It would not be the Fourth of July without the annual Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island in Brooklyn, N.Y., and the 2025 edition taking place on Friday has a little added drama, as world-record holder Joey Chestnut returns to the stage after missing last year’s competition.
The contest is scheduled to start at noon EDT and will be broadcast on ESPN2. Fans looking to watch can do so for free by using DIRECTV, which offers a free trial, or FuboTV, which also offers a free trial as well as up to $25 off your first month. SlingTV doesn’t offer a free trial but has promotional offers available for streaming the event.
Due to a contract issue as Chestnut had a deal with Impossible Foods, he was kept out of the 2024 competition, and unable to compete for a 17th Mustard Belt. But he is back this year, ready to take down the reigning champion, Patrick Bertoletti.
Last year, Bertoletti downed 58 dogs in 10 minutes to win his first Nathan’s title, while Chestnut was down in El Paso, Texas with soldiers at Fort Bliss, eating 57 dogs in five minutes. Chestnut’s world record is 76 hot dogs and buns.
On the women’s side, defending champion Miki Sudo will look to capture her 11th crown and potentially break her record-setting mark from last year of 51 dogs.
What: 2025 Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest
When: Friday, July 4 at noon EDT
Where: Coney Island in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Stream: DIRECTV (free trial); FuboTV (free trial); SlingTV
Betting: Check out our MA sports betting guide, where you can learn basic terminology, definitions and how to read odds for those interested in learning how to bet in Massachusetts.
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FuboTV is an internet television service that offers more than 200 channels across sports and entertainment including Paramount+ with SHOWTIME. From the UEFA Champions League to the WNBA to international tournaments ranging across sports, there’s plenty of options available on FuboTV, which offers a free trial and up to $25 off the first month for new customers.
What is Sling TV?
Sling TV offers a variety of live programming ranging from news and sports and starting as low as $20 a month for your first month. Subscribers also get a month of DVR Plus free if they sign up now. Choose from a variety of sports packages without long-term contracts and with easy cancellation.
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Joey ‘Jaws’ Chestnut to return to Coney Island hotdog eating contest after contract dispute
By SUSAN HAIGH Associated Press
The champ is coming back to chomp.
Competitive eater Joey “Jaws” Chestnut announced Monday he will return to compete in this year’s Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest after skipping last year’s gastronomic battle for the coveted Mustard Belt.
“This event means the world to me,” Chestnut, 41, said in a message posted on X. “It’s a cherished tradition, a celebration of American culture, and a huge part of my life.”
It will mark the 20th appearance for the Indiana eater at the Coney Island contest.
Last year, Major League Eating event organizer George Shea said Chestnut, who has won the 10-minute eat-a-thon 16 times, would not be participating due to a contract dispute. Chestnut had struck a deal with a competing brand, the plant-based meat company Impossible Foods.
In a phone interview Monday, the competitive eater made it clear he never appeared in any commercials for the company’s vegan hot dogs and that Nathan’s is the only hot dog company he has worked with. But Chestnut acknowledged he “should have made that more clear with Nathan’s.”
“There was a little bit of communication that we could have improved on last year,” he said. “And I, yeah, I think we figured it out. It took a little bit of finessing.”
Chestnut is still working with Impossible Foods and said “clarifications” have been made to his respective contracts.
Richard Shea, president of Major League Eating, said he did not want to rehash what happened last year because he found it “dispiriting,” but said he’s happy “everything is resolved” now.
“I think it’s the return of the greatest competitive eater of all time to the biggest competitive eating event of all time. So I don’t think it gets much bigger in any sport,” Shea said. “I mean, this guy is the greatest performer we’ve ever seen in Coney Island and in competitive eating.”
Chestnut said he heard from fans over the past year who wanted him to return to the Coney Island event, which is broadcast live on ESPN and even shown overseas.
Last year, he opted to compete against soldiers in Fort Bliss, in El Paso, Texas, in a 5-minute hot dog eating contest. Back in New York, Patrick Bertoletti gobbled up 58 hot dogs to win his first men’s title while defending champion Miki Sudo won her 10th title in the women’s division, downing a record 51 links.
Chestnut holds the world record of eating 76 hot dogs.
“Over the last year, I ran into a lot of people who said that it wasn’t the same without me. And I told many people that I was going to work really hard to make sure I got back there,” Chestnut said. “And I’m really happy that Nathan’s and Major League Eating, we were able all to figure it out.”
Chestnut said he been prepping for the big event and has a couple practice sessions left before the July Fourth holiday.
“My body’s in tune right now,” he said, explaining how he has to build tolerance for consuming so many hot dogs and “get all those muscles used to working together.” He likened the process to boxer getting in practice rounds before a big fight.
Chestnut made it clear his business relationship with Impossible Foods does not mean he has become a vegan, an assumption he said some fans made last year. Chestnut said he was surprised by the “weird blowback” he received about it, explaining he eats a plant-based diet during his recovery from competitive eating events.
“I love meat. I’m going to continue to eat meat. But when I recover from a contest, I have to eat super clean in order to get my body to try to get back to normal,” he said. “I can’t eat pounds of meat every day.”
The Associated Press contributed to this post
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