Why a raccoon now has its own trading card

You can now add a raccoon to your trading card collection. Yes, you read that right.

On Thursday, trading card company Topps announced on X, formerly known as Twitter, that they were producing and selling a trading card featuring MLS’s latest pitch-invader: a raccoon.

Why does a raccoon have a trading card?

The raccoon is getting its own card after going viral Wednesday night for delaying a game between the Philadelphia Union and New York City FC.

While the internet was amused, the players certainly weren’t, per a video shared on X.

Staffers tried to corral the critter and chased him around the pitch with trash cans. But the raccoon was able to escape from underneath the trash cans twice before it was captured.

The animal spent 161 seconds — over two and a half minutes — on the pitch, which MLS Communications said is the longest a raccoon has been on a MLS field.

Once captured, an Adidas sign was placed underneath the trash can and used to keep the raccoon inside the can while stadium workers flipped it over. They then placed another trash can inside the original to corral it.

After its removal, the raccoon was released by a local pest control company, USA Today reported.

The “Raquinho! - 2024 MLS TOPPS NOW Card 55″ can be purchased on the Topps website until 1 p.m. MDT on Sunday. It is available in packs of one for $8.99, packs of five for $32.49, packs of 10 for $54.99 and packs of 20 for $89.99.

This is the second time this month that Topps has released a trading card related to a game delay.

Earlier this month, Topps made a trading card featuring beekeeper Matt Hilton, who removed a bee swarm that delayed an Arizona Diamondbacks game, the Deseret News previously reported. Hilton then threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the game.