NEW YORK — The annual Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest will see a series of competitive eaters eat as many francs as possible in New York City on Thursday – but this year the event’s biggest star will be slicing off 1,900 miles (3,000 km). ) away.
Joey ‘Jaws’ Chestnut, who won 16 of the previous 17 matches, will not be at the match due to a sponsorship dispute. Instead, he will battle soldiers at a U.S. military base in El Paso later in the day.
That leaves the traditional Brooklyn event wide open for a new winner, with eaters from around the world competing on America’s Independence Day to see how many hot dogs they can eat in 10 minutes.
Thousands of fans flock to the event each year, held outside the original Nathan’s location on Brooklyn’s Coney Island, a beachside destination with amusement parks and a carnivalesque summer culture. ESPN will broadcast the match live, kicking off at 11 a.m. ET with the women’s division, while the men’s division will begin at approximately 12:20 p.m.
Competitors come from more than a dozen states and five continents, with candidates from Brazil, Japan, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Australia and the Czech Republic vying for the coveted title and $10,000 in prize money.
“There’s going to be a new champion,” Australian James Webb, who holds a world record for eating 70 donuts in eight minutes, said Wednesday at a preview event in New York.
Last year, Chestnut, from Indiana, chewed his way to the title by taking down 62 dogs and buns in 10 minutes. The record, which he set in 2021, is 76.
Before the event, ESPN said it would focus on two Americans with special camera footage: Massachusetts high school teacher Geoffrey Esper, in the men, and Florida dental hygiene student Miki Sudo, in the women.
Esper came second last year with 49 dogs and sandwiches, although his personal best is 51. Sudo won her ninth title in 2023 with 39 1/2, but her best is 48 1/2, the women’s world record.
“I’m going to push myself,” Sudo said Wednesday. Her rival Mayoi Ebihara, from Japan, said through an interpreter that she would eat until she passed out, with the aim of eating 50 hot dogs.
Chestnut was initially not invited to the event due to a sponsorship deal with Impossible Foods, a company that specializes in plant-based meat substitutes.
Major League Eating, which organizes the Nathan’s Famous contest, has since said it has rescinded the ban, but Chestnut decided to spend the holidays with the troops anyway.
Chestnut said he would not return to the Coney Island match without an apology.
The event at Fort Bliss Army Base in El Paso, starting at 5:00 PM ET, will feature traditional francs as Chestnut attempts to defeat four soldiers in five minutes.
Although he won’t be eating their vegan products, Impossible Foods is promoting Chestnut’s YouTube livestream of the exhibit by flying planes with banners over Los Angeles and Miami. The company will also donate to an organization that supports military families, based on the number of hot dogs eaten during the event, a spokesperson said.
