{"id":122488,"date":"2026-01-06T19:11:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T19:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/122488\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T19:11:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T19:11:12","slug":"the-san-diego-rodeo-has-become-a-major-draw-but-opposition-to-it-isnt-going-anywhere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/122488\/","title":{"rendered":"The San Diego Rodeo has become a major draw \u2014 but opposition to it isn\u2019t going anywhere"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"San<\/a>San Diego Rodeo (File photo by Chris Stone\/Times of San Diego)<\/p>\n

Tens of thousands of attendees will head downtown this month for the third San Diego Rodeo<\/a> at Petco Park. <\/p>\n

And opposition to the event <\/a>over animal welfare concerns is only ramping up.<\/p>\n

Two years ago, the weekend event sold out with 45,000 attendees in total. Last year, Saturday night alone had a sold-out crowd with 18,000 attendees<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But as the rodeo has in some ways cemented itself as a January staple at the time that tourism slows down, it\u2019s also been marred by animal injuries and deaths each year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Animal rights activists aren\u2019t ready to concede the event\u2019s continual place in the winter calendar. They see a campaign that has successfully pressured sponsors to pull out \u2014 and the rodeo\u2019s loss of public funding this year \u2014 as signs of eroding support<\/a> for the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe San Diego Rodeo has been highly effective in bringing visitors from all over the world to San Diego, providing a major boost in our local economy during the winter months when tourism is traditionally low,\u201d the rodeo said in a statement ahead of the Jan. 16-18 event.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s iteration saw Monster Energy withdraw last year as a sponsor, following a coordinated pressure campaign by local and national animal welfare groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven people who are against rodeos drink Monster Energy,\u201d said Amit Dhuleshia, co-founder of Strategic Action for Animals. \u201cWith all the controversies that happened with the pregnant horse getting killed, and then still allowing pregnant horses this year, (sponsorship) doesn\u2019t make sense from a financial, business perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n

Monster Energy did not respond to a request for comment on its sponsorship change this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Two weeks later, SanDiegoVille reported<\/a> that Diageo, a liquor company, had also dropped its support as a sponsor. Animal welfare advocates celebrated the news on social media<\/a> as the result of their efforts<\/a> to pressure sponsors..<\/p>\n

Other major sponsors like Hard Rock Hotel San Diego, Ford and multiple casinos remain, Dhuleshia said, though the event\u2019s website does not list its sponsors.<\/p>\n

This is also the first year that the San Diego Tourism Marketing District<\/a>, which uses public funds to subsidize events that draw tourists to the region, has not underwritten the rodeo.<\/p>\n

In 2024, advocates spoke at a SDTMD meeting, urging the board not to approve a grant for the event. That led to initial deadlock on the board, which blocked funding. But SDTD reversed its decision two weeks later<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dhuleshia said that it was an accomplishment to convince large players it was \u201cnot a good look\u201d to be associated with the rodeo.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the tourism district\u2019s executive director Colleen Anderson said in a statement that the San Diego Padres, who produce the rodeo, did not receive public funds because they did not apply for any this year.<\/p>\n

The Padres received $150,000 in SDTMD funding for the rodeo in each of the event\u2019s first two years, on the basis that it drove hotel room bookings and tourism dollars to the region.<\/p>\n

Tourism district data, in fact, indicates that the rodeo surpassed projections on both counts. In 2024, it accounted for nearly 6,300 hotel room nights, ahead of an estimated 6,000. That translates to a return on investment<\/a> for SDTMD of $1.5 million, according to district documents.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It did even better last year, generating 12,572 total hotel room nights for an over $3 million return on the district\u2019s $150,000 grant, according to the SDTMD\u2019s annual report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Despite its financial success, each rodeo has been clouded by controversy. The death of the pregnant horse<\/a> marred the 2025 event, though San Diego Humane Society investigators cleared<\/a> the rodeo and horse owner of criminal wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile San Diego Humane Society and many animal lovers stand in opposition to this practice, it is common for pregnant horses to participate in saddle bronc competitions. Most importantly, it is legal,\u201d the Humane Society said<\/a> in a statement at the time. \u201cHowever, just because something is legal does not make it humane.\u201d<\/p>\n

The year prior, six-year-old race horse Waco Kid panicked and violently crashed<\/a> into a barricade, leading to injuries.<\/p>\n

Efforts to block the rodeo<\/a> have so far failed. Councilmember Kent Lee proposed<\/a> an ordinance in 2024 to ban rodeos in the city. The proposal never gained traction, and even a scaled-back version of it died<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lee\u2019s staff did not provide comment on any ongoing efforts by the office to prevent the rodeo from occurring on a city-owned site, or outlawing practices like pregnant horses competing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Councilmember Stephen Whitburn, who represents downtown and Petco Park, has remained silent on the event \u2014 including when asked for comment on this article.<\/p>\n

To Dhuleshia, the legislative route is dead until the makeup of the San Diego City Council changes. That is why, he said, they pivoted to pressuring corporate sponsors. He said the first year of that approach proved successful, and advocates plan to escalate pressure on sponsors in the weeks remaining before the rodeo.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to educate the public, and, you know, eventually try to make this a non-profitable event, and then they will have to basically shut it down when that happens,\u201d Dhuleshia said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A list of sponsors is being circulated for the pressure campaign, a lawsuit<\/a> is underway, and in December, activists rallied at Waterfront Park to call for an end to the San Diego Rodeo.<\/p>\n

The rodeo remains undaunted.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSan Diego Rodeo continues to grow each year as demonstrated by the return of Daily Rodeo After Parties with three major country artists committed to perform each day of the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are grateful to all our sponsors and attendees for their support of the 2026 San Diego Rodeo and look forward to another successful event at Petco Park for a third consecutive year,\u201d it said in a statement.<\/p>\n

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