Jai Alai is a game brought to the United States from Cuba but had to fight for years to get established in Tampa due to parimutuel wagering laws. Played with a ball about the size and hardness of a golf ball and hurled against the wall, opponents had to catch the speeding sphere in long baskets (called cestas) tied to players' hands. Customers wagered on the outcome of the game. The original site for Tampa Jai Alai was planned for just south of Henderson Boulevard on Dale Mabry but was scrapped due to objections from residents and potential neighbor Christ the King Catholic Church. Opening in 1953 on Dale Mabry just south of Gandy, it was the second Jai Alai fronton in the country. Matches were played seasonally for years until innuendo arose that the games were fixed. The decline of the fronton’s popularity was compounded by the arrival of other competitive sports teams in Tampa and gambling available at the new Seminole Casino. The last game at the 4000-seat Tampa Jai-Alai fronton was played on July 4, 1998.

The owners tried their hand at hosting concerts, including Bruce Springsteen in 1975 and Bob Marley and the Wailers in 1979, but it was not enough to sustain the business. The building permanently closed late in 1998. The parent company sold the 40-acre property where Home Depot now stands for $8.3 million.

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