Miami Jai Alai Complex to be rebranded as “JAM Arena”
A big press release came out yesterday giving us some good insight at what is instore for the future of Magic City Jai alai and the place it will move operations to.
As we all know by now, Magic City Jai alai had been operating out of a former music venue at what was previously known as Flagler Dog Track. When slot machines were added, the venue was rebranded as Magic City Casino. Dog racing was forced to shut down in the State of Florida by a public referendum and decoupled. The Havenick family, long time owners of the venue sold it to the Poarch Band of Creek Indians in early 2023 for $96 million. The agreement allowed the Jai alai operation to continue the site until the end of 2025, forcing Scott Savin and his group to look for a new location. Several options were on the board with interested areas including Los Vegas and Rhone Island. But the most obvious and logical choice was just up the road that already had a full-blown jai alai court, 1500 seats along with pari-mutual infrastructure in place – just sitting there and rotting away. The original 99-year-old Miami Jai-alai fronton. The adjacent structure alongside it now hosts Miami Casino and its slot machines.
The Jai alai structure of it appears to be taken over by Scott Savin and his group in a press release that went out yesterday morning. Big plans appear to be in store.
The new operation will be called the JAM Arena. JAM stands for Jai Alai Miami. The “Arena” part is not “Fronton”, because it appears that it will become more than just a jai alai court. Yes,, the World Jai Alai League will resume operations there next starting in February. But there is a whole lot of other things planned. According to the press release, the “entertainment” space has experienced a multi-million-dollar reinvestment that will feature upgraded amenitites and family-friendly sports activations for a unique presentation of sports, comedy, concerts, and cultural programing with a jai alai court as its backdrop.
“Centrally located and family-friendly, JAM Arena will cast a bright new spotlight on South Florida’s top entertainers” Scott Savin was quoted as saying. The launch of JAM Arena marks a new era for the site, which will celebrate its centennial anniversary in 2026 and represents the latest example of South Florida’s expanding entertainment offerings.
All sounds good and with jai alai only consuming a small part of the calendar, filling in the “dead” time with concerts, comedy shows and other sports (boxing as already taken place there with Don King promotions) sounds like a winner to me. Just need to fix up that side of the building and I would like to see the parking lot fixed up and with better lighting outside to make the area feel safer.
As far as the new jai alai court is coming along, the new glass back wall is up with the side netting and overhead netting going up as we speak. We do not have any photos to share on that, but you can see the previous story and photos we did a couple weeks ago on this site. It also appears the court may be 6 feet longer than the normal one at Magic City, and pari-mutual wagering may be returning in the summer along with the sports betting format which will start in February.
