RETURN OF THE KING

Joey Chestnut Returns to Hot Dog Eating Contest After Ban

The 16-time winner was banned last year over his sponsorship with a maker of plant-based hot dogs.

Joey Chestnut will participate in the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest on July 4th after a year away, the competitive eater announced Monday. Chestnut missed the 2024 edition after a disagreement with Major League Eating over his sponsorship with Impossible Foods, a maker of plant-based hot dogs. “While I have and continue to partner with a variety of companies, including some in the plant-based space, those relationships were never a conflict with my love for hot dogs,” the 16-time champion wrote on X. “To be clear: Nathan’s is the only hot dog company I’ve ever worked with. I respect that there were differences in interpretation, but I’m grateful we’ve been able to find common ground.” Chestnut, who won the Coney Island competition each year from 2007 to 2014 and from 2016 to 2023, set the record in 2021 by eating 76 hot dogs in ten minutes. The Nathan’s contest has been held annually since 1979; in July 2020, it was conducted at a different venue without a crowd and with only five contestants.