Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest takes Fourth of July barbeque to new heights. The contest will not be the same this year after Joey Chestnut, a 16-time winner of the competition, parted with the organizers.
Nathan’s Hot Dog Contest, which is held in Coney Island, New York pits America’s best competitive eaters in a race to the clock. What is the maximum number of hot dogs and buns that a person can consume in 10 minutes. Chestnut, a 2021 world record holder, ate 76 hot dogs and buns, all together. The video is not beautiful, but funny.
They soak their dogs and buns in water first to make them softer, and then literally sucking them down. They bulge their cheeks like chipmunks. They are in agony like marathoners. Whoever eats most and can keep it down wins. This contest isn’t about just speed.
Winners receive the Mustard Belt. It looks like a championship boxing belt, but it has a hotdog and Uncle Sam.
Straight up or Over-Under bets are available.
Sports betting is a popular activity in the US. The Nathan’s Contest has evolved into a fun, kooky betting contest. There are many major US operators that offer odds. Not only on the winner, but on over-unders for how many dogs each person will eat.
In some states that allow legal sports betting, the “hot dog”, which is a combination of hockey and lacrosse, can be found on the DraftKings site. Geoffrey Esper was the favorite on DraftKings as of Tuesday, 2 July. He had a -120 win chance. Esper was second last year to Chestnut, eating 49 dogs and buns as opposed to Chestnut’s 62.
Chestnut is no longer in the mix, so the competition will be more intense. Last year, Nick Wehry (+550), who finished fourth last year, ate 45 dogs to come in third.
FanDuel’s oddsmakers believe the race will be closer than ever. As of Tuesday, Esper had a +100 and Webb was at +125.
Some sportsbooks like Bet365 and ESPN Bet offer straight bets only on the winner of Nathan’s Hot Dog Contest.
Oh! Oh!
Chestnut will not be participating in this year’s contest after the drama of last month. He has signed with Impossible Foods to produce a meat-free hot dog. Major League Eating and Nathan’s were not happy with Chestnut’s promotion of a rival. Chestnut will not compete in Coney Island’s food competition this year after much name-calling and finger-pointing.
MLE released a statement on 11 June that said, “We’re devastated to hear that Joey Chestnut chose to represent a competitor brand which sells plant-based dogs instead of competing in 2024 Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest.” MLE and Nathan’s have gone to great lengths to accommodate Joey Chestnut and his management, accepting the appearance fee, and allowing Joey compete in an unbranded, rival hot dog eating competition on Labor Day.
Chestnut is still going to eat his fair share of hotdogs on Independence Day. He will be competing against four soldiers in Texas at Fort Bliss. Chestnut will compete against four soldiers.
Sudo is a 9-time champion on the women’s side
Miki Sudo will return to the Coney island contest as the women’s champion, having won nine times. Sudo won last year with 39.5 hotdogs and has the world record for women of 48.5.
On Tuesday, DraftKings set her as a -1200 favorite, and the over/under was 40.5 Frankfurters. Sudo has a -1,200 odds on FanDuel and there the over/under is set at 39.5.
The men’s Nathans Contest will air live on ESPN2 at 12 noon ET, with replays scheduled for 5pm and 9.30pm. Women’s Nathan’s Contest will be broadcast live on ESPN3 at 10.45am ET.
