4 days ago
When is Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest 2025? Is Joey Chestnut competing? Records, date
It's doggone time Joey Chestnut returns to the Coney Island stage July 4 for the 2025 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest.
Chestnut is readying for a comeback on the Fourth of July in New York where he had won a record 16 championships. He had skipped out of last year's contest due to a contractual dispute with Nathan's.
"This event means the world to me. It's a cherished tradition, a celebration of American culture, and a huge part of my life," Chestnut said in a series of posts on X announcing his return earlier this month. "I'm excited to be back on the Coney Island stage, doing what I live to do, and celebrating the Fourth of July with hot dogs in my hands!"
Here's everything to know about the legendary international hot dog eating competition, who holds the records and more.
Joey "Jaws" Chestnut was banned from the 2024 contest after he signed an endorsement deal with Impossible Foods that called for him to endorse the company's plant-based hot dogs. Nathan's at the time said it had viewed it as direct competition to its all-beef product.
Chestnut has since agreed to endorse only Nathan's hot dogs as part of a three-year contract with Nathan's and International Federation of Competitive Eating, which runs the annual competition.
The Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest is held each year on July 4 at Nathan's Famous' original restaurant at the corner of Surf and Stillwell avenues in Coney Island, a neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y. The women's contest starts ahead of the men's at around 11 a.m., with the men's closer to 12:30 p.m.
Yes. Chestnut announced his return in a series of posts on the social media platform X. In an interview with USA TODAY Sports, Chestnut, 41, said he was hoping to snatch a new record.
'It'd be great to make a new record,'' he said. 'If I can get close to 80, that'd be amazing.''
The world record for eating hot dogs is held by Joey Chestnut.
Joey Chestnut holds the record of eating 76 hot dog links and buns. Chestnut had won 16 of the past 17 men's competitions until last year.
Patrick "Deep Dish" Bertoletti won the men's competition, which was without perennial champion Joey Chestnut. In the women's contest, Miki Sudo won her 10th title.
Patrick Bertoletti ate a personal best 58 hot dogs and buns during the 2024 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, all within a 10-minute window of time. That was 18 shy of Chestnut's record.
At the 2024 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, Miki Sudo ate 51 hot dogs and buns, winning her 10th title in the women's division.
Lori Comstock is a New Jersey-based journalist with the Mid-Atlantic Connect Team.
This article originally appeared on Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest: Is Joey Chestnut competing? Banned?
