How many people driving down East Dania Beach Boulevard know that professional jai-alai is still played inside The Casino at Dania Beach? In May 2026, a NBC 6 South Florida feature on the sport's Miami comeback said Dania holds only occasional exhibitions and described its last season as 2021. The scoresheets show four full tournaments since then. The fifth, the Dania Beach Invitational, starts Tuesday, January 5, 2027, at the fronton at 301 East Dania Beach Boulevard.
This edition starts later than any before it. The first four began in November or December. Management has moved this one into January through March, the busiest stretch of the Florida winter.
A 3,400-Seat Fronton That Kept Getting Smaller
The building opened in December 1953 with 3,400 seats, a restaurant, two cocktail lounges and four snack bars. It cost $1.5 million and went up despite local opposition, according to the Sun Sentinel.
Six decades later the casino took over most of that space. The property rebranded and reopened in 2016 after a $60 million renovation. Casino gaming moved into the main arena, and jai-alai went to a 500-seat arena, the Sun Sentinel reported.
The next change came from Tallahassee. In 2021, Florida's SB 8-A ended the rule that frontons had to stage live games to keep running their cardrooms and slot machines, as WUSF explained at the time. Dania announced a final season soon after, and the Sun Sentinel reported the last games for November 28. Most outside coverage stopped following Dania there.
The Comeback Was Built as a Tournament
In 2022 the casino brought the sport back in a new form. CDC Gaming Reports covered an exhibition planned for April and an eight-week season starting that December. It was no longer a nightly program. The new format was a closed invitational, set up as a competition with a clear beginning, a bracket and a champion.
The first edition, in 2022–23, invited more than 20 players. A December qualifying round picked the top eight front-court and top eight back-court players, who were paired into eight doubles teams. Those teams then played a single-elimination series of 15-point matches. Pelota Press reported a $5,000 prize for the winning pair that year. The Sun Sentinel described the return as free and open to the public, with a 500-seat grandstand and standing room.
The format has held every year since, and the jai-alai stats site SayHiLi has published records for each edition.
| Edition | Ran | Champions | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st, 2022–23 | December 2022 to late January 2023 | Not published in the records | Single-elimination doubles |
| 2nd, 2023–24 | December 1, 2023 to February 25, 2024 | Bixente and Atain | Over Urreisti and Oyhenard, February 23, 2024 |
| 3rd, 2024–25 | November 2024 to February 2025 | Urreisti and Gorka | 21–6 over Tambour and Danel, February 14, 2025 |
| 4th, 2025–26 | December 2025 to February 2026 | Johan and Gorka | 21–13 over Tambour and Argoitia, February 12, 2026 |
| 5th, 2027 | January 5 to March 31, 2027 | To be decided | Qualifying in January, head-to-head play in February and March |
Some names come back from year to year. Gorka has won two straight titles with different partners. Tambour has reached the last two finals. Atain won in 2024 and finished third in 2026, paired with Garcia. For a sport many people assumed had left Broward, Dania now has a small, steady roster that regular spectators can follow from season to season.
Why 2027 Starts a Month Later
The schedule change was announced on July 20, 2026. Pelota Press reported that management "decided that it was best to avoid the holidays." In the 2026–27 season, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day fall on a Thursday and Friday, and so do New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Those are four of the fronton's usual game nights.
The other side of that decision is March. The same report calls it spring break and the busiest month of the year for Florida tourism, and points out that Easter falls on March 28, 2027. In earlier years the Invitational ended in February, before those crowds arrived. This season it runs until March 31.
The tournament has also grown. The casino's roster page describes three months of competition, with qualifying rounds in January and head-to-head matches in February and March. Titles will be awarded for singles, most wins and "last team standing."
What a Week at the Fronton Looks Like
The casino has posted the 2027 schedule:
- Matinees: Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 1 p.m.
- Evenings: Tuesday through Saturday at 7 p.m.
- Dates: January 5 through March 31, 2027
- Seating: The casino's page says only "Seats are limited."
That is eight sessions a week, enough to fit around most work schedules. The fronton was free to enter when the tournament came back in 2022. The 2027 page doesn't list a price or a reservation process, so it makes sense to call the casino before a Saturday matinee.
The casino's FAQ says jai-alai is open to all ages, while the casino floor is 21 and older and the poker room is 18 and older. The property has free parking and valet. For a meal before or after a match, the dining page lists The Grill and Sunrise Bar on Level One, and Pizzelato, Luxe and the Sports Lounge on Level Two.
Before the season starts, past games are on the Dania Beach Jai Alai YouTube channel, including the Paisa 2025-26 DJA Tour.
How Dania Compares With Miami's Version
Jai-alai in Miami is having its own revival. The original Miami fronton opened in January 1926 and reopened as JAM Arena on February 13, 2026. It is home to the World Jai-Alai League, seats 1,500, and began its Season X on September 15, 2026, with matches streaming on Fubo, ESPN+ and YouTube. NBC 6 described the league's format as shorter and closer to tennis, with six-point sets and two sets to win a match.
Dania is a smaller and more traditional setting. Its records show doubles pairs playing to 21 in a room built for a few hundred spectators. Watching the two venues side by side shows how differently the sport is now presented. Dania's is the one inside Broward County, a few minutes from the beach on the same boulevard.
Before January, a Full November in Town
The fronton opens in early January. Until then, the city's November calendar has plenty going on:
- Saturday, November 7: Dania Pointe's Fall Artisan Market runs from 5 to 10 p.m. That night at 8 p.m., Stage 954 at the casino hosts Space Cowboy, a Steve Miller Band tribute, with Bad Moon Rising, a CCR tribute.
- Saturday, November 14: The city's Light Up Dania Beach runs from 5 to 9 p.m.
- Sunday, November 15: Dania Pointe's fifth annual Food & Wine Festival, 2 to 6 p.m., with chef demonstrations and tastings.
- Friday, November 20: Ticket To The Moon, an ELO tribute, and Magic Ann, a Heart tribute, play Stage 954 at 8 p.m.
Every Wednesday, Dania Pointe also offers free Wellness Wednesdays at The Lawn, 150 Sunset Drive, with yoga at 6 p.m. and Zumba at 7 p.m. There is no class on December 23.
Then on Tuesday, January 5, the first match of the 2027 Invitational starts at 1 p.m., and the competition continues through the end of March.
If you're thinking about a winter with East Dania Beach Boulevard close by, whether for a full season or for the three months the fronton is open, Lois Rutigliano can walk you through the streets around it and what daily life there looks like. Let's Connect.
