Matt DiDomizio has added a date for his next big tournament and is now going to be held on from Friday, April 29th, Saturday and Sunday May 1st. The Friday date has been added to make the event a 3-day affair. On a special note, white pants will be required for all performances – and that includes you Rocco and Anthony! The entry fee will be the usual $50 and that includes playing time for all 3 days plus practice time as allowed beforehand.
Matt’s Connecticut Amateur Jai-alai facility, located in Berlin, Connecticut, is just one of the three remaining in the United States. They will be celebrating their 12th Anniversary.
This is a remarkable achievement, but on the sadder sad of things, the event will hold a special memorial for Loren Harris. Loren was truly the top ambassador for the sport of jai-alai and dedicated his life to training young kids the great sport of jai-alai in the United States and Mexico. He passed away last month of a heart attack while in Cancan.
Matt’s tournament will not be a “pick you partner” event like the last one. Details of the format will come soon, and we will post it as soon as Matt gets it to us. This is a great time of the year to be up there. The weather is usually perfect (maybe a bit on the cool side at night) and right around the time the dogwoods are blooming.
Make your travel plans soon to save on airfare and hotel rooms. There are several hotels within 5-10 minutes of his court. For those traveling from Florida and elsewhere, there are a couple of new low-cost airlines offering service in addition to the usual JetBlue and Southwest Airlines. Avelo Airlines offers nonstop flights to a small New Haven airport from several cities with prices so low you will be amazed. New Haven is about the same distance away from the Cancha as (dreadful) Bradley Airport, which is halfway between Hartford and Springfield Massachusetts. New Haven is the home to Yale University, several world acclaimed pizza parlors and the hamburger. Another new airline is Breeze Airways
The plans look amazing. It’s a $500 Million Dollar project that would change the landscape on the site of the former Orlando Jai-alai property forever. But with a small poker room in the plans – encompassing just 5% of the overall picture – was the sticking point. Seminole county commissions, in a 5-0 vote killed the entire project.
It is totally amazing that such a massive and game changing project would be turned down for something that has been taking place on the very same property for decades – until the fronton was closed and currently rented out to a church (of all things!).
Richard Burdoff, owner of the 50-acre site that had hosted Jai Alai for over 50 years, teamed up with developers the Cordish Companies for a high-density, mixed-use development called Oxford Park. The project would include about 1,200 luxury apartments, high-end retail stores and a large country music themed restaurant/sports entertainment venue that would host poker and perhaps sports betting (if ever allowed again).
“There will be no slots, no blackjack, no other casino,” Mark Jones, attorney for developers Cordish Companies said. “This is a small poker room. Of the 50,000 square foot venue, it is only 5%.”
Unfortunately, it’s that small poker room that put a halt in the project moving forward. Because the plans have this “element of gambling” in it, in order to get the project approved, the citizens would have to vote on it on the November ballot. The developers have two ways to get it on the ballot- get 25,000 signatures through a citizen petition or get the Seminole County Board of County Commissioners to draft and approve an ordinance to put it on the ballot.
“We are here to ask the commissioners put this matter on the ballot for the voter to decide if they want this incredible project to go forward,” Jones said.
The developers explained to the commissioners they didn’t want to go door-to-door to get citizens’ signatures because of other petitioners fighting for gambling in Florida. This would include the large Vegas hotels trying to get casinos approved in Jacksonville and possible other northern Florida locations. Statewide ads have been running in Florida markets urging people not to sign the petition going on. They believed it would only confuse citizens more, which is true.
“We would get misunderstood. That is not what we are about,” said David Cordish, Chairman of Cordish Companies. “It’s a small social. It would be a mistake for us to go out in the face of these massive petition drives that are going on that we have nothing to do with.”
Only four residents in the courtroom were in favor of the project while several others were opposed.
After the 5-to-0 vote, the county commissioner Lee Constantine said, “I just didn’t feel this is the right move for Seminole County,” .
“To bypass the citizen petition and that’s going to be expected on other issues,” Commissioner Andria Herr said. “I can’t get past the fact that if the poker room doesn’t go through, we can’t go through with this project.”
Mark Jones, the attorney for the development, said the plans look dead at this time stating it would be impossible to get 25,000 signatures in three months.
Will they pull out of the gambling business altogether and proceed with the project? Seems like their only option at this point. Getting gambling approved again in Seminole county would be as difficult as hitting back to back spins of a major jackpot on a slot machine.
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.
Battle Court H2H Schedule
“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
Dania Jai-alai has not shut down for good. And the hotel has not started construction on where the court exists now.
An announcement will be coming soon that Dania jai-alai is coming back, but not to expect a full-roster, full year-round action.
