A Massachusetts resident has the chance to win Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest for the first time on Thursday.
Geoffrey Esper, of Oxford, is Major League Eating’s No. 2-ranked eater in the world. He placed second in the 2023 Hot Dog Eating Contest downing 49 hot dogs, two more than third-place finisher James Webb of Australia.
However, Joey Chestnut has always come out ahead.
But, for the first time in 16 years, Chestnut will not be competing in the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest Thursday.
Major League Eating, which organizes the annual food-eating contest, previously announced that Chestnut will not participate in the 2024 Hot Dog Eating Contest due to his choice to represent a “rival brand that sells plant-based hot dogs.”
“MLE and Nathan’s went to great lengths in recent months to accommodate Joey and his management team,” Major League Eating said in a statement. ” … For nearly two decades we have worked under the same basic hot dog exclusivity provisions. However, it seems that Joey and his managers have prioritized a new partnership with a different hot dog brand over our long-time relationship.”
And Esper knows this could be his year.
“I definitely have a shot to win,” Esper told WCVB.
Geoffrey Esper, left, and Joey Chestnut, right, compete during the men’s competition of Nathan’s Famous July Fourth hot dog eating contest, Thursday, July 4, 2019, in New York’s Coney Island. (AP Photo/Sarah Stier)AP
Who is Geoffrey Esper?
Although Esper has come in second to Chestnut in the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, he’s still a top dog in other competitions.
He holds multiple world records, including eating 36 4.5-ounce bratwurst sausages in 10 minutes. And according to ESPN, Esper’s career-best is 51 hot dogs.
His Major League Eating profile bills Esper as “a quiet, industrious man who says very little but eats very much.”
His personal records include eating 9.75 pounds of SPAM from the can in eight minutes, downing 281 Buffalo chicken wings in 12 minutes, and crushing 17.75 bagels (with cream cheese) in eight minutes.
Geoffrey Esper defends his title in the Pork Roll Eating Championship at The Trenton Thunder Stadium on September 23, 2023.Alexandra Pais | For NJ Advance Media
Esper, a high school teacher, previously told WCVB in an interview that his strategy involves separating two hot dogs, eating those, and then dunking the buns in fruit punch to wash them down easier.
He thinks he’ll be able to match his record of eating 51 hot dogs this year, he told WCVB. But he thinks it’ll be a close race.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if it came down to half a hot dog or even a quarter of a hot dog between some places,” he told the news outlet.
How to watch
The contest is on ESPN2 and ESPN3.
The woman’s competition will start at 10:45 a.m. ET, while the men’s will start at noon. ESPN will air the competition again at 5 p.m. ET and 9 p.m. ET, according to USA Today.
