It was announced just recently that the legendary Joey Chestnut is banned from competing in the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island on the 4th of July.
The announcement came amid growing drama between the 16-time winner of the annual event and those who put it on. Apparently, Chestnut partnered with Impossible Foods. It’s a rival of Major League Eating.
“We are devastated to learn that Joey Chestnut has chosen to represent a rival brand that sells plant-based hot dogs rather than competing in the 2024 Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest,” Major League Eating said in a statement. “MLE and Nathan’s went to great lengths in recent months to accomodate Joey and his management team, agreeing to the appearance fee and allowing Joey to compete in a rival unbranded hot dog eating contest on Labor Day.”
We now have a pretty interesting update on the situation. Netflix announced on Wednesday that it will air a hot-dog eating contest between Chestnut and former rival Takeru Kobayashi. It will air live on September 2.
Joey Chestnut And Takeru Kobayashi Getting Back Into The Game
These two last faced off in the Nathan’s Hot-Dog Eating Contest all the way back in 2009. Kobayashi is a six-time winner of the annual event. His rookie appearance back in 2001 saw the Japanese native break the record by eating 50 hot dogs in 12 minutes. Yeah, that’s some insane stuff.
Back in 2008, Chestnut and Kobayashi squared off with the two eating 59 hot dogs. Chestnut ended up winning in sudden death in dramatic fashion.
As for the Nathan’s Hot-Dog Eating Contest, it’s just not going to be the same without Chestnut doing his thing.
