It's an amazing game. Very few Americans play it. Mostly guys from Basque/Spain where it originated, and Mexico. I think the main reasons why it's not more popular is that there are very few players that can play on a professional level. Obviously its not a game that you can just go out and learn. These guys have been playing some form of it since they were little kids. That ball really moves...
I have a theory that people generally only want to watch a sport that they've played personally. Obviously it's no fun to watch a game where you don't know the rules. A game is most fun to watch when you know the nuances, have an appreciation for the skill, the strategy, the players, the history, ect. Only a tiny slice of people play jai alai growing up, very few people get a chance to learn the game. After jai alai lost the monopoly on sports betting in the US, there's not much left to draw people to the game.
@@wolfumz @wolfumz Actually, the format of the games played here in the U.S. under the Pari-Mutual gambling rules is way different. The format of the game in this video is called a partido. One or two man teams play to 15, 21 or 35 points, for example. Under the Pari-Mutual rules here in the U.S. they playe normally 8 teams in the game. During the first round, the points are scored as 1 point. Each loser goes to the back of the line. After team 8 has played, the points are scored as 2 points. This game format is called a Quinela and it was developed strictly for the Pari-Mutual wagering. The teams in the 5, 6, 7 and 8 may only play once in the game if they lose the first point but the teams in the 1,2,3 and many times the 4 post can come into the court a second time. A game can finish in less than 10 minutes a lot of times. If you aren't gambling, it can get boring very quickly. But the partidos are always exciting. Partidos, however, don't make the house (fronton) owner anywhere near as much money as the Quinela games and that is why it didn't catch on in very many places here and part of the reason it died out in the U.S.
The Mexican Back Courter was weak as hell and the main reason they lost. The Front Count had to try and get everything to stay in the game. I played amateur in Tampa and was better than that back court and I only played for two years. smh
