What a nice post!
The only thing I'd say is that we know the game has changed and
so have the times, but the problem I see is that SIMULCASTING
has forever changed jai alai. What does that mean? Well, case
in point: I very often see former jai alai fans at Orlando...the
ones who used to sit in the crowd and wager on jai alai and enjoy
it...they'd come all the time...just as much as I do still to
this day. This was before simulcasting. Now, those same people
have been converted to the horse track simulcasts, primarily,
because they see the huge pools and pay-offs that often occur.
Now, those same fans don't wager on jai alai, never sit in the
stands, and in fact, they don't sit down, period. They just meander
around, staring and looking up at monitors. Even during the Citrus
tournament, I was going upstairs to wager (the 3rd floor Race
Book) and there well over a hundred people up there or more.
I could not agree with you more about bringing newbies in the
door. Frankly, that seems the be the only way we get new fans
to jai alai, is to literally BRING them in the door ourselves!
I brought my friend in, and now we got every weekend. We brought
his daughter, and when she is in town, she goes with us on that
weekend. People really seem to love the sport, still, but all
I ever hear is "oh ya, I've heard of it...what is it?"
