Rob Gough’s Plan is to Make Jai-alai the “Next NBA”
Miami: September 3, 2026: When February of 2027 rolls around, Rob Gough will be in full control of the World Jai-alai league. Right now, he is the owner of one of the franchises (The Fireballs) with its current season about to start in a couple of weeks. His plans are to make jai-alai a major sport and hopes within thirty (30) years to make it the “next NBA”. Most of us won’t be around by then, but at the age of 42, Rob has the time, ambition, the funds, and connections to pull this off. This couldn’t come at a better time as jai-alai has suffered for the past three decades and has undergone massive changes with Magic City/World Jai-alai inception. Their social media has been phenomenal, video production and the way people bet on the sport. Gough’s plans are ambitious to say the least, and we will get into that later. He says his phone has been “ringing off the hook” with interested buyers.
Who is Rob Gough?
Rob was raised in Indiana and later attended Ball State University when he was diagnosed with bone cancer and underwent chemotherapy to overcome it. He has a degree in Business with a focus on Marketing from the Kelley School of Business. He is married to Cassie Gough and has lived in Los Angeles.
In 2002, Gough started his first business called “Bidaroo”. This was a penny auction website that later sponsored an entry in the Indianapolis 500 race. Ten years later he co-founded “Eckim” a company that operated coupon and auction websites. He was a self-made millionaire then then. He served as it’s president until it was sold to Quotient Technology in 2014. He was then operating in several private investing activities and was even profiled in the New York Times in May of 2014. In 2017, he acquired the LA based streetwear brand “Dope Couture”. He sold it three years later.
Connections made through his successful business dealings in Los Angeles led to acting roles with John Travolta, Bruce Willis, and Terrace Howard.
But movies aren’t the only thing he’s known for. He also owns nice sports memorabilia collection such as the 1952 Mickey Mantle baseball card he purchased in 2021 for $5.2 million dollars, the Wayne Gretzky jersey worn while scoring his final point in the NHL (a record 2,857 points), and a Michael Jordan jersey worn in the 1998 NBA finals. He also owns Wilt Chamberlain’s rookie uniform from 1959. As a memorabilia collector myself, these are great investments that appreciate over the years. Look at the value of the Honus Wagner T206 card alone. Four years ago, one of them sold for $7.25 Million. That card is every collectors dream.
Getting into the Jai-alai Scene
Then earlier this year, Rob Gough got introduced to jai alai. How he got hooked up at this time is unknown, but he has always loved sports, and he quickly learned about the 100-year history of the sport in Miami and was fascinated by it. When he witnessed jai-alai in person for the first time in Miami he “was hooked”. And as he told Gambling Insider, “It’s amazing. The speed, the danger. I like that stuff. The dangerous consequences, I think, are very important for this sport. People don’t realize. They watch Formula 1 because of the driver could veer off and hit a wall. And there’s dangerous consequences. Or they watch UFC because a player could get hit and injured. But they don’t understand the consequences of this, when there’s a ball that as hard as a rock going close to 200 miles an hour and you get hit by that, you only have a helmet on. These guys are elite athletes. I don’t think people realize, they’re dodging this, and they’ve got to have good reflexes, and there’s a lot more that goes into it. I tried to throw the ball on the court. That’s more difficult that you could eve imagine. Once you dive in and realize what’s going on, you learn the game. I just appreciate it.”
He quickly bought a franchise, and things apparently took off from there.
Here is where things get interesting. World Jai alai was NOT for sale. However, Rob was not going to give up. He wanted to own everything. His persistence eventually convinced the Havernick family to sell. Gough said, “It was a long process, but it worked out great.” The executive structure set up on the current WJAL will remain in tack as the season opens September 15th. Gough’s plan for his additions to the program – personnel and input – to be ready for the start of the next season in February. Rob will be learning a lot about the business of jai-alai and the way it operates during the fall and winter months approaching.
The purchase price of the league is unknown, and since it was a private deal, we may never know. But who really cares? Our great sport is about to enter a new era never encountered before.
What’s Next for Jai-alai?
When asked by Gambling Insider what changes will he prioritize, Gough replied “Watching on television and watching online is a big priority for me to elevate. I think there’s a lot of ways that we can make this look a lot better for that audience. So that’s going to be a big one. The fan experience in the count, in the area, that’ll be another big one for me to elevate and make it better. We’ll obviously highlight it a fantastic sport to watch in person. But I want the fans to feel an experience, and there’s a lot of ways to do that that. I think we’re missing out on at the moment. I think we’re missing out on storytelling. It’s the Fireballs vs. the Warriors, but you don’t really know anything about the players, their backgrounds, their stories, how they are as a person. So that’s going to be very important for me. You as a fan, will want to know and it will help you become closer to the players and the teams.” Gough makes a great statement here. As a big baseball fan, we all know about the players, their background. For example, Jazz Chisholm Jr. is a very talented second baseman for the Yankees but is very immature and known to hot dog things. Just this past week, the radio announcer for the Red Sox called him a “bush leaguer” for stealing second and third base with his team enjoying a big lead and demanded his pitcher plunk the next batter to send a message. People like to know about their athletes they watch on their favorite team. You know if they are an asshole or a great guy and want to win as a team.
