Could You Be Spurred Into A Bet On Cockfighting?

In some parts of the world a bet on cockfighting is no stranger than one on the Super Bowl, and indeed this blood-sport has seen a resurgence even where the law sides against it, so as much of the world runs about like a headless chicken and Donald Trump attempts to pacify the United States with bread, circuses and a level of projection a multiplex would be proud of, are we about to see a return of this form of gladiatorial combat we can wager on at Bet365 ?

Cockfighting

• Dates back to 2000 BC
• Still globally popular
• Varying levels of legality
• Regional rules & styles

Naturally in pampered self-congratulatory western societies it is fashionable to be against any blood-sports, the middle-class abhorrence of cruelty to animals just another mantel of superiority worn to place themselves above the poor. The poor don’t have the luxury of time, money or energy to waste on such fripperies and at the other end of the economic scale the rich upper-classes just don’t care, so it is the middle classes alone that would have a problem with a bet on cockfighting, and only in the west.

Strictly against UK or US gambling laws, elsewhere in the world a bet on cockfighting is as normal as heading over to Bet365 to place a wager on the English Premier League, retaining a massive popularity in nations as diverse and disparate as Japan and Iraq, Brazil and Indonesia, the Philippines and Cuba. With deep historic and cultural roots, in some places it is seen as having a spiritual component, something that has ridden with the sport since its earliest incarnations in the Indus Valley Civilization.

Cockfighting Popular Around The World

That earliest of instances in which people are known to have bet on cockfighting dates the sport to some two thousand years before Christ, with it rapidly spreading over the centuries to Persia and ancient Greece, at first reviled and then reveled in by the Romans, and from there around the world. Often the birds fight “au naturale”, with a “naked heel” as in Tamil Nadu, India, however in some instances, such as Cuba, the birds are equipped with blades, “cockspurs” or “gaffs” to assist in combat.

This long illustrious history tends to present a mental image of the sport now long since gone, a chaotic crowd baying around a pit like something out of a painting by Jan Steen (or at the very least The Deer Hunter) now replaced by bleachers and facilities, bands and bars, just like any other sport. However anyone in the US gambling news of this popularity elsewhere would soften that middle-class opposition to any relaxation of the laws concerning cockfighting should think again – or just ignore ’em.

When Will You Be Able To Bet On Cockfighting At Bet365?

In the bespoke automated stadiums of Puerto Rico a bet on cockfighting is perfectly legal, indeed it is a $100 million dollar business annually, but for the rest of the US states one of the oldest sports on the planet still remains illegal. However whilst law enforcement stages impressive raids against those suspected of breeding fighting birds or hosting matches in the US it has seen a resurgence in the sport with evidence of it scattered across the country from New York to Texas, California to Kentucky.

Does this mean at some point in the future those who like to bet on sports in US might be able to once again place a bet on cockfighting at Bet365 and it’s ilk? It would seem unlikely at first glance, however economics has proven a motivation for surprising social change, as in the case of marijuana, and one wonders just how long it will be before the value of the illegal cockfighting business in the United States becomes attractive enough for legislators in some to want their share of it in taxes.