THE NATIONAL DOG SHOW: A BROADCAST BONANZA FOR PUREBRED DOGS
ART IMITATES LIFE IMITATES ART With a new home secured, the historic dog club was about to enter the 21st century with help from a Hollywood blockbuster. In 2000, the Christopher Guest mockumentary Best in Show was released and caught the attention of a dog-loving television exec- utive. “Jon Miller is the President of NBC Sports,” Wayne says of the man who envisioned producing a real life dog show modeled after a movie modeled on a dog show. “He and his wife saw Best in Show and Jon couldn’t stop laughing for two days. His wife enjoyed it even more.” Wayne explains that after seeing the film, the man responsible for bringing emerging sporting events to a television audience wanted to do something dog-related. “So someone [from NBC] contacted Purina, and Carson Interna- tional [the event and production company] contact- ed me,” he says. What dog club president wouldn’t listen to what they had to say? Wayne remembers the meeting he attended in New York as if it happened yesterday. “I went to meet with them at 30 Rock and they said they had it all planned out,” he recalls of their pitch to produce a Best in Show -style dog show. “They wanted to do a parody,” he explains of their offer to feature his club’s historic event as a made-for-TV comedy. “I didn’t know if Jon understood that he was meeting with the real club’s President,” Wayne says. (Movie goers may remember that the film’s fictional May- flower Kennel Club was based on the Kennel Club of Philadelphia.) “We go back to 1878 and we’re steeped in tradition. We’re just not going to be able to fulfill your wish and make that dream come true in real life.” Of course, TV executives have a way of turning “no” into a ratings success story. Only a week after that initial meeting, Wayne received a call from Jon suggesting that the two “roll up their sleeves” to help make one man’s dream another’s reality. After a bit of negotiating, things started to come together. Jon asked, “Would you guys be in tuxedos and could
The National Dog Show is a broadcast of NBC Sports and is televised nationally after the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
With entries dipping below 1,000 for the first time in decades, the club needed to find a show site that worked for exhibitors and for the club. “I started to look for new places and found Fort Washington,” Wayne says of the Expo Center that was located near the Pennsylvania Turnpike. “We enjoyed Fort Washington for years, but then something happened with the management and they sold to a shopping center. So we got kicked out of there.” Finding himself in search of a suitable show site—again—Wayne had to relocate his Philadelphia institution out of the metro area. “We went to Harrisburg one year, and to Reading [Pennsylvania],” he points out. “We had four different sites before we finally got a home in Oaks.” “The handlers love it, the exhibitors love it, and I love it,” Wayne asserts about the Kennel Club of Philadelphia’s current home at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center at Oaks, Pennslyvania. Located just a few miles from King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, near Valley Forge National Historical Park, the center offers over 240,000 square feet on one level. The convenient site is massive enough to accom- modate virtually any kind of event, even the largest of dog shows. “Our facility lends itself to every kind of event configuration, and our location central to Phila- delphia’s five counties and the greater tri-state area allows for a large and varied audience within easy driving distances,” notes the Expo’s website. With acres and acres of paved parking, there’s plenty of room for handlers’ motor homes and countless mini vans filled with dog-loving spectators too. Inside, four adjoining exhibitions halls provide plenty of space for rings, benching, vendor areas and throngs of onlookers. “We’re just so happy to be where we are,” Wayne reports. “There’s no union and they treat us really well.”
left: Vendors offer a wide variety of gifts for Fido and family just in time for the Holidays. above: The Kennel Club of Philadelphia has featured a variety of covers on its show catalog. below: Best of Breed winners enjoy unprecedented exposure thanks to a television audience numbering in the tens of millions.
152 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, OCTOBER 2021
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