Because Joey Chestnut was banned from participating in the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest this year, ESPN’s broadcast of the event had its lowest ratings in over a decade.
According to ESPN, the show attracted 831,000 viewers, compared to about a million viewers each of the previous two years. The broadcaster said its lowest ratings since 2013 were during the pandemic in 2020, when the show attracted 982,000 viewers. Chestnut, the 16-time champion of the July 4 event, competed in an exhibition match against four soldiers at the Fort Bliss Army base in El Paso, Texas, because he signed a sponsorship deal with Impossible Foods that resulted in his exclusion from Nathan’s.
George Shea, the longtime host of the Nathan’s contest, had predicted higher ratings due to the “intense” controversy surrounding Chestnut. ESPN began televising the event in 2004, but it had no ratings for the first decade. Since 2013, the three highest-rated broadcasts of Nathan’s Competition were 2014 with 2.7 million viewers, 2019 with 1.5 million viewers, and 2021 with 1.3 million viewers.
The Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest is an annual American hot dog competitive eating competition. It is held each year on July 4 at Nathan’s Famous’ original, and best-known, restaurant at the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues in Coney Island, a neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. The contest has gained public attention since the mid-2000s due to the stardom of Takeru “The Tsunami” Kobayashi and Joey Chestnut. The defending men’s champion is Patrick Bertoletti, who ate 58 hot dogs in the 2024 contest. The defending women’s champion is Miki Sudo, who ate 51 hot dogs in 2024.
Major League Eating (MLE), sanctioned by the International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE), has sanctioned the event since 1997. Today, only entrants currently under contract by MLE can compete in the contest. The field of about 20 contestants typically includes the following: any past champion; winners of a regional qualifying contest for that season; individuals qualifying as one of two wildcards (highest two average qualifier scores without winning a single qualifier); and those invited by special invitation of the MLE.
The competitors stand on a raised platform behind a long table with drinks and Nathan’s Famous hot dogs in buns. Most contestants have water on hand, but other kinds of drinks can and have been used. Condiments are allowed, but usually are not used. The hot dogs are allowed to cool slightly after grilling to prevent possible mouth burns. The contestant who consumes (and keeps down) the most hot dogs and buns (HDB) in ten minutes is declared the winner. The length of the contest has changed over the years, previously 12 minutes, and in some years, only three and a half minutes; since 2008, 10 minutes.
Spectators watch and cheer on the eaters from close proximity. A designated scorekeeper is paired with each contestant, flipping a number board counting each hot dog consumed. Partially eaten hot dogs count and the granularity of measurement is eighths of a length. Hot dogs still in the mouth at the end of regulation count if they are subsequently swallowed. Yellow penalty cards can be issued for “messy eating”, and red penalty cards can be issued for “reversal of fortune”, which results in disqualification. If there is a tie, the contestants go to a 5-hot-dog eat-off to see who can eat that many the quickest. Further ties will result in a sudden-death eat-off of eating one more hot dog in the fastest time. After the winner is declared, a plate showing the number of hot dogs eaten by the winner is brought out for photo opportunities.
The winner of the men’s competition is of the coveted international “bejeweled” mustard-yellow belt. The belt is of “unknown age and value” according to IFOCE co-founder George Shea and rests in the country of its owner. In 2011, Sonya Thomas won the inaugural women’s competition and its “bejeweled” pink belt. Various other prizes have been awarded over the years. For example, in 2004 Orbitz donated a travel package to the winner. Starting in 2007, cash prizes have been awarded to the top finishers.
The Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest has been held at the original location on Coney Island most years since about 1972, usually in conjunction with Independence Day. As Coney Island is often linked with recreational activities of the summer season, several early contests were held on other holidays associated with summer besides Independence Day; for example, multiple contests in the 1970s were scheduled on Memorial Day or Labor Day.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the competition was dominated by Japanese contestants, particularly Kobayashi, who won six consecutive contests from 2001 to 2006. In 2001, Kobayashi transformed the competition and the world of competitive eating by downing 50 hot dogs—smashing the previous record of 25.5. The Japanese eater introduced advanced eating and training techniques that shattered previous competitive eating world records. The rise in popularity of the event coincided with the surge in popularity of the worldwide competitive eating circuit.
