The world’s last active fronton in Florida, Magic City Fronton, will remain open through the 2023 season. Scott Savin, COO of the fronton, hopes the plans he’s put in place will revitalize the game. To date, the place attracts those 40 and over as well as younger people drawn to the Magic City Jai Alai videos on social media, according to US Bets.
“Right now, everyone’s enthusiastic that we’re still very much in the growing phase and everything looks like it’s unfolding positively,” Savin said.
The sport almost died off five years ago, until Savin hatched the idea to resurrect it. First, he erected a new fronton at his casino between Little Havana and Miami’s airport. Then, he enlisted former University of Miami athletes to take up the sport, broke a union that was dominated by players from the Basque region of Spain, and gave the game some breathing room.
Savin worked out deals with BetRivers to offer mobile sports betting on jai alai in Pennsylvania, Illinois, and five other states, and streamed matches live. The sport is growing in popularity.
The company had 170,000 unique visitors to TikTok for their Memorial Day livestream, with the average viewer spending more than three minutes per person watching.
“That gives us cause for a lot of optimism,” Savin said. “I’m generally not a patient person, but I’m learning patience. It’s crawl, walk, run, and crawling is getting eyeballs.”
Quality of play has improved immensely, and now they attract the best players in the world. Three of the top five singles players globally and two of the top five doubles squads play at Magic City. Players can earn upward of $110,000 for six months’ work if they play well enough.
Betting is up 30 percent, and jai alai sometimes makes the top 10 by handle.
Savin has received inquiries from investors in Las Vegas and overseas who want the league to expand. Could there be a western conference and an eastern conference, competing for the Super Bowl of jai alai?
Selling teams brings in more revenue, with some fetching upwards of $100,000. In August, the casino will stage its first-ever draft, in which new owners will call the shots. The winner of Battle Court gets $50,000 in prize money, plus whatever revenue sharing is handed out, and there are no further costs to the owners.
Savin is excited about the future, and he remains confident that the potential for long-term sustainability is there.
“That’s what everyone is clinging to, with a wide-eyed optimism for what the sport potentially could be,” Savin said.
