Berlin, Connecticut: Matt DiDominzio has announced he is hosting two tournaments coming up in the next few months.
The first one is Saturday, February 28 and Sunday March 1st. This event will feature a Partido Tournament. Players would play in only one of the two days and that would be for about two hours.
Contact Matt directly if interested in playing by mid-February. WHITE PANTS are required.
The second tournament is about ten weeks later. May 9-10th, again a Saturday and Sunday. This event will be a quinella style tournament where you will play with each partner. This is the nicest time of the year up there and the dogwoods are in full bloom in that week of May and a site to see.
More details to come as we get closer to the event.
Puryear Park to Close Thursday Thru Sunday This Week
St. Petersburg: January 12, 2026: After meetings today at the Puryear Park Jai alai Cancha, the much-needed work will commence this Thursday morning and last thru Sunday. The jai-alai cancha will be officially closed.
A company that specializes in concrete and masonry repair will be doing the work. They will be working on crack repairs, additional grinding, repairing the sidewall, joint and filling cells on the front wall. You can see the photos in a recent story of the work that is needed. Any donations to help the project is welcome by contacting Scott King. The court will then get repainted, so we should be in good shape cancha wise by the time the Scott King/Sunshine City Tournament takes place.
Our contractors are also working with the city to get resurfacing of the flooring, the screening, and sunshades. Also in the plans down the road are bleacher seating for our local season ticket holders and other visitors (like Brock who came by last week). Again, donations are encouraged to help make all this possible. The court is free to play on because it is a public court and the savings is considerable if you add up the totals spent at the two privately owned cancha’s.
World Jai-alai League Has New Pelota/ Grand Opening Friday, February 13th
January 12, 2025: The World Jai-alai League has issued an official press release regarding the grand opening of their 9th season to be played at Miami Casino – the former original jai-alai fronton.
I had announced that the season opens on Tuesday, February 10th and that is still the case. But the doors will not be open to let you in. It looks like the “only open on Friday night” rule is again in effect.
Instead, they will hold their official Grand Opening event on Friday the 13th at 7pm.
Comedian Whitney Cummings will follow the jai-alai performance with a headliner performance. Cummings has one of the most recognizable voices in comedy and will perform her successful “The Big Baby Tour”. She’s not only a comedian, but an actress, writer, producer, and a director. She was the creator and star of NBC’s “Whitney” and the co-creator and co-writer of the Emmy-nominated CBS series “2 Broke Girls”. She is also the host of the popular podcast “Good for You” and released her sixth stand-up special, “Mouthy”, a couple of years ago.
As we have announced in the past, the “new” JAM Arena will bring back a new version of jai-ala never seen before, combining the traditional jai- alai granite walls in the front and regular concrete side wall to go along with a new glass back wall installed near the serving line making the court 126 feet long as opposed to the old 176 feet or so that it was 100 years ago.
One of the biggest obstacles has been solved – they have a new ball designed that has been tested and approved by management. The newly designed ball – made from the same manufacturer as their Magic City ball in Spain– has been thoroughly tested and plays great. The new ball is made from much harder plastic. I’ll be curious how it sounds from hitting the front wall, but anything different then the old sound will
I did inquire about getting the old Magic City balls for Puryear Park, but they want to hold out for the season to make sure they hold up. Smart decision, because no one has an idea how well the harder wall will last out there. It’s a whole new ball game.
Scott King and Sunshine City Jai-alai group are hosting their 3rd annual tournament that starts on the last day of the month of January. All 30 spaces on the 3-group bracket are filled up, with a waiting list now forming.
A few players from Connecticut are coming, including Matt DiDomizio, who opened up this own “fronton” in Connecticut just a couple years after the St. Pete Cancha opened.
The format is the exact same as last years with the three groups (A,B and C) participating in doubles matches of a “pick your team” format. The group play will be similar to the World Cup Soccer event with group Partido games to 10 points. Every team plays every team in their group for a total of 4 games for every player. Winners advance, with the “C” group winner advancing to play in the finals on Sunday, February 1st. Semi finals are to 12 points, and the finals consist of two Partido to 10 points with a 5-poiinter tiebreaker. The Singles tournament are to 6 points, single elimination depending on weather and time.
No starting time has been announced for the Saturday or Sunday dates yet, but assuming around 10 am on Saturday and 11am or12 noon on Sunday. Projections on the weather are too far out at this time.