In recent years, a considerable amount of pomp and circumstance have surrounded the days leading up to the event, which has become an annual spectacle of competitive entertainment. The event is presented on an extravagant stage complete with colorful live announcers and an overall party atmosphere. The day before the contest is a public weigh-in with the mayor of New York City. Some competitors don flamboyant costumes and/or makeup, while others may promote themselves with eating-related nicknames. On the morning of the event, they have a heralded arrival to Coney Island on the “bus of champions” and are called to the stage individually during introductions. In 2013, six-time defending champion Joey Chestnut was escorted to the stage in a sedan chair.
The competition draws many spectators and worldwide press coverage. In 2004 a three-story-high “Hot Dog Eating Wall of Fame” was erected at the site of the annual contest. The wall lists past winners, and has a digital clock which counts down the minutes until the next contest. In 2007, an estimated 50,000 came out to witness the event. Despite substantial damage suffered at Nathan’s due to Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, the location was repaired, reopened, and the 2013 event was held as scheduled.
ESPN has long enjoyed solid ratings from its broadcast of the Hot Dog Eating Contest on Independence Day, and on July 1, 2014, the network announced it had extended its agreement with Major League Eating and would broadcast the contest through 2024. The most recent broadcast rights deal, announced in November 2022, will keep the contest airing on ESPN through 2029.
In 2003 former National Football League player William “The Refrigerator” Perry competed as a celebrity contestant. Though he had won a qualifier by eating twelve hot dogs, he ate only four at the contest, stopping after just five minutes. The celebrity contestant experiment has not been held since. At the 2007 contest, the results were delayed to review whether defending champion Kobayashi had vomited (also known as a “Roman method incident” or “reversal of fortune”) in the final seconds of regulation. Such an incident results in the disqualification of the competitor under the rules of the IFOCE. The judges ruled in Kobayashi’s favor. A similar incident occurred involving Kobayashi in 2002 in a victory over Eric “Badlands” Booker.
On July 4, 2011, Sonya Thomas became the champion of the first Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest for Women. Previously, women and men had competed against each other, except for one Memorial Day competition held in 1975. Eating 40 hot dogs in 10 minutes, Thomas earned the inaugural Pepto-Bismol-sponsored pink belt and won $10,000.
In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the contest was held without spectators at an indoor location in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and only five eaters competed in each category instead of the usual 15. In 2021, the event was held at Maimonides Park, with a reduced crowd of 7,000.
Kobayashi has not competed in the contest since 2009 due to his refusal to sign an exclusive contract with Major League Eating, which is the current sanctioning body of the contest. In 2010, he was arrested by police after attempting to jump on the stage after the contest was over and disrupt the proceedings. Some witnesses reported that Kobayashi was attempting to congratulate the winner, Chestnut. On August 5, 2010, all charges against Kobayashi were dismissed by a judge in Brooklyn. Despite his six consecutive victories in their annual event, Nathan’s removed Kobayashi’s image from their “Wall of Fame” in 2011. Kobayashi again refused to compete in 2011, but instead conducted his own hot dog eating exhibition, consuming 69 HDB, seven more than Chestnut accomplished in the Nathan’s contest. The sports website Deadspin deemed Kobayashi’s solo appearance “an improbably perfect ‘up yours’ to the Nathan’s hot dog eating contest.”
Chestnut was banned from the 2024 contest due to signing a deal with Impossible Food, which sells plant-based products including hot dogs. A Major League Eating executive claimed that Nathan’s asked for an exemption to the deal be made regarding Impossible Food’s hot dogs which was denied with Major League Eating banning Chestnut as a result. On June 25, Chestnut instead agreed to attend Fort Bliss’ Pop Goes the Fort celebration and compete in a 4 versus 1 eating competition with a five-minute time limit, with Chestnut prevailing 57 to 49 while raising $106,000 for Operation Homefront.
Source: ESPN, Washington Post
