The Fall Battle Court Draft Event is tomorrow night at the Magic City Fronton in Miami, Florida. The draft starts at 6:30-pm EST and can be seen live on watchjaialai.com. Coverage starts 5-minutes earlier at 6:25-pm.

Magic City World Jai-Alai League Battle Court Draft Rules

Draft Schedule – A player draft will be held approximately 15 to 45 days prior to the ensuing season of Battle Court.

Player “Freezes” – The teams finishing last and 2nd to last in the prior season will “freeze” two (2) players, the teams finishing 2nd and 3rd in the prior season will freeze up to three (3) players and the prior season’s championship team shall have the right to freeze up to four (4) players on their current roster prior to the draft. A “frozen” player will remain at their same Singles ranking for the upcoming season of Battle Court. The decision of who to freeze will be made by the team owner or, in the event no team owner exists, by the League Office. “Frozen” players must be submitted to the League Office no less than fourteen (14) days prior to the draft.

Note:  A player can only be “frozen” at his Singles ranking for three full Battle Court seasons exclusive of a number “1” ranked player. Going into the next season, if the team wants to “freeze” that same player again, the team must move the player up to a higher Singles rank. If they do not choose to move the player up in ranking, he will become eligible for selection in the ensuing draft.

Draft Order – The drafting order will be determined by the reverse order of finish in the previous season. Each round starts with the team that finished with the least amount of total points and ends with the Battle Court Champions. In the event an expansion team is added to the League, they will draft in the middle position when they are increasing the number of teams in the League to an odd number and directly after the middle position when they will constitute an even number of teams in the League. In rounds where teams have protected players, they will “forfeit” their pick in that round, and the other teams will automatically “move up” in the draft selection order. Any players not drafted within two (2) subsequent rounds of their prior season’s Singles ranking level will automatically be placed on the “Taxi Squad” and not be eligible for draft selection until the following season. At that time, they will be open to selection in any round of the draft.

Team Doubles Pairings – Upon conclusion of the “drafting” portion of Draft Day, the owner, General Manager, and players will have approximately 75 minutes to compose their six (6) Doubles pairings and submit them for approval and announcement by the League Office. A Doubles pairing may not consist of the number five (5) and number six (6) ranked players on any team.