The Founder's Corner: 2025, a Year of Firsts
Originally published in The Monthly Multiball, January 2026.
2025 was a year of firsts for us: our first location, our first trivia tournaments, our first IFPA-sanctioned event, and more. We were able to create bonds with incredible players and organizations in Florida and beyond.
As for me personally, I received my IFPA number after playing in my first tournament, was co-Tournament Director for the first time, and attended some league nights and other tournaments. This really showed me how great the pinball community is and cemented my vision that this is exactly what South Florida needs. Developing as a player has been just as crucial as developing as an operator, with YouTube channels like Abe Flips and The JBS Show with Jamie Burchell quickly becoming some of my favorite content creators. Abe Flips has great tutorials that have helped me improve my game and better understand how to practice pinball. The JBS Show features interviews with some of pinball’s most dedicated content creators, developers, and operators. I highly recommend listening to The Pinball Roundtable episode featuring George Gomez. While I may be a bit biased because Pinball Passport is Stern-centric and my first game, Bond 007 is a George Gomez-designed game, this episode showed me how masterful and intentional a creator George Gomez really is. It was great to get a sneak peek into the mind of one of pinball's best!
As we look ahead to 2026, we will be bringing more opportunities to play and compete. Starting mid February, Duffy's Tavern will be hosting 4 pinball machines and launching a weekly league series. We will also be launching a much more casual weekly series featuring a “Get on The Leaderboard” style pinball event accompanied by a trivia tournament. This way, there’s something for everyone, from the pinheads to the trivia fans. We will also be hosting an IFPA sanctioned event in both February and March to get the year started.
“2025 was a year of firsts for us: our first location, our first trivia tournaments, our first IFPA-sanctioned event, and more.”
I would love to connect, so feel free to drop me a line at jamaro@pinball-passport.com or a DM on Instagram, tag us when you play our games or anytime you see something which could be great for Miami pinball culture. Also, reach out if you would be interested in hosting machines, joining the team to find and grow locations, volunteering to assist at events, or becoming a "tour guide" for new players.
May your shots be dialed in and your flippers strong,
Jose
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