Same rules as last year…..
No two wall serves.
Two over-serves allowed per Partido.
Frontcourt receiver must remain in the serve box until the ball is released.
Non-integrity rules are out – an over serve and you lose. Tipped balls not played. A ball nipping the overhead screen is not allowed. A slip while serving will result in a whistle.
No spectator seating inside the court for everyone’s safety. That includes dogs.
I’ve ordered eight large trophies that will be gold and black in color vs. last year’s green and gold stripe. They are 18” tall with them going to the winners and runners-up of the front and backcourters of the Doubles, the first and second place of the singles event, and the winners of the “B” level players. In addition, the winning players in doubles will get a surprise gift that is now on the way from Spain that was ordered by Scott King.
Last year, Scott King won the doubles event with TB Matt – filling in as a sub. He was not going to play until just before post time when he needed to fill in at the last moment. He was not going to play this year but has opted to play with Ray Haluska to fill out the brackets. Belota will be a ref and Adam is now going to be a reserve as he came off the IL list several months earlier than expected and played well.
Here are the brackets as of 01/12/26 (Will Update if changes are made)
Puryear Park Jai alai Interior Repairs Likely Next Week
January 10, 2026: The St. Petersburg Cancha will likely be closed for a few days next week for much needed renovations.
The front and side walls are getting chipped and dented asway as well as the flooring up front, making it occasionally dangerous as balls end of flying all over the place unpredictably. When you have some hard throwers like RG3 (Puryear Parks latest regular star player, Wayne Pattie (Milford, Miami pro considered to be the hardest thrower today), and Mark Butler (brother of Chuck Butler and Daniel Love) and Belota (Orlando, Calder) whipping flames well over 110 mph with a heavy Matt 151 ball, damage is certain to happen. But this is especially true in the area where the racquetball court wall was torn down to expand the court a few years ago.
By looking at the photos, you can notice the area where the wall was – adjacent to the side wall and the flooring where the wall went across the cancha, is all crumbling apart and getting worse by the day.
On Monday, a special contracting crew of engineers will assess the damage and hopefully be able to perform work needed on Tuesday and Wednesday. If that is completed by then, painting on the court would commence immediately afterwards – likely on Thursday and Friday. Scott King is looking for volunteers to help paint. In a previous story, the exterior work was done a couple weeks ago with a new parking lot underway adjacent to the cancha’s parking lot.
This is all subject to change due to the contractors’ schedules, but as of now, this is the plan. As usual, we will keep you posted.
Usually, maintenance is done on the court this time of the year to get prepared for the annual Scott King/Sunshine City Tournament January 31st and February 1. This is also Gasparilla weekend in Tampa where about 500,000 people gather for the annual pirate invasion and parade, one of the largest in North America. On Sunday evening, the Stadium Series of Hockey will be played at Raymond James stadium in front of 68,000 fans with the Boston Bruins taking on the Tampa Bay Lightning. Connecticut Amateur Fronton owner Matt DiDomizio will be playing in the tournament and attending the hockey game. He’s a huge Bruins fan and these outdoor games a spectacle where fans travel from all over to attend them. Playing in Tampa heat is going to be an issue, but a tent will cover the ice and be removed just before the game starts. Matt’s daughter Katie is also going to the game with her husband.
January 7, 2026: Later this week, the Pelota Press will be running a 13-part series of Blogs that appeared on the World Jai-alai League website this past year.
The blogs were written by Stu Neiman for the WJAL and are based solely on his opinion. The Pelota Press has received permission to run the series.
After an incredible 2.5 year run of stories by Marty Fleisman, it is time for another series of stories from upper management to share us jai-alai fans some unknown information. While Stu’s Blogs are not an all “behind the scenes” story like Marty’s, they are mostly on facts and the history of jai-alai and how Frontons came into existence. You will learn a lot from this series if you haven’t already seen it.
Part one of the 13 will start later this week and run once a week.
St. Petersburg/December 24, 2025: Renovations have been ongoing at Puryear Park, but not actually inside the cancha itself. The exterior walls of the jai-alai court have been repainted with a fresh coat of Evergreen paint. Patching was also done on the walls and on the flooring surface where major holes had been developing. The outside of the court looks brand new and looks great.
