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Got a quick canine, of the corgi variety?
Well, a group that organizes races is looking for 12 dog racers for the halftime show of the Philadelphia Eagles home game against the Indianapolis Colts on Dec. 13.
You can apply on the group’s — adorably named Little Stumps Racing — website before 10 a.m. on Nov. 1.
Your corgi needs no prior race experience, just a great attitude and being comfortable in a loud, crowded stadium setting. Only Pembroke Welsh corgis, Cardigan Welsh corgis and American corgis are allowed. No other corgi mixes and certainly no greyhounds. The dogs also need to be up to date on their vaccinations and spayed or neutered. Wheelchair corgis are welcome.
Human applicants must be 18 or older and able to wrangle their pet pooch. The group says they get a high volume of applications, and offer some tips to help yours stand out on their website.
The chosen racers’ owners will be contacted by email between Nov. 2 and 6 and must respond within 48 hours to confirm their spot.
After you’re selected, there is a $100 racer fee to participate, but you do get a game ticket and parking pass, so that’s a relatively decent deal for a gameday experience for you and your pup.
Last year’s Philly champion was Tails, a two-time winner and part of a pro racing dynasty alongside siblings Ares, a four-time Buffalo Bills race winner, and Athena, who won the New York Giants-hosted event in 2024.
Little Stumps Racing bills itself as “the ultimate corgi racing experience” and also runs dachshund races. Since 2022 it has worked with teams to organize corgi races at professional and college football and basketball games, as well as other sports. It was founded by Jess Ramberg and its Chief Bark Officer is Ziggy.
Historians trace the first halftime shows during a sporting event — in the format that we’ve normalized and continually try to scale up here in the U.S. — back to around 1892, with the University of Nebraska’s Reserve Officers Training Corps performing military marching drills.
Walter Lingo, owner of the Oorang Indians, a travelling NFL team based in LaRue, Ohio, that played two seasons in the 1920s and had Jim Thorpe as a player-coach, used the game intermission to show off his prized kennel of Airedale Terrier’s in a dog show.
Today, small dog and baby races are commonplace, though no one has thought to race babies with corgis yet.
Some races get exciting enough to even make it onto SportsCenter’s top 10 highlights. Just this month, Banana the Corgi went viral for her victory at the Seattle Seahawks’ stadium, with a Usain Bolt-level look-back at his trailing opposition.
Think your corgi could be the next Tails or Banana, or even make Saquon Barkley’s rushing look sluggish? Sign them up!