More ideas by Rob Gough include the uniforms themselves. “I even want to redo the uniforms and make those more elevated. Obviously, the online look and feel with the website and the social media, I want to elevate that. A big thing is, I’m going to be thinking long, long term, selling the teams to individuals, instead of just on a rental basis like we’ve been. That’s been the business models in the past. So, selling teams forever, to individuals, that have this long-term vision and can bring a lot to the table also, that’ll be something. We’ll be announcing who those buyers are in the near future. We’ve already had a lot of interest in people wanting to buy those. Also, adding more sportsbooks. I think that’ll be an opportunity for growth for us and getting the fans more opportunities and more way to bet on us. I think wagering for us, for me, is more of an engagement layer. And really my man focus is building a sports and entertainment property.
National Celebrities for Publicity
Gough has some big plans involving national celebrities for publicity. As he told Gambling Insider “The fan experience will be full of, yes, actors, influencers, celebrities, athletes. I just got off the phone with a major actor who is excited to be a part of it.” He did tell Gambling Insider who it was, but the forum did not release its detail. I have an idea who this person might be from watching a YouTube video last month made by World Jai-alai, and I can assure you as far as influencers go, this alone will be huge with millions of followers. We’ll let Rob release the details when and if a deal is reached.
Gough added “I want it to be cool for the fans and cool for those people, for them to see other celebrities that they know and recognize. And then for the fans to say, “Oh did you see that person there?”
Going National with Teams
Perhaps the biggest news about these plans is going national with the teams. As Gough said “Listen, I love Miami, I don’t want to get rid of the Miami culture or history. But the teams will have cities attached to them in the future. So, it won’t be the Renegades vs the Warriors . It’ll be….lets call it the New York City Renegades vs the Tampa Bay whatever. I will add that.” This is likely the $10 million dollar price tag for a franchise that we brought up a couple of weeks ago on this site that he is referring to.
ESPN and more Sportsbooks Plans
The streaming of Battle Court will continue under Gough’s operation on ESPN and other regional sports networks. Gough plans to investigate everything possible and get much bigger than it currently is. “I bought this thing to make it the next NBA”, Gough said.
Gough admitted he was not an expert on sportsbooks and their operations, but he will be looking into additional outlets to wager on.
Gough’s Involvement in Jai-alai
“Dude, I’m all in. I mean, I’m working non-stop on this. Obviously, Scott (Savin) is fantastic, and he’s doing a great job on this duties and what he does. On my side, I’m kind of just adding my touch and trying to implement all my crazy ideas and changes and bringing all my relationships and things to just take what Scott has bult in the past and take it, continue on that path to where everybody has dreamed that it can go to”, he told Gambling Insider.
Gough told The Sporting News that he was impressed with the leagues previous leadership for developing an online audience that includes more than 1 million social media followers and TikTok video with more than 15 million views. However, he does not intend to preserve the current operation in place. “The previous operators have done a fantastic job in a lot of ways” Gough told The Sports News. “But I plan on changing a lot. Elevating everything to make it better”. Those plans include a redesigned television production, changes to how the equipment and action is presented and an upgrade online presence and a more immersive experience inside the JAM Arena. “The fan experience will be amazing. You’re going to come and the kids and adults will feel special. It will be a unique and interesting evening, full of influencers and celebrities and a night to remember.”
Gough has been working on a television show with a major actor, along with a “docuseries” focusing on his acquisition of the World Jai alai League and his experience as a team owner. He plans to sell teams carefully, prioritizing owners who can attract attention, build recognizable identities, and invest for the long term. “I’m curating team owners” Gough told The Sporting News. “I’m selling teams which is interesting. I’m worried about who those team owners are and if they can elevate those teams, and in 30 years make this the next NBA”
“The demand for teams, for people buying the teams, as been bananas”, Gough told The Sporting News. “My phone has been blowing off the hook. I’m working crazy hours
with people trying to buy teams. It’s a lot of work!”.
Jai-alai Fans Dream Come True
For us jai alai fans, we have seen the ups and downs over the decades. The 1960s, the 1970s and most of the 1980s were incredible for those mainly in Florida, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. After more than three decades of gloom, things might be changing. I’ll be in my hundreds – 30 years from now as well as many of you reading this. Let’s hope we are still around then to see how this plays out.
Good luck Rob Gough!
