is going to happen next?
Dania Jai-alai
Dania’s current season closes May 30th. As the last full court, full roster jai-alai court operating in America, this venue gathers the most interest. The new owners have obviously lost a lot of money on jai-alai since taking over a few years ago and remodeling the entire building. But they love jai-alai and the ability to offer something most the other casino’s and racino’s don’t have- live betting on a sport right in front of them. They also have a great relationship with Benny, who now may be our sole “lobbyist” to keep Dania open if he even has a say in it. It’s going to be a hard task. Money usually talks. There is also reportedly an agreement with the players union for another year and a half. It is unknown if there is an escape clause in it for decoupling, or a buyout clause. The owners could shut down with their last performance that Sunday afternoon on May 30th or keep it going later in the summer when the next season is suppose to start. No one is talking right now, so the outcome will be known later. Chances are we won’t hear anything for a while, making Memorial Day weekend a must trip to Dania later this month.
Chance of jai-alai returning = 35%
Miami Jai-alai
The “Yankee Stadium” of jai-alai has been open since 1924 and can now open their Cirque du Soleil without jai-alai in the way. They almost made it to 100 years. When I went to “opening day” earlier this season, there were 3 people in the stands. Jesus, Jeden and Ron Ron. There were a lot of great memories there over the decades and the place has been in disarray for many years now.
Chance of jai-alai returning = 0.0001%
Ft. Piece, Ocala, Orlando Jai-alai
Ocala and Orlando had been running the two-man show for years now, so there is no question what is going to happen there. Orlando was supposed to be redeveloped into a housing complex, but COVID apparently put a hold on that. Ft. Pierce is holding the two-man games right now, and that will be the end of Ft. Piece jai-alai when their season ends later this month
Chance of any of the 3 returning = 0.00000001 %
Calder Jai-alai
Three years ago, they got out of the horse racing business in exchange for jai-alai. Thoroughbred racing was NOT decoupled. The owners are Churchill Downs and now can shut down the jai-alai operations legally July 1st.. Their current season is scheduled to end August 29th. The building will likely be converted into some kind of entertainment center for live music or perhaps a sportsbook bar. That was always in the plans when decoupling happened.
Chance of jai-alai returning = 0.00000001%
Magic City Jai-alai
They converted from dog racing to jai-alai four years ago to likely to save money and open up some prime real estate. Their music venue inside was converted into a short court, clear glass fronton which is operating to this day. Dog racing in Florida was decoupled by an amendment in 2018, but they are still operating under the dog racing permit and can shut down at any time. But Scott Savin and company like jai-alai and it’s not likely going anywhere anytime soon. They did say this was a 3-5 project and we are in year 4. Plus they have added the one-on-one partidos with $100K in prize money to the players. This decoupling measure has absolutely no effect on them as far as staying open or not. I’m sure plenty of players from the other fronton’s have been contacting Stu and Arra. If they are the only game left in town, the handles would likely improve.
Edgewater Jai-alai
Magic City worked out an agreement with the City of Miami to open another fronton in downtown Miami recently (see my blog from a couple months ago). It’s been quiet ever since. Another fronton just a few miles away was in the plans, but no info has been released yet. Now they would have many more players to put on their roster.
Pompano Jai-alai
There were big plans to convert their harness racing to jai-alai – again to save money and open up real estate in what is to be a multibillion project on the site. But their version of horse racing was decoupled also, so those plans are out the door. It’s too bad, the fronton was going to be a good one. One last year of horse racing there and that is it. They are the busiest parimutuel facility in the state in casino revenue from slots, etc. So the Jai-alai plans are likely gone. Thousands of jobs will be lost in the horse breeding industry that used Pompano as their sole source. The House regulatory group had voted to keep it alive but the Senate convinced them to decouple it on Wednesday. Only thoroughbred racing in Gulfstream and Tampa Bay Downs are required to stay open in the parimutuel industry in order to keep the other casino games going.
The Legal Issues may be the only savior
So, is jai-alai over? Its up to the owners to decide. And now the court system. There are lawsuits coming. And the Federal Government has a say in the deal signed with the Tribe that could very well throw out the Sports Betting aspect of the agreement.
The Compact or deal with the Tribe is subject to approval from U.S. Department of the Interior. They have 45 days to sign off on it after the governor signs the bill. This falls under the Federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. Offering mobile sports betting or operating the “hub and spoke model” where the bets are placed at parimutuels (and other sites) via the Internet with the servers on tribal property. California had this problem and it could be Florida’s too. Supporters say if the server is on tribal grounds that is processing the bet, then the bet is only subject to the laws on the reservation. Either way, the Compact will remain in place with or without sports betting. The Tribe would only have to pay $400 million a year to the State of Florida vs. $500 million.
That is not the only obstacle they will face. The other one is a lawsuit in the works by John Sowinski of “No Casinos”. They got the Amendment 3 on the ballot and passed with 71% of the vote in 2018 that prevents any expansion of gambling unless through a voter referendum and get 60% of the vote. However, that amendment excludes the Tribe but the deal now calls on the Tribe to work with parimutuels and others to offer sports betting via the computer “airwaves” and allows for more huge casinos to open. There is also a question if “Sports betting” is a common casino game as the amendment was worded. Sports betting is not a common game and is never mentioned in the poorly worded amendment.
