Zinger Key Points
- Joey Chestnut won't be competing in the Nathan's hot dog eating contest for this year's Fourth of July.
- Chestnut has a sponsorship with an American "meat" producer, while others will consume hot dogs made by a Chinese-owned company.
For the first time in years, 16-time Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest champion Joey Chestnut will not be competing in the annual Fourth of July tradition.
Yet, the competitor — undefeated since 2015 — may have made a choice that embodies the spirit of the Fourth of July.
What Happened: The event’s orchestrator, Major League Eating, excluded Chestnut from the annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest.
Why snub your reigning champ from a 100-plus-year tradition? Turns out, Chestnut inked a sponsorship deal with plant-based food company Impossible Foods.
Impossible, a maker of plant-based meats, including hot dogs, is a Nathan's Famous NATH rival.
The event, which airs on Walt Disney Company DIS owned ESPN2 at 11 a.m. EST, takes place at the iconic Nathan's Famous flagship restaurant at 1310 Surf Avenue in Coney Island (UPDATE: Click here for our coverage of the winners).
Major League Eating reneged on the ban, sort of. The organization told USA Today that they offered to "set aside the exclusivity issue" and let Chestnut compete this year. However, Chestnut would have had to sign a multiyear deal with Nathan's before 2025 and end his partnership with Impossible.
Chestnut, who first entered the competitive eating scene in 2005 in a deep-fried asparagus eating contest, seemingly refused.
The Nathan's Fourth of July hot dog eating contest has become an American holiday tradition. But it’s a Chinese conglomerate, WH Group, that owns Nathan’s Famous parent company, Smithfield Foods.
WH Group bought Smithfield in 2014 for $4.7 billion. It’s considered one of the largest acquisitions of a U.S. business by a Chinese firm.
Smithfield Foods is the largest pig and pork producer in the world. It also makes products under the banner of Eckrich and Nathan's Famous.
This begs a question: Is Chestnut a patriot for choosing Impossible, a company that makes its food in the U.S.?
Smithfield has factories in the U.S., Mexico and Europe.
Read Also: Fourth Of July Hot Dog Eating Contest: Betting Odds Favor New Champion As Joey Chestnut Sits Out
Why It's Important: While Chestnut won't compete live in the annual New York event, he will be involved in an event of his own.
Chestnut will be competing against soldiers in El Paso, Texas at the Fort Bliss Army base. The 16-time champion will attempt to eat as many hot dogs and buns in five minutes as the winner of the Nathan's contest can in 10 minutes. It is unknown who is making these hot dogs.
"If I'm going to eat on the Fourth of July, I'm going to eat hard," Chestnut said.
Geoffrey Esper and James Webb are the betting favorites in the Nathan's contest without Chestnut. Esper's over/under is set at 49.5 for the contest. Esper ate 49 hot dogs finishing second last year. Webb finished third last year with 47 hot dogs eaten.
In 15 of his 17 appearances at the Fourth of July contest, Chestnut has consumed at least 60 hot dogs. On six occasions, he has eaten 70 or more. There were only two instances where Chestnut ate fewer than 60 hot dogs, and he won the contest both times.
What’s Next: Chestnut will also compete in an upcoming rematch with six-time Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest winner Takeru Kobayashi.
On Sept. 2, the two will face off in their first rematch since 2009 in "Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef" on Netflix Inc NFLX.
It is worth noting that Chestnut will eat all-beef hot dogs in the Netflix challenge, but it is unknown who will be making them.
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