The roosters stood centimeters apart, hook-shaped blades strapped to their legs. Cameras surrounded a dirt ring, streaming the fight to thousands of online gamblers huddled over cellphones across the Philippines.
A referee shadowed the animals as they tore out feathers, pounded air and nipped at vulnerable parts of the neck. Less than a minute later, the match was over and a winner declared. The victor squawked over the body of the defeated.
Cockfighting, in which two roosters spar to the death, has become an online craze in the Philippines. Once a declining bloodsport, the centuries-old game is now a major industry across this Southeast Asian nation, pulling in millions of dollars in bets a day and attracting a new generation of gamblers.