How to watch the 2025 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, a July 4th tradition like no other
This broadcast will also be available on ESPN+.
The true origins are debated. Nathan's legend has it that back on July 4, 1916, four neighborhood regulars wanted to see who could funnel the most franks into their stomachs. That should go down as a seminal moment in friendship folklore and homie history. Perhaps the key to robust male friendship lies within a top-split bun. But it might be apocryphal! What we do know for sure is that since 1972, this competition has been staged at the current Nathan's location on the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues. The women's challenge was introduced in the summer of 2011.
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Yup. Major League Eating has sanctioned the yearly pier event since 1997. All participants are under contract with MLE. There's a lengthy official record book that logs event highs and career marks. The contest itself is clocked at an even 10 minutes; it used to be a 12-minute melee until 2008. The hopeful hot dog demolishers are put on an elevated platform for spectator visibility.
Like all professional physical feats, the audience can revel in a variety of approaches and adjustments. Water is allowed, thankfully, but other drinks are used too. Maybe it's easiest to wash down the bolus with iced tea, or Gatorade, or warmed creamer. Dealer's choice. Competitors do all types of stretches to loosen muscles and stay fresh. Particularly grubby form can earn a yellow penalty card. A 'reversal of fortune' leads to disqualification.
We absolutely did. Why spell out the sin of projectile puking, when we can just acknowledge a 'reversal of fortune.' One time for Mr. Creosote, Richard Hendricks and all the infamous misfortunate reversals. Really, it's a great rephrasing for anything undignified.
Heartburn and eternal glory, in that order. Oh, and a pile of cash … and a shiny mustard-yellow title belt with rhinestones.
Joey Chestnut, and it's not close. The 41-year-old tour de force has won this thing 16 times, and he was an eight-time defending champ before last year's streak-breaker. He's basically Michael Jordan, if Michael Jordan could put down 83 hot dogs in one sitting.
We are all excused, because … yeah, 83 hot dogs. It's wild to think about, and mesmerizing to watch, a parade of frankfurters matching Lewis Carroll-level surrealism. (Chestnut's record during Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, however, is a 'mere' 76.) The women's bellwether is Miki Sudo, who has won 10 of the last 11 contests and also holds competitive eating world records in kimchi, hotdish and ice cream.
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Get this — because he was banned from the 2024 competition. Most pro athletes are disciplined due to doping, cheating, in-game brawls or illicit behaviors. Chestnut was punished because he endorsed plant-based hot dogs with Impossible Foods. Nathan's flagged it as a contract violation, and as a result, Patrick Bertoletti won in 2024. Chestnut, meanwhile, did a Netflix-exclusive one-on-one matchup against rival and predecessor Takeru Kobayashi, during which Chestnut accomplished the aforementioned 83-hot dog record. Kobayashi, the Japanese standout, won the Hot Dog Eating Contest every year from 2001 through 2006.
He is, thanks to the benevolent barbecue deities … and a new three-year exclusive deal with Nathan's. He's all but certainly going to begin a new streak with the 2025 crown.
1972: 'By noon yesterday, the crush of cars carrying New Yorkers to mountains and shores for the Memorial Day weekend was over, and the pace of life in the city had begun to wind down to slow springtime surrealism … nearby, at Nathan's Famous, Jason Schechter, a Brooklyn College student, won the annual hot dog‐eating contest by devouring 14 franks in three and a half minutes. His prize was a book of certificates for 40 more hot dogs.'
1993: 'At noon, a 50-gun salute at Battery Park reverberated across a harbor dotted with sailboats. Later, Mike Devito, a Wall Street accountant, ate 17 hot dogs in 12 minutes to win the 77th annual Nathan's Famous contest at Coney.'
2010: 'It was not long after Joey 'Jaws' Chestnut locked down his fourth consecutive win at the Nathan's International Hot Dog Eating Contest on Coney Island, when things began to get interesting on Sunday. Emerging from the crowd came Mr. Chestnut's chief rival, Takeru Kobayashi, a six-time winner of this event who was barred from participating this year because of a contract dispute. Kobayashi had been watching the contest, in which contestants eat as many hot dogs as they can in 10 minutes. Wearing a black T-shirt that said 'Free Kobi,' he made his way up to the stage not long after Mr. Chestnut finished his last bite.'
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(Photo by Adam Gray / Getty Images)
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