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Always on the lookout for new types of programming, cable sports network ESPN Is considering televising bullfighting, Gambling 911 can reveal in a world exclusive report!
“ESPN has a history of televising out of the mainstream sports,” an ESPN source told Gambling 911.
“In the past we’ve shown things such as dominoes tournaments and Australian rules football.
“Bullfighting is just one of many sports currently being considered for broadcast.”
Bullfighting on television is very popular in many countries around the world, the source said.
If ESPN decides to televise it, it would probably start off on ESPN’s Spanish-language channel ESPN Deportes and if it gets decent ratings, it would move to regular ESPN, the source said.
Bullfighting is currently legal in Spain, Portugal, France, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Venezuela, as well as other locations.
Many of those places televise bullfighting and the broadcasts are quite popular.
But would such broadcasts fly in the United States?
“That would be the main problem,” the ESPN source said.
“We expect that there would be a lot of pushback against bullfighting on television in America, especially from the animal rights groups such as PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), who think bullfighting is cruel and should be abolished everywhere.
“But if you know anything about bullfighting and its culture, which the animal rights people obviously don’t, you would know that it’s anything but cruel. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.”
Most bulls end up in a slaughterhouse, becoming steak and hamburger meat, and get to live about two years, the ESPN source said.
Bulls prepared for la corrida, which is the bull ring, get to live about six years, the source said.
“If you were a bull, which lifespan would you prefer?” he said.
The source also pointed out that not every bull dies in the bull ring.
“Most get killed, but if a bull fights valiantly, it is allowed to live.
“That bull will not be involved in any more bullfights and instead it will be put out to stud for the rest of its life so it can help produce more bulls that will be valiant fighters.
“Again, if you were a bull, would you rather go to the slaughterhouse and be killed or have a chance to fight for your life in la corrida?”
The ESPN source added that there are Americans who go to Mexico and elsewhere to become professional bullfighters, because the activity is not legal in the United States.
“If ESPN were to start featuring bullfights involving American bullfighters, those bullfighters would become instant celebrities in the U.S.,” the source said.
A professional sports bettor, who asked not to be identified, told Gambling 911 that he, for one, would not watch bullfighting on television for one simple reason: you can’t bet on it.
“In any bullfight, the odds of the bull surviving would be at least 100-1,” the bettor said. “You can’t do much with that.”
By Tom Somach
Gambling 911 Chief Correspondent
