This summer has taken me all over the place. From deep inside Hallmark’s historic archives, chatting with fans at Banana Ball and receiving a yellow card from Trent Green, to going on an adventure to find where Ted Lasso was filming in the area, it’s been a season to remember.
Among everything I’ve seen and been a part of over the past few months, one theme has been consistent in my journey: hot dogs.
I tracked down the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile to talk to one of their drivers, a Mizzou graduate from the Kansas City area. I ventured out to Old Shawnee Days to watch the Nathan’s Hot Dog eating qualifying round before the championship on the 4th of July.
Earlier this year, I spent as little as possible at Kauffman Stadium for Dollar Dog Night, and the latest outing brings me back to the home of the Royals.
The Royals are looking to find the “Top Dog” during this year’s Hot Dog Race championship, a single-elimination-style tournament featuring nine competitors participating in the beloved hot dog derby.
While they look for contestants, the team invited media members to Kauffman Stadium to learn more about the tournament and put on the fabled hot dog costume to run. It’s not something I could pass up.
Here’s what it was like and how you can join in.
The Royals Hot Dog Race Championship Tournament
Branded as the Royals’ Hot Dog Race Championship Tournament, the one-day event takes place Saturday, Sept. 20, during the team’s Fan Appreciation Night against the Toronto Blue Jays. From now until Friday, Sept. 12, fans can submit an application online to show the Royals why they deserve to race and have a shot at claiming the Hot Dog Championship.
Scott Lichtenauer, the Royals’ group director of branded content and innovation, said they wanted to do a little bit more for the fans for the last home series of the 2025 season. They’ve done tournaments before, but have never opened it up to all of Kansas City to apply.
The hot dog derby is a staple at baseball games that began as a virtual dot on screens inside the stadium in the 1980s and 1990s, according to the Royals. The virtual dots turned into virtual hot dogs representing ketchup, mustard and relish in 2003, and since 2007 have been the costumes you see today.
What was once ran on the weekends is now an every-home-game occurrence, and Lichtenauer said the event continues to be a fan favorite. Fans have even pledged their allegiance to one of the condiments, cheering for them to take the championship at the end of the season and buying themed jerseys, hats and plushies at the stadium.
“They care about ketchup, they care about mustard, and they’re very passionate about relish, actually,” he said. “As we think about fan appreciation, one of our thoughts is how do we give fans more?”
The “more,” Lichtenauer said, comes in the form of the tournament, where submissions must include a short video showcasing their passion for the hot dog derby and why they should be selected to run as their favorite condiment.
Contestants must be at least 18 years old and between 5’6” and 6’3” in height, and judges will score based on the following:
Passion for the Royals and the hot dog derby: 40%On-camera presence: 30%Originality: 30%
The top nine scores will advance and be split up into three separate races for each condiment during a half-inning. The winning racers will represent their respective condiments in the finals, taking place during the seventh-inning stretch.
Invited participants will also get to watch the game with three of their guests from a suite inside the stadium.
“We’re excited to see what we get this year because it could be a joke, it could be something funny,” Lichtenauer said. “But people have a very big passion for this, and this is the chance to show it.”
How do I become a hot dog?
Actor and Kansas Citian Paul Rudd famously ran and won the hot derby in May, which two Big Slick bidders won the chance to at 2024’s fundraising event.
Other than that, how do you get the chance to put on the costume and run in front of the Kauffman Stadium crowd?
You just have to be at the right place at the right time.
Stadium staff members will scout the crowds on game day and pick people at random, Lichtenauer said. They’re looking for people who would fit the physical standards required to get into the costume and who are excited about the team.
They try not to pick people who know each other because they’ve had experiences where participants will play around or try to perform skits instead of racing, Lichtenauer said. His team’s focus is on straight racing action and people who want to win it.
“Anybody who comes to the stadium has a chance to potentially be in the hot dog derby on a single day,” Lichtenauer said.
Inside the hot dog costume
While you have to be selected at random, I was selected by choice Wednesday, Aug. 27, at a media event at Kauffman Stadium.
I received the ketchup hot dog, which features a red Royals hat, ketchup covering the hot dog and a Royals jersey where the letters, numbers and arm stripes are red to match the condiment.
Putting on the costume is tough since there’s little room inside to maneuver. With the straps inside the foam, it feels like putting on a backpack.
I waddled down the warning track to the Royals’ bullpen gate, and after a quick count of three, it was time to run to the Royals’ dugout.
If you’ve ever ran with a backpack on, running while wearing the hot dog costume feels exactly like that. You can make a conscious decision to tilt slightly forward or backward on your run, but that can also delay how fast you move.
I stand at 5’9” (don’t fact-check this), and it felt like my face barely came up to the face hole. It’s very roomy inside the hot dog, but your arms have to rest at an angle since you can’t move them up and down fully.
My height also makes it a little challenging to walk and run in the costume, as the end of the costume reached my upper thighs, cutting off how far I could move my leg forward.
All of these restrictions make it a tough 100 yards, and it’s easy to see how people fall when they’re bumping against one another to get an advantage and win the race. One wrong move and just like that, you’re on the ground with the entire stadium laughing at you.
I clocked in around 19 seconds, which is also how long it took Rudd to finish in first place during his derby. I’ll start putting that I can run as fast as a superhero on my resume.
The Royals’ schedule was on my side, since they were in Chicago wrapping up their road trip Wednesday. The costume was fresh and clean, which Lichtenauer credits to the team’s cleaners for keeping the fragile pieces sanitzed and without any odors.
Them being on the road also meant I ran in an empty stadium with only my girlfriend, Lichtenauer and Kindle Biermann, the team’s manager of business and community communications, watching me plop down the warning track.
I think I’d do better in front of a crowd, but the pressure will be on for the nine selected to race Sept. 20. May the best wiener win.