Dodgers Star Tied to Illegal Cockfighting in Puerto Rico in New Report

Establishing the pitcher's connection to the banned activity could have consequences.

Mar 31, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Edwin Diaz (3) throws against the Cleveland Guardians during the ninth inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

In 2018, the United States Congress extended its federal animal fighting ban to U.S. territories, including Puerto Rico. Cockfighting was historically legal and culturally entrenched on the island for decades, and a legal challenge was filed.

Opponents of the ban assert it undermines local culture, reflects Congressional overreach and hurts the Puerto Rican economy.

However, the Supreme Court declined to hear the challenge in 2021, and the cockfighting ban has remained in effect.

This culture war came to a head this week when Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Edwin Díaz was one of three Puerto Rican athletes (along with jockeys Jose Ortiz and Irad Ortiz Jr.) identified in a USA Today report for being connected to a cockfighting event on the island.

Díaz signed a three-year, $69 million contract with the Dodgers in December. In February, he was depicted in two separate Facebook ads for a cockfighting event that month in Puerto Rico.

"A tribute to the Puerto Rican star and cockfighter Edwin 'Sugar' Díaz," reads the text of one ad.

Notably, the ads don't establish Díaz as breaking the law. The cockfighting ring ("Club Gallistico") identifies the pitcher as a gallero — a cockfighting enthusiast — in its ads, but can't legally place him at the scene of a specific fight.

However, the USA Today report notes that El Nueva Dia, a newspaper in Puerto Rico, published a separate story on March 10 with a photo showing Díaz standing in the pit of a cockfighting arena.

One day after USA Today's report went live, the ads remain online. It's a stark portrait of the dichotomy between the federal cockfighting ban and the cavalier attitude toward enforcing it on the island.

A 2019 study estimated that cockfighting in Puerto Rico employs 27,000 people, and its ban would cause an economic loss of $407,160,000.

In 2021, then-governor Pedro Pierluisi said he was “committed to supporting an industry that generates jobs and income for our economy, that represents our culture and our history,” and said he and Puerto Rico’s congressional representative would “continue to fight for them.”

Supporters of animal rights would seldom take this stance. Public backlash from activists might be the most severe repercussion Díaz faces, in fact. Former Dodgers pitcher Pedro Martinez stirred controversy when a video surfaced of him attending a cockfight in the Dominican Republic in 2008.

In January, when Cleveland Guardians pitcher Emmanuel Clase was accused of conspiring with sports bettors on the outcomes of pitches he's thrown in MLB games, he leaned on cockfighting as his defense. He reportedly claimed in court documents that he was discussing cockfighting, not gambling, with bettors.

But cockfighting is legal in the Dominican Republic, where Martinez and Clase are from. The same is not true in Puerto Rico — if not in practice, then in the eyes of the Supreme Court.

Exactly what that means for Díaz, a three-time All-Star who hasn't pitched since April 19 while he recovers from elbow surgery, is unclear.

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