How can jai-alai be saved? Sowinski has said that the decompiling of game rooms from parimutuels constitutes an increase in Class III gambling in Florida and that it is part of the Compact. I’m not sure what that means, since they are shutting it down and not increasing gambling in this case.
This is going to drag on for a long time, and with the courts backed up since March of last year due to COVID-19, it may be awhile to everything is ironed out.
Could a pending lawsuit put everything on hold? Could jai-alai be saved? We shall see.
It appears the St. Pete Court Construction project is going to be delayed by at least another month or more. One of the contractors on the project said that construction is “at least a month away” as he was delivering another load of cinder blocks to the site.
He said that shortages of materials has caused a major delay with concrete deliveries backlogged by at least ten weeks. He also claimed that they are having trouble hiring people to work, contrary to what our President said in a national press conference last week.
We will keep you posted on the details. The delay would push the start date into mid-June at the earliest, meaning the work will be done during the summer, rainy season in Florida, potentially delaying the project even further.
The project would transfer the outdoor court, America’s first public jai-alai cancha, to about 32 meters in length with walls 20 feet high in the front and side.
The major remodeling of America’s First Public Jai-alai Court is about to commence as deliveries of new concrete cinder blocks were dropped off next to the cancha this afternoon. The plans for the court, once the ridicule of many because of the short length and height of walls, is about to change – drastically.
Currently the dimensions of the court, which started construction in the summer of 2007, is the following:
Length – 84 feet
Width – 24.5 feet (however the walls in the front and back are only 20.5 feet wide)
Out of bounds area – 24 feet
Heights:
Front wall – 16 feet
Side wall – 14 feet
Back wall – 10 feet
The new measurements will be:
Length – 104 feet
Width – 25 feet
Out of bounds area 23 feet
Heights:
Front wall 20 feet
Side wall 20 feet
Back wall 16 feet
The project is expected to start any day now and take about two months. The court will be closed to the public until then.
We will post details when the court is actually closed and provide updates periodically.
The J Laca Museum has acquired a few mementos from the Rastock Collection, giving the museum a drastic change in appearance from just a year ago. About a year ago, several new walls were installed as most of Mark K’s artifacts were acquired. With the exception of a visit by Jesus and his wife, the museum has been closed to the public because of COVID-19. Now room is being made for some incredible Rastock mementos.
Rastock, whose real name is Steve Rastocky, has been playing jai-alai a long time. At the age of 16, he watched his first jai-alai game at Bridgeport Jai-alai and became hooked immediately. He was signed a contract by players manager Churruca to a contract in 1987 and played for 6 seasons at Bridgport and Milford – playing six months at each of the frontons yearly. In 1992 he was forced to retire due to a bulging disc, a common injury for jai-alai players from constantly falling to the ground catching and throwing.
Rastock, the Jim Thome of jai-alai (good guy award) had moved to Orlando from Norwalk Connecticut 16 years later and was practicing at Orlando Jai-alai when he was offered a contract to resume playing. He played from 2008-2012 and retired again before returning in 2014 for a two month season. He thought his jai-alai days were over after that season when Ft. Pierce called and he played in the one month season. Since them he’s been playing at Calder and Miami jai-alai and is getting ready for the Calder season on May 1st. He’s almost 60 now and still going strong.
Among the mementos are several jerseys including the one used by Joey as seen in the photo (yes Joey – I need you to sign it!), an autographed pelota and jersey from Lopez, several rare photos, and Bolivar’s autograph. But the prize possession are two huge scrapbooks that were kept by the Bridgeport Jai-alai public relations department during the years the fronton was open. Weighing nearly 80 pounds, and 30” x 24” each in size, there are nearly a thousand articles on Bridgeport Jai-alai in them. Right now, we are working on how to restore them to be viewed easily, but I can tell you the stories in here are amazing. It literally will take hundreds of hours to read them all. In a follow-up article, we will show you some of the most interesting articles.
The museum will open as soon as the scrapbooks are completed and the rest of the Rastock jai-alai collection is in place, along with several new mementos from the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Stanley Cup winners Tampa Bay Lightning. The 2,000 square foot museum is already packed, and its not going to be easy.
Here are the results from Matt’s Tournament recently held at his court in Berlin, Connecticut. Special thanks from Thomas Fillmore for supplying us the information. Photo credit to Anthony “Ant” Sutton who fell during Thursday practice and suffered serious rotator cuff injury.
The dreaded word that starts with the letter “D” is back.
