With Joey Chestnut out of the field for this year’s Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, the mustard-yellow belt is up for grabs.
Chestnut, who was banned from this year’s event after signing a sponsorship deal with Impossible Foods, is the defending winner of the men’s contest and had won the past eight contests, with Matt Stonie’s 2015 title marking the last time Chestnut didn’t take home the belt. Chestnut is a 16-time champion overall.
With Chestnut out, Geoffrey Esper is the current betting favorite, followed by James Webb. Esper was second in this event in 2023, eating 49 hot dogs. That’s a large number, but he still trailed Chestnut by 13 dogs.
WATCH 2024 HOT DOG EATING CONTESTThere were four qualifiers for this year’s event. On May 11, Darrien Thomas ate 22 hot dogs in the Grand Rapids, Michigan qualifier. Pat Bertoletti ate 48.25 in the qualifier in Cleveland, Derek Hendrickson ate 27.75 in Pleasanton, California and Sean Yeager downed 36.75 dogs in Washington D.C.
You can watch the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest on Thursday, July 4, 2024, at 12:00 p.m. ET.
Watch: Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest FREE on Fubo
The women’s competition is set to take place at 10:45 a.m. ET, with Miki Sudo the favorite to win the event.
Sudo has won the past two years and overall has won nine of the past 10 women’s titles. The only other winner in that span was Michelle Lesco in 2021, who won because Sudo did not compete as she was pregnant at the time.
You can catch this year’s contest on ESPN2 on Thursday. Watch live with a free trial of Fubo.
WATCH 2024 HOT DOG EATING CONTEST