A group of committed enthusiasts in Miami is doing all it can to save jai alai, the world's fastest ball sport
Dennis Dalton, known by the moniker"El Barba," Spanish for"The Beard," competes in a doubles Jai Alai match in the fronton at Magic City Casino, Sunday, March 13, 2022, in Miami. What could be Jai Alai's last stand is taking place at Magic City Casino, where a small group of committed enthusiasts are doing all they can to save the game that originated in the Basque region of Spain and France but took root in Miami during the go-go days of of the 1970s and 1980s.
Instead, just a few dozen family members and die-hard fans turned out for a recent match. Live wagering, which long drove the sport, has dried up in the era of YouTube and online gambling. And many of the game’s top players who used to make the journey across the Atlantic have hung up their wicker cestas — curved baskets for catching and throwing — leaving a void that a roster of local, homegrown talent is hard-pressed to fill.
“This is the only place where you can make a living playing jai alai,” Goitiandia said, wiping his brow after winning an exhausting round-robin doubles match. To speed up the sport, Magic City has reduced the traditional fronton by nearly 60 feet and replaced the goatskin ball — as hard as a hockey puck — with a bouncier pelota that ricochets against plexiglass instead of the traditional granite wall. Magic City is also experimenting with the rules, creating so-called Battle Court matches resembling head-to-head singles tennis.
Its long decline began in the 1980s, when Florida authorized the lottery. A players’ strike lasting more than two years followed. And competition from federally protected Indian reservations has taken a toll. He hopes jai alai can make a comeback on simpler, if less lucrative, grounds. Less than a year after hosting its final regulation game, Dania Beach will hold a 10-day exhibition tournament next month that he hopes will revive a full-fledged season there in time for the fronton’s 70th anniversary in December.
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