The decoupling issue has come up again but this time it is being proposed outside of any proposal or deal that would include the Seminole Tribe and Sports Betting. That issue has been a big “Bermuda Triangle” of trouble for legislators and has stalled any possible over the past few years. But this proposal is an “a la carte” version that is on its own and passage has a better chance than it has in the past. But, once again, with just 3 weeks left in the session, approval by the full Senate and House may be difficult for four reasons:
Its late in the 60-day legislative session to be bringing up something new
The bill does nothing to solve the major gambling pact issue with the Tribe (costing the state about $350 million a year)
There are far more important issues to deal with during a pandemic than this one
It does not generate any income for the state such as allowing for the approval of sports gambling
The bill under proposal
It’s no secret that the owners of parimutuel facilities in Florida have been lobbying for the abolishment of running jai-alai, greyhound racing and horse racing to keep their more lucrative versions of “gaming” alive such as their poker rooms and designated-player games. In Broward and Miami-Dade counties, this would include slot machines. Dog racing already was decoupled by a public referendum over the claim of animal cruelty and the last dog race was held seconds before midnight this past New Years Eve.
On Monday afternoon, Senate President Wilton Simpson is presenting three bills to be heard by the Senate Regulatory Industries Committee to attempt to “modernize” and industry that has been shifting for generations by creating a new regulatory structure and allowing casinos to operate card games without running harness or quarter-horse races or jai-alai games. This is known as the dreaded “D” road jai-alai fans have been hearing for nearly a decade now.
In a memo that was sent out to his colleagues, Simpson outlined blueprints on how they will attempt to breathe life into the ongoing gaming saga which may or may not include a new agreement with the Seminole Tribe. Florida governor Ron DeSantis has been in talks with the Tribe looking for a new agreement that would bring in significant lost revenue to the state. That lost total over the past three years is approaching a billion dollars. Yes, that is a “B” as in Billion Dollars. The Tribe stopped paying the state around $350 in annual revenue sharing after the governor refused to crack down on on parimutuuels operating the “designated-player games”. How this works is another story, but basically a loophole in the law where the “bank” is supposed to revolving among the players. A high coiurt ruling said that because the state had allowed the Tribe’s competitors to operate the games, they were violating the gaming compact. In that compact, the Tribe is supposed to have the exclusive ability to offer blackjack.
Simpson, in a memo to Senators, acknowledged they have had difficulty in getting a comprehensive gaming bill passed for the past decade. “Florida is a diverse state and our Senators and constituents have many different opinions, beliefs and convictions, regarding gaming. The fact remains, gaming is a voter-approved industry that has contributed billion of dollars to our economy for education, health care and infrastructure, while proving hundreds of thousand of jobs to Floridan over the course of nearly 100 years. He said it was time to update Florida’s gaming enforcement “which is now decentralized among Florida’s cities and counties, primarily left to local law enforcement.” He’s likely referring to the numerous computerized slot machine rooms still being operated across the state in rural areas.
DeSantis told reporters in March that he was open to negotiating a new deal with the Tribe while adding “but at the same time, we are not in position where we’re desperately needs additional revenue.” On March 18th, he told twenty (20) top officials of Florida’s casinos, poker rooms, horse tracks and jai-alai facilities were getting close to a gaming compact, but in the weeks that followed, progress has stalled. The State had offered to allow the Tribe to offer mobile sports betting while allowing the state’s existing horse and jai-alai frontons to license betting operations. However, the talks have stalled according to several people that are close to the negotiations. The stumbling block if over how to split the proceeds over sports betting and the parimutuel industry, whether or not to allow the Tribe to establish additional facilities and whether to allow parimutuels to continue operating designated-player games.
Translation = Don’t look for a settlement anytime soon with the Tribe.
Simpson is bringing up three bills. One of them – Senate proposal SB-7080 would allow facilities to discontinue jai-alai, harness quarter-horse racing in order to keep the card games going. Only the thoroughbred race tracks – Gulfstream Park and Tampa Bay Downs – would be required to operation live racing. The Tribe is not objecting to the decoupling issue.
If any of the bills make it through the Senate, they must also pass in the House. But House Speaker Chris Sprowls has said he is willing to help Simpson with this goal, but that he does not consider it a top priority. He told reporters in March that in his six years in the House, no gaming bill has ever passed because there are so many interlocking parts involving competing interests.
Any decoupling would certainly shut down Miami, Ft. Piece, Ocala, and Calder jai-alai. Dania has an agreement with the players, so that is unknown. Magic City is free to shut down whenever they want because they were grandfathered in as a greyhound track.
Jai-alai savior Matt DiDomiizio has put together one of his best lineups to date – 38 players including several ex-pro stars. The action will be live on his Facebook page and you can click the link below to get on immediately.
The lineups were posted in a previous blog we posted and will feature 17 teams for doubles and 4 other players for singles play only. Only three players are coming from Florida including former pro Rocco.
Here are the times:
Friday
Starts 4pm and likely lasting till about 8 or 9 pm.
Saturday
Group 1 (Jon S and Paul P group) 10am
Group 2 (Mace and Joe P group) 12 noon
Group 3 (Lasa and Ulisses group) 2pm
Group 4 (TLT and Anthony group) 4pm
Sunday
Playoffs
C group 10 am
B group 11 am
A group 1pm
Could decoupling be coming?
We will explore that breaking news story over the weekend.