What will be announced is hush hush, but there could be about a two-month season – with pari-mutual wagering and a limited roster. It could also feature tournaments and Partido’s, which are always exciting to watch and bet. The season likely would run in the months of December and January while capitalizing on prime tourist season.
But nothing is official. As we have said before, the owners like Jai-alai and they love Benny. They have never announced that they were closing for good, and even during the final two performances, Benny has hinted “never say never”.
Magic City is getting prepared for its 5th season, which starts this Valentine’s Day. Players have started practicing Tuesday.
The schedule is a little different this year, with performances Sunday, Monday and Tuesdays. Pari-mutual Wagering Performances will start at 1:30pm and H2H Sports Betting Performances will start at 5pm. The Saturday performances are gone. The H2H betting is only available in a handful of states as of now, with this clearly being the future of Magic City jai-alai. Fans will only be allowed in on Sundays for both performances with special admittance if you request it in advance.
It is obvious that the are targeting the sports betting end of it and have acknowledged they will lose money this year. The goal is to have as many states as possible on board that offer sports betting. The days and hours of play has irritated many longtime pari-mutual betters, but these hours and dates (Sunday, Monday and Tuesday) are clearly an attempt to get betters who would normally not have many options at this time. In fact, there is likely nothing being offered by the major 4 sports at those hours with football over with, Sunday MLB games over with, while hockey and basketball games are starting a couple hours later.
Folks, people will bet on anything. There are likely hundreds of thousands standing by wanting to make a bet on something, but in the United States your options currently (Sun-Tue 5pm) are nil. Your options are on events like ping-pong in China. Perhaps darts, cricket or rugby if you’re lucky. The money bet on events like this is amazing and therefore Magic City is giving it a try. Go to the Betrivers website and see for yourself. And yes, jai-alai is a sport they are promoting. Magic City has realized that pari-mutual wagering in jai-alai will never be profitable. Even if they are the only game in town – or shall we say in the United States.
I do have an idea, Magic City. Keep the pari-mutual wagering going if you can. How about running it after the 5pm H2H games and start at 7:30 or 8pm? You would reach a lot of more people at those hours.
As we have noted before, the court has been stained black and it looks good. Special thanks to Kyle Kubala for the photos.
The NJAA & Pelota Press now has available a wide variety of new shirts in black or white and in a wide variety of sizes. All shirts are custom ordered, and price includes shipping directly to your door. You can even add your name and number on the back side. These are very attractive looking shirts and are at a great value for the dollar. Lead time is about two weeks and payment is available by Venmo (preferred) or PayPal, or by check. If you live near Puryear Park in St. Petersburg, you can pick up your shirts directly there if you prefer.
We also have a large inventory of new Matt Balls Gen 7. They are the same size and weight as a real Pelota and are a bit slower in speed then previous Matt Balls. Currently, they are being used by the group of kids in California that was under direction of Loren Harris, who unfortunately passed away last week. The ball is also being used at Puryear Park.
A Go Fund Me account has been set up to help Patty Harris, wife of Loren who passed away last evening of a massive heart attack.
Please help as this unfortunate news has this has hit a lot of people hard.
The Fronton Salas is taking care of everything here in Mexico, but she will need further help.
Loren was having dinner with former pro player Lasa and it just happened. The hotel staff and everyone reacted quicky with CPR and did not stop till medical care and an ambulance arrived. He was taken to the hospital, but unfortunately nothing could have been done. They believe he died almost instantly at the hotel.
Tempe, Arizona continues to consider proposed developments for 46-acre site.
As noted, previously, the City of Tempe, Arizona issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) in July, 2021. The major requirement for consideration of a response was the ability to bring a “franchise” sports team to the site. The solicitation was pointed squarely at the Phoenix Coyotes hockey club which currently plays in Glendale, Arizona.
The Coyotes submitted a development plan for the Tempe site and immediately incurred the rath of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (KPHX). The Airport located only a few thousand yards west of the site is one of the busiest airports in the United States. The Airport objects to the height of the buildings proposed, indicating it may require alterations to the3 FAA approved flight patterns and other mitigating actions. Traffic on nearby freeways (known as “the 101” and “the 202” could be jammed during hockey games causing missed flights and other disruptions at the airport.
The major limiting factor for those responding to the RFP is a requirement to locate a franchised sports team on the site. This requirement is fairly limiting as a rundown of available franchises will include the Arizona Cardinals who paly near the Glendale hockey facility in a state-of-the-art facility; the Arizona Diamondbacks; well established in an iconic facility with an opening roof in downtown Phoenix. The Phoenix Suns who play at the downtown Suns Arena and Phoenix Rising professional soccer club which is currently building a new facility elsewhere. Essentially few options for “a franchise” exist.