If you have ever come to the court and try to play or just visit on Saturday mornings, you likely experienced a major parking issue. With anywhere from 12-16 jai-alai players showing up along with a half dozen or so of our season ticket holders, along with hundreds of soccer players with parents and friends showing up on the two soccer fields that make up part of Puryear Park, nearby parking can be troublesome.
As we reported several months ago, the house nearest the park, and adjacent to the parking lot behind our court, was going to be torn done and paved for much needed additional parking. The house had been flooded in the hurricane that made landfall 165 miles away. The owners had balked at selling the house to the city until he realized that the value of the house had fallen over 25% due to damage and decided it was time to move on. The permitting and environmental process had been going on for the past several months. The house was torn down and contents removed in a one-day period a couple of weeks ago.
It is unknown how many extra parking spaces will be available to the public at this time.
December 16, 2025: Magic City Jai-alai will have a new name, a new home, and an entirely new look when play resumes Tuesday, February 10th.
The World Jai-alai is moving two miles north to the original home of Miami Jai-alai, which outside of a few Don King Boxing Matches, has sat dormant for the past few years. The original home of Jai-alai in the United States (not counting the one that got blown away in a hurricane) will turn 100 years old soon, joining Dick Van Dyke to the centennial club.
This will have an entire new look – with a court inside of a court. A glass back wall has been installed to shorten the cancha to standard World Jai-alai League measurements to 126 feet with its placement around the serving area. The Magic City court was 120 feet long, so this new court will be 6 feet longer than before. Overhead netting has also been installed. Extensive testing for the new ball to be used is ongoing. There has been no decision as to what ball will be used, but for one thing, the real goatskin pelota is out. Right now, it is a toss up between the current ball being used and the ball that was used at Calder Jai-alai. But other balls remain in play. The current Magic City ball makes no noise coming off the granite wall, and that is problem. Another option gaining traction is a revised version of the real pelota by removing the goatskin and wrapping it with the same white tape that had been done at Magic City and at Matt’s court in Connecticut as well as Puryear Park in St. Pete.
The building will be called the JAM ARENA – short for Miami Jai-alai. And jai-alai won’t be the only offering. Concerts, comedy shows, various sporting activities of some sort will take place in addition.
There will be 1,500 seats, many of them recovered, a new refurbished terrace and bar area with a redesigned entryway connecting to the casino. For the past few years, this area has been as secluded and off-limits like the way Dr. Zaius kept everyone away from the “Forbidden Zone” area that had remains of the Statue of Liberty in the classic movie “Planet of the Apes”.
We have no idea how long the lease is but given the millions of dollars likely sunk into this project, I’m sure it will be at least 3-5 years of jai-alai there. Scott Savin is determined to make this work. Plans have included expansion to other states and even having girl players involved.
December 15, 2025:Miami: Jai alai at Magic City is now officially over, with the Cyclones taking the championship with a 4-1 win over the Devils Friday night in Miami. At 9:34pm, Inaki & Manu deposed of Etcheberry & Nichloas in the 3rd set 6-1 to prevent a game 6 from taking place. The cancha was covered with champagne by then. It was the first time when won the championship since the very first one was held – in the Spring of 2022.
A packed house was there to witness the exciting event as $200K goes to the winning team owner and the players get a reportedly $6K bonus apiece.
This was the 4th season of Battle Court action what will resume next February, two miles up the road at the original Miami Jai alai fronton.
Last weekend, within a 16-hour period, I was able to view full performances at the two remaining jai alai frontons in the United States. Yes, it’s a far cry from the nearly twenty frontons that were active at some point of the year in the late 70s to early 80s. Millions of people visited the frontons for basically the only way to legally gamble. Casinos were only allowed in Nevada and then in 1978, Atlantic City. Some state lotteries consisted of scratch offs if they had anything resembling a lottery. Only four states were offering jai alai – Florida, Connecticut. Rhode Island and Neveda. Today, over 40 years later, the gambling options has exploded. Casinos are now operating in 44 states. The lottery is now in 45 states with national ones offering hundreds of millions of dollars to the winner.
Jai alai today is only in one state – Florida – with frontons located in Dania and Miami just 23 miles apart of one another. And the two are quite a contrast of one another, to say the least. Being able to visit the two of them with complete performances within a 16-hour period was a pleasure to watch. I’m going to break down the two frontons with the good, the bad and the ugly. Do note, that Magic City is hosting its last performance this Friday night, before moving north a couple of miles to the original jai alai fronton in America – now called Miami Casino.
