22 mushers signed up for the 2026 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race at an event in Wasilla on June 28. But one name on the list, Kjell Inge Røkke, is unlike the others and it’s drawing mixed feelings from the dog mushing community.
The Norwegian businessman isn’t a new name to the Iditarod. Companies and subsidiaries owned by Røkke have sponsored the sled dog race since 2018. Røkke has even mushed sections of the Iditarod trail with dogs trained by 2020 champion Thomas Waerner.
But one characteristic still stands out to some in the mushing community: billionaire.
“My initial reaction was a billionaire just bought his way into this race,” six-time Iditarod finisher Mille Porsild said of her response to Røkke's inclusion in the 2026 Iditarod.
The Iditarod’s new Expedition Program will allow Røkke to race with outside support – unlike other competitors in the race's 52-year history. Porsild said the announcement, which was released at midnight on June 14, caught her by surprise.
“What is it he bought himself into? Where are the rules? What is this?” Porsild said.
In the announcement, the committee’s CEO, Rob Urbach, called the creation of its Expedition program a “new chapter in Iditarod history”. He claimed it would enhance the sport’s “global visibility, financial sustainability, and cultural outreach.”
Røkke will receive a modified “Expedition Class Finisher’s Buckle” for finishing the race, but is ineligible to actually win.
A spokesperson for the Iditarod Trail Committee said in an email that Røkke’s exemptions from the rules “mostly pertains to no outside assistance". Røkke will also skip the requirement to qualify by competing in shorter races like the Yukon Quest. Porsild said bypassing qualification troubled her the most.
“Anybody is not going to go, you know, participate in the Olympics,” Porsild said. “He needs to qualify, like any other musher, and show that he can actually manage a team of 16 dogs.”
Saturday Signups
At Saturday’s sign-up event in Wasilla, 2024 and 2025 runner-up Matt Hall said Røkke’s name didn’t come up.
“It was a fun day, and that's how it should have been. I take that as a really good thing, you know, that whatever the little initial drama over it was and etc, has kind of passed,” Hall said.
Hall said he was holding out for more information, like how many snow machines may be running support for Røkke.
“This gentleman isn't there to take the first place prize,” Hall said. “We don't even really understand if he's gonna be listed officially as a position or just a finisher. It's information I want to know closer to date so that I can plan accordingly.”
11-time Iditarod finisher, Nic Petit, said he hoped Røkke’s inclusion would benefit mushers at the back of the pack.
“I understand you can't hold volunteers over forever, but the biggest problem is that they can't keep vets there forever,” Petit said. “But if this guy's gonna be traveling with his own vet crew, then it'd be great for his vet crew to sign on to helping the back of the packers not have to go home.”
In exchange for being exempted from the full-rulebook, Røkke is adding $100,000 to next year’s race purse and pledging $10,000 each to 17 villages along the race’s route. He also halved the registration cost for mushers entering the race and sent some cash to Iditarod HQ too.
Røkke’s contributions only apply to next year’s race, unlike other multi-year sponsorship agreements the Iditarod has brokered. In an interview with Anchorage Daily News, Iditarod CEO Urbach said he hoped the Expedition Program would attract the likes of Elon Musk, Richard Branson, or Snoop Dogg. But Petit said he took issue with that model.
“That's one of the things about this guy, he's been around the dogs,” Petit said. “I don't think that you should be allowed to just hop on a sled you lease because you got some money and you know nothing about what you're doing.”
Røkke declined a request for an interview, but said to Norwegian news outlet, VG, that planning for next year’s race had been underway for over three years.
