The greatest competitive eater of all time is not ready to call it a career yet. Joey Chestnut is set to return for the 2025 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest after being banned from last year’s contest.
Chestnut was previously banned from the contest due to a sponsorship conflict last year. The two sides were able to work out an agreement, and Chestnut has agreed to endorse only Nathan’s hot dogs as part of a three-year contract with Nathan’s and the International Federation of Competitive Eating Inc., who run the competition. Chestnut has not made public the financial terms of the deal and stated that he will continue to work with a variety of brands outside the hot dog space.
He also added in his post on X, formerly known as Twitter, “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. 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. 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! Stay hungry!”
During his absence last year, Patrick Bertoletti won the men’s competition by devouring 58 hot dogs across the 10-minute contest. This fell 18 short of Chestnut’s record of 76. The 41-year-old had won 16 of the past 17 men’s competitions before last year.
While he did not participate in the Nathan’s contest last year, Chestnut put on a show of his own in a partnership with Netflix. He did a one-on-one showdown with former rival Takeru Kobayashi and earned a $100K prize by taking down a career-best 83 hot dogs across the 10-minute competition. This shattered a previous career high that was set on the Nathan’s stage. Kobayashi kept pace at the start but only scarfed down 66 hot dogs across the length of the competition.
The LeBron James of the competitive eating world will make his return and continue looking to add to his illustrious resume. The contest will take place on July 4 at Coney Island. Chestnut will be the presumptive favorite and ready to put on a show in the 18th Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest of his career.