A small group of developers has proposed to develop the site within the confines of the airport requirements and meeting all the objectives of the City of Tempe. These objectives include 200,000 square feet of retail space and 1,000 upscale residences plus parking, pedestrian areas, and transportation interface facilities. The group has proposed an American Basketball League team franchise which is confirmed with a letter of intent from an ABA team owner. The group also proposes a Jai Alai fronton on the site, introducing the fast and exciting Basque game to southwestern United States. Therefore, the groups requirement for a franchise is viable.
More than 100 interested parties registered to download the RFP documents. Reports in the press and on the street seem to indicate only the Coyotes presented a proposal. The appearances are that only the Coyotes submitted plans and now they appear to be in dire financial straits with nowhere to play in the 2022 season and their financial dirty laundry being aired in public. It has become common knowledge in the community through very knowledgeable sources that the Coyotes are in deep financial trouble. This may even lead to them relocating to another city out of state.
So, where does that leave Jai Alai and basketball? From some perspectives, the Jai Alai and basketball facility at the core of the development are the only viable alternative for the City of Tempe if they continue to seek a franchise for the site. The city is fully aware of this while awaiting a final decision on the Coyotes. The group of proposed developers for the site are seeking to be “second choice” and are being eyed as such by the City of Tempe. We must let the Coyotes debacle play out.
The strategy is that if the Coyotes withdraw for any reason, the City of Tempe should reopen (not re-solicit) the development request for proposals. By reopening the original solicitation, only those developers who originally registered will be able to submit This is what is anticipated to happen. The Jai Alai proposal will then be submitted with the basketball franchise as the qualifying element.
A small group of development professionals having considerable experience in sports development has come together informally to support the proposal. Right now, it is a waiting game. A decision on the Coyotes proposal for the site is anticipated soon. When that happens all Jai Alai resources available will be called upon to push the proposal through. The National Jai Alai Association and Benny Bueno have been actively supporting the local Arizona efforts and will play a significant role in getting this project to market.
All potential resources or interested parties are encouraged to be prepared to contribute according to their skills and abilities. We are intent on getting Jai Alai back on track through expansion beginning in Arizona. I can be contacted by email at c@spidle.com.
If you build it, they will come. And boy, did they ever! About 35 players showed up over the weekend as the newly remodeled cancha – the first and only public court in America – opened its doors to the public.
On Saturday, open play was in store with the first player showing up being 60-year old Rastock, who recently completed another successful season at Calder jai-alai. Shortly afterwards a few NJAA regulars showed up and then Dania player’s manager Benny Bueno showed up to play with his son Chirs, now an active player on the Magic City roster. Benny had dusted off his old cesta and made the nearly 5-hour trip to St. Petersburg. Dozens of more players showed up to play, with lots of spectators watching including Benny’s mother and sisters, who happen to live in the area. St. Pete Cancha‘s founder Paul Kubala later showed and was able to play with his son Kyle who had made the venture up from Miami with a van load of fellow Magic City players.
It seemed like everyone was having a great time – and no one seemed to want to quit playing despite the unseasonably warm weather (mid 80s and sunny) that the Miami boys brought with them.
At night, dozens of players attended the grand reopening of the newly remodeled J Laca Museum and guests were blown away with what they saw. We will feature a new story later on this month on the additions to the museum. The party was a blast and Benny Bueno was the star of the show with so many stories to tell on all the items he saw in the museum. The Magic City gang was all there too and had a great time. Even Superfan George Quinn was there.
On Sunday, the big Grand Opening event was held. The show got underway 31 minutes late, as the Magic City gang was a little late getting out of bed from their house rental in Clearwater. Don’t ask me why they were late, but 11am is early for a Sunday, I guess!
A 12-game exhibition tournament was held and lasted an unmanageable 4 ½ hours under warm sunny skies again. The hot dogs and burgers will grilling, tents camped out, music playing and Magic Mike’s Computer system playing over a sound system and about 30 players participating in the event.
Faces in the crowd included Stu Neiman, who was making his first appearance to the St. Pete cancha and seemed quite impressed with everything. Also in the crowd was Mark K, the NJAA Historian and several other people. A lot of players from the past are coming back to play, likely because of the newly enlarged court that is more conducive to “real” jai-alai play.
Everyone seemed happy with the court with the only complaint being the low overhead net, which was getting dinged often. Hopefully that will be taken care of soon. The Magic City players all love the sport and most say they would have played jai-alai in college if something like that existed. They love jai-alai more than football, baseball and other sports that they had excelled in. They also loved the concept of playing outside in the fresh air.
The NJAA would like to thank those that donated money to help fund the expansion as we are closing on the gap needed to about $2,700 more to go. A donation link can be found in a previous story on the home page of The Pelota Press.
