Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest: Men’s Contest Rescheduled Not Cancelled (Update)

UPDATE: The Men’s Divisions of Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest has been rescheduled for 2pm ET! 

The annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, Men’s Division, has been canceled due to lightning and severe storms in the NYC area. After an initial weather delay, the NYPD officially canceled the event Tuesday afternoon on July 4th, clearing the stage of participants around 12pm ET. 

Thousands of spectators and fans were expected to once again convene at Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs in Coney Island, to witness reigning champion competitive eater Joey Chestnut defend his title. Chestnut has been the breakout rockstar ambassador of competitive eating, having won no less than 15 Nathan’s titles, as well as the world record for eating 73 hot dogs in a ten-minute span. In 2022 Chestnut competed with a serious injury to one of the tendons in his leg; although he won the competition, he did so with a surprisingly low 63 hot dogs in ten minutes. This year, Chestnut’s notable competition included competitive eaters Geoffrey Esper, Nick Wehry, Darron Breedon, and Matt Stonie. 

The buzz for Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest has only been getting higher, every Fourth of July – so this is a big loss for sponsors and broadcasters – as well as the fans and competitors. Then there are all those sports betting companies that were also relying on this event to happen: 

“Each year, we see more and more betting action on Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest,” BetUS spokesperson Tim Williams said before the event. “This really is the Super Bowl of competitive eating, and has become a major wagering event in recent years. This year we are expecting to receive a record number of bets and dollars wagered.”

Before the men’s division of the contest was canceled, the women’s division held its annual competition, where champion Miki Sudo retained the title by eating 39.5 hot dogs in the allotted ten-minute period. Sudo ate her hot dogs so fast judges initially miscounted her score as 37. Still, the champion was apologetic to her fans, saying: “39 is a low number I’m sorry you guys! I would not have left a partial hot dog on the table.”

No word at the time of writing this about whether or not the men’s division of Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest will reschedule this year’s competition, or if it will still be a live televised event. We will keep you updated.