World Jai-alai League’s New Home at JAM Arena Review
World Jai-alai League’s New Home at JAM Arena Review
February 11, 2026: The World Jai-alai League had it’s opening day yesterday afternoon at a new location – the JAM Arena – formally known as the “Yankee Stadium” of jai-alai – Miami Jai-alai.
There were lots of good things but on the other hand, there was some bad. It’s the bad that is troublesome.
First the Good News…….
The ball sounded almost like a goatskin pelota coming off the front wall. Love the sound like all of us do. I couldn’t stand the sound of the Magic City court when the ball hit the front wall. Especially when you were there live and in person watching. It sounded like contraction going on. Bam. Bam. Bam. Terrible. With this revised Calder ball they are using smacking the granite front wall, it had that same sound that could be heard 100 years ago on the court.
The screen height is 15 feet higher than the Magic City court. This makes a huge difference for sure.
The court is longer by 6 feet. It is now 126 feet long vs. the Magic City 120 feet.
The court is a few feet wider now. This allows for more carom action. Players touching the out of bounds netting that protects the spectators is much less likely to get hit.
Chick-chaks actually took place.
Now for the Bad News……
Balls hitting the glass back wall had that horrible sound as expected and was very inconsistent in the way they came off the wall.
The rebotes do not come back as far as Magic City did.
Now for the real killer. The pace of play is much slower. The larger court – a much higher front wall and longer court are contributing factors. The ball may have something to do with it too. The original Magic City Jai-alai called or much faster action than the standard goatskin, 175 foot plus long courts. We did not see that yesterday. There weren’t too many pelota’s snagged by the frontcourter in doubles play. Points seemed slow-paced with nowhere near the action of Magic City Jai-alai. Watch the old videos that they were playing before and between games. It was on the old Magic City cancha. I hate to say this, but I think I might be missing the old court even though I disliked the sound of the pelota hitting the front wall and players hitting the overhead screen. Perhaps the players will be better accustomed to the court and things will change. The ball also seemed to slow down later in the performances or something. There was excitement all the time in almost every point on the Magic City court. It’s only one performance and players are still getting adjusted to the new court. But it just doesn’t have that same Magic anymore. I just hope I’m wrong. And it is too early to tell for sure.
Couple more things……
Bring back the banners of ESPN 3, Betrivers, Draft Kings in the players room where they sit between games. It gives everything more creditability.
The court needs painting on the floor to remove the old white lines from the 175-foot version cancha. It was confusing. And on the side wall, Stu can no longer say “It must land between the 4 and 7 lines” anymore. They are out of sync and he and Andrew had a good laugh about it on the live broadcast. Good stuff.