Dania Jai-alai
Last Thursday night was Opening Night for their 4 -month tournament comprised of young Basque and French players. The place was fairly crowed with about 200 people in attendance and that included dozens of former pro players and a handful of current Magic City players.
The Good
The quality of play was phenomenal was a treat to watch. I’ve attended opening day every year of this event, and this was clearly the best group of players I’ve seen play there. Kudos to Benny B for putting a great lineup together.
The Bad
One thing that did shock me was that there were no player introductions of the roster at the beginning like in the past. No parade – no nothing. Game one started right after that god awful version of the national anthem. You would have had no idea of it being Opening Day, and several players making their pro debut were not acknowledged. On top of that, the scoreboard went dark after the first point or two, leaving betters clueless of how many points your team(s) had. To make matters worse, you could barely hear a word out of the announcer’s booth. It’s still a mumbled tone-deaf sound system. With only 400 seats vs the 6,500 it used to have shouldn’t be an issue! Perhaps you would have been OK if there were 20 people in the building and not 200. Dave Lamont is a great announcer with a great voice, but why have him announce if you can’t hear him?
There was no mention on the home page of the Dania Casino website that jai-alai was being held, which is troublesome to say the least. I didn’t notice any marquee sign anywhere outside the building mention jai alai being held either. Not one word of it being Opening Night on the program either. There were 200 diehard fans in the fronton – about triple what was in the entire casino.
Magic City Jai-alai
The Good and the Bad
When I first entered Magic City Friday afternoon after watching Dania only hours earlier on Thursday night, I was in shock. Yes, I’ve been to Magic City Jai-alai before, played there in the tournament September 5th and have been to Dania Jaia-alai hundreds of times since 1976. I had sticker stock. The court is almost 60 feet shorter than Dania, and the sound of the ball hitting the front wall sounded like a prisoner pounding on rocks with a pickaxe. Yes, envision Paul Newman and George Kennedy in “Cool Hand Luke”. It’s that horrible sound I can’t stand. There is nothing like the sound of the goat skin pelota hitting a wall comprised of a foot thick or more of granite. But that opinion quickly evaporated as the night went along.
Luckily, this will sound of pelota hitting the front wall will drastically change as they move a couple miles north and will be throwing against a granite wall that will be 100- years old! Unbelievable. The court will still have a glass back wall, but this allows for great viewing of the court and video angles that make viewing on TV or your phone a huge advantage. The shorter court does not bother me – it does allow for fast action and some great non-stop catches off the side wall. As someone recently posted on Tigers site, this is the case especially watching the division 1 and 2 players go at it. Manu makes it look so easy you almost expect a great catch every time. Watching Urrutia serve is something else. The ball is moving so fast, one can barely sese it. Even Benny got plunked in the belt with a serve Friday night.
The crowd was totally different than in attendance at Dania the night before. The crowd of about 70 was festive with music in between points and cheerleaders dancing between games. Spectators were given nice big 14-page color programs on top of it. Team owners were all there, including former NFL Hall of Famer Ray Lewis.
I’m confident the new fronton and layout will be ideal. Management is testing the new court and experimenting with other balls to find the right pelota to use. We’re using the Magic City ball now at Puryear Park and most of the players like it. It is the same weight as the real pelota and roughly the same size. Perhaps the goatskin ball may come into play at the new venue? Of course,, the concern is cracking the glass back ball, but that is taking a lot less force than a Unda bomb or an Urrutia serve. I did have a long talk with Arra I and forgot to ask him about that in between performances Friday. The horrible sound of the ball hitting the glass wall will be gone and I see an opportunity for more kill shots. The ceiling should be higher too, which will be a big factor.
The fixed odds sports-like betting is a game changer. Using the Hard Rock app on your phone is easy and convenient. Your involved in EVERY point of the game, a big positive.
Who’s Better?
So, who’s better – Dania or Magic City? This is like asking who’s better – Joey or Bolivar? Flip a coin. But, perhaps this summaries it:
Viewing wise – Dania
Betting wise – Magic City
I enjoyed both and I’m really looking forward to next year when JAM Arena opens! Hopefully, they will get more performances with the Battle Court format as Pelota betting will not initially be instituted for the February start from what I understand, but return in the summer.
