Final results: Joey Chestnut cruised to victory, finishing with 62 hot dogs and buns, and beating Geoff Esper (49) by 13 HDBs. Esper came back to edge out James Webb (47) for second place. Esper held second early, but Webb took a lead on him midway through the contest. Esper came back and secured second place, with Webb in third and Nick Wehry in fourth.
This is peak performance pic.twitter.com/SHQHM1wIfD
— ESPN (@espn) July 4, 2023
Nathan’s Hotdog Eating Contest is KICKING OFF pic.twitter.com/QP3SAGM1Ek
— Major League Eating (@eatingcontest) July 4, 2023
6:30 in: Chestnut is dominating. He’s at 47 hot dogs and has a ten-dog lead on Webb with 3:30 remaining. It won’t be a record-setting performance, but it’s another strong showing.
3:30 in: Joey Chestnut is in a comfortable lead early into the contest. We’re a third of the way into the contest for time, but this is viewed as the halfway point given how the competitors can slow down. He’s at 32 hot dogs and well past an average of eight dogs per minute. James Webb is in second at 24 dogs, and is averaging around six per minute. It’s not a competition at this point.
2:15 p.m. update: Introductions are complete and the men’s hot dog eating contest is about to get underway after one last commercial break.
1:51 p.m. update: The contest is set to get going at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
BREAKING NEWS!! The Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating contest will happen. 2pm est, following @SportsCenter on ESPN2.
— Matt Barrie (@MattBarrie) July 4, 2023
1:45 p.m. update: The contest is still in a delay and might still happen. There are reports it was canceled, but Joey Chestnut is trying to rally folks to get it going. The 2020 contest took place at an undisclosed indoor location due to COVID-19, so an indoor competition could still be a possibility.
Hear me out, I’m not saying the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest is going to happen, but @joeyjaws just came out and said and I quote, “I’m gonna get the rest of the guys out and we’re gonna do this f***er.” #nathansfamous #ESPN pic.twitter.com/PhOTQGrKWv
— Kenneth Heasley (@HeasleyK13) July 4, 2023
1 p.m. update: The 2023 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest was canceled due to lightning and rain, according to ABC 7 New York.
12:05 p.m. update: The contest is in a delay due to lightning around Coney Island. The intros were scheduled to start just after 12 p.m. ET and the contest would get underway between 12:15 and 12:30, but that will be delayed due to the weather.
It is America’s birthday, so you know what that means; it is time to eat an absurd amount of hot dogs! This year’s Nathan’s Men’s Hot Dog Eating Contest is set to begin at noon on ESPN2 and will be available to stream on the ESPN app.
Joey Chestnut will be defending his championship and is searching for his eighth consecutive win. The current record is 76 hot dogs, held by Chestnut, but there is hope that he will be able to beat that on Tuesday. He’s a massive favorite, installed at -4000 to win at DraftKings Sportsbook. Geoffrey Esper follows at +1200 and Nick Wehry is +2000.
Below is the full list of participants, with their competitive eating ranking. We’ll provide live updates as the results come in Tuesday at lunch time on the east coast.
#1 Joey Chestnut
#2 Geoffrey Esper
#4 Nick Wehry
#7 Gideon Oji
#8 Max Suzuki
#10 James Webb
#12 Ricardo Corbucci
#14 Adrian Morgan
#15 Adam Moran
#16 Bartley Weaver IV
#20 Ronnie Hartman
#21 Derek Hendrickson
#25 Darrien Thomas
#31 Crazy Legs Conti
Joey Pryzbylowicz
Ren Zosan