Menu
Media

Jon Frankel Of HBO's 'Real Sports' Discusses Future Of Bullfighting In Spain

Tuesday night's episode of HBO's "Real Sports" looks at the future of bullfighting in Spain. Reporter Jon Frankel speaks to famous matador Cayetano Rivera Ordóñez and several other prominent figures in the sport about its cultural standing in Spain and how growing opposition could impact its future. Frankel spoke to SBD Global about the timing of the piece and the atmosphere around bullfights, among other topics. HBO's look at the issue will air just days after Spanish bullfighter Iván Fandiño died after being gored by a bull in southwest France. Frankel said that he believes Fandiño's death will have little impact on the story aside from putting bullfighting on people's minds. He added, "I don't believe this gives those opposed to bullfighting any more ammunition largely because their arguments against bullfighting are based on the cruelty to the animals."
  
SBD Global: What is the piece's main point of emphasis?
Jon Frankel: We spend a good amount of time telling you what this sport is about, literally the A's, B's and C's and how it works. We take you behind and show you the matador coming into the ring, we show you the matador who prays and has a small shrine in his hotel room as he's getting dressed, because the possibility of death is ever-present. And then we segue into, 'Hey, how long is this going to be around?'

SBD Global: Why was HBO interested in looking at the sport at this particular time?
Frankel: The same thing [that was the case with a February episode about cockfighting] applies to bullfighting. Many people have been to a bullfight at one point or another and don't know a whole lot about it. You're talking about a cultural tradition that goes back several hundred years and you have the same animal rights activist issues involved. When you ask, 'Why now?' ... it's been happening for a couple of years now. It goes back to 2012, when Barcelona banned it, so it doesn't take place there. The animal rights political party is gaining momentum. They won something like 1,000 seats across all of Spain in the latest elections that they held. So not enough to give them any real influence yet in government, but certainly gaining momentum. We're also not in the heart of a season for any one of the major sports. 

Coming soon in SBD Global
Frankel talks about his work on last year's award-winning "Lord of the Rings" segment and the future of the Olympics.

SBD Global: How would you describe the atmosphere during your trip to Seville?
Frankel: One of the great things is that it's sort of a mix of US Open Tennis meeting Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby. If you hit it the week that we hit it, which is the big festival in Seville, it is a week-long festival. All the people, no matter where you go in the city -- and it's not just limited to those who have money -- the women put on traditional dresses and the men put on their suits that were worn 50, 60 or 100 years ago and their big brimmed hats. It really does look like you're shooting sort of a Spaghetti Western in terms of the clothing. ... It's just an incredible sight when you get to experience the culture in that way.

Frankel, left, and matador Juan José Padilla.
SBD Global: What do you foresee for the future of bullfighting?
Frankel: It would seem that the traditions are hard to run away from. My guess is that over time, it will peter out, though there still are a lot of people who are making a living off of it. When you watch what happens in Seville in this one week at this festival, you see that they're not so quick to change this. Even the matadors, when you ask them the question, what they'll say is, 'Well, I hope ...' And hope is one thing, but I think in their minds, when they think about it intellectually, they have to know that ultimately this is going to come to an end. Part of that is you just look at the landscape. Today's youth revere the soccer stars in Spain. They don't so much revere the matador and they don't relate to it either. They might have grown up with it, but as Cayetano [Rivera Ordóñez] says, 'They're so busy playing video games and sitting behind a computer, they don't understand -- and maybe they don't want to understand -- the realities of life and death.' If you don't appreciate that component of it, then how long does this sport have?

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2017/06/20/Media/HBO-Bullfighting.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2017/06/20/Media/HBO-Bullfighting.aspx

CLOSE