Culture Meatless Makeover: Joey Chestnut Is Out of Nathan’s Hot Dog Contest - #FreeJoey

Meatless Makeover: Joey Chestnut Is Out of Nathan’s Hot Dog Contest​

By Margaret Fleming

LAST UPDATED June 11, 2024 | 04:29 pm PUBLISHED June 11, 2024 | 02:46 pm

Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK
America’s classic Fourth of July tradition, the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, will look unrecognizable this year without its superstar Joey Chestnut. And a business decision is to blame.

Chestnut’s partnership with Impossible Foods, which makes plant-based meat alternatives to burgers and hot dogs, is what’s blocking him out of the event, according to the New York Post. Major League Eating said a Labor Day competition on Netflix with no brand promotion was offered, but the Nathan’s competition has had the same “basic hot dog exclusivity provisions” for nearly 20 years.

“We are devastated to learn that Joey Chestnut has chosen to represent a rival brand that sells plant-based hot dogs rather than competing in the 2024 Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest,” MLE said in a statement. “MLE and Nathan’s went to great lengths to accommodate Joey and his management team, agreeing to the appearance fee and allowing Joey to compete in a rival, unbranded hot dog eating contest on Labor Day.”

The Post reports that Chestnut made $200,000 competing in last year’s contest, and was offered a $1.2 million contract to stick around for the next four years. Whatever Impossible offered ultimately was more enticing.

An Accomplished Eater​

Chestnut, 40, is the star of the competitive eating world, and has won 16 Nathan’s competitions while gaining national acclaim. He holds the world record for eating 76 dogs and buns in 10 minutes in 2021, and has won the Fourth of July competition every year since ’16. In ’23, he sailed to victory with 62 dogs.

MLE’s own website calls him the “greatest eater in history.”

“Joey Chestnut is an American hero. We would love nothing more than to have him at the Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest. We hope he returns when he is not representing a rival brand,” MLE said.

MLE and Chestnut did not immediately respond to Front Office Sports’ requests for comment.

Chestnut’s biggest rival, Takeru Kobayashi, won six straight Nathan’s contests before also dropping out due to business quarrels with MLE. He hasn’t entered the competition since 2009 because he refusedto sign an exclusive deal with the organization. Kobayashi retired in May, saying: “I no longer feel hunger.”

 

[Dog-O-Tron 5000v5.0]

Chestnut’s partnership with Impossible Foods, which makes plant-based meat alternatives to burgers and hot dogs

 

[Asian tech support]

I wanna see this guy eat 60 soy dogs. I bet he can't.

 

[Hamstirer]

Well that's fucking gay.

 

[LikeAStone 2.0]

I wanna see this guy eat 60 soy dogs. I bet he can't.

Granted, he has been eating hundreds of pieces of synthetic meat for the better part of a decade, so I’d imagine it’s a little similar.

 

[S.C.U.D.]

This is extra funny because Impossible Foods is just pissing money away and losing millions a year anyway. Turns out people don't want that shit, no matter who they pay to endorse their products.

 

[Retink Retunk]

This is extra funny because Impossible Foods is just pissing money away and losing millions a year anyway. Turns out people don't want that shit, no matter who they pay to endorse their products.

The taste isn't bad, but I don't get why I'd pay more to replicate something I can easily get. With other meat alternatives I actually like when they do something different and that's what gets me to buy it on the rare occasion I do.

 

[Forgotten Beast]

I can't think of a more elegant way to blend Clown World and Cyberpunk Corporate Dystopia than the "star of the competitive eating world" dropping out of a professional wiener eating contest because he's beholden to a company making synthetic frankfurters.
Truth is stranger than fiction, indeed.

 

[XYZpdq Jr.]

He hasn’t entered the competition since 2009 because he refusedto sign an exclusive deal with the organization

this sounds it might be an important part too
this ain't the Monday Night Wars, no big money with a single promotion

 

[Edict of Expulsion]

The headline makes it seem like the contest banned him but he is just literally refusing to participate due to another contract he signed.

He isn’t a slave. He could do whatever to get out of the other contract. Or just violate the other contract.

Eat ze soy hotdogs bought out a good American guy.

Just like WASPs sold america to the current parasitic class of kikes that move from host to host, never being invested in where they are and flee in a moments notice when they inevitably ruin another place. Rhymes like pottery.

this sounds it might be an important part too
this ain't the Monday Night Wars, no big money with a single promotion

Oh that’s significant, actually. If the contest insisted on exclusivity and he went with other exclusivity then it’s gay on both sides rather than just one side.

It is odd to cease participating in the thing that you are famous for.

Also I swear it seemed like he was competing after 2009. Kobayashi rivalry had a flare up.

 

[bliblblblbbllb]

Soooo.... what did the Impossible foods offer him?

 

[FrancineCansMcGee]

Competitive eating died with Wing Bowl.

 

[Swiss46]

In the end it's all just Weiner politics.

 

[i440BX]

The taste isn't bad, but I don't get why I'd pay more to replicate something I can easily get. With other meat alternatives I actually like when they do something different and that's what gets me to buy it on the rare occasion I do.

It should not become normalized as a meat alternative.
It has poor nutrients.

 

[Sammich]

The taste isn't bad, but I don't get why I'd pay more to replicate something I can easily get. With other meat alternatives I actually like when they do something different and that's what gets me to buy it on the rare occasion I do.

I think it's not really about cheaper, i think it's more about vegans and stuff right?

 

[Retink Retunk]

I think it's not really about cheaper, i think it's more about vegans and stuff right?

That's fine, but then they have to accept it's a niche thing and not a large market.

 

[Casshern]

I think it's not really about cheaper, i think it's more about vegans and stuff right?

It is about cheaper, because even vegans have alternatives (mian jin or if you’re gay, seitan). And for us meat lovers looking to not die by 50, it’s hardly a good substitute for that either with the price point only further creating a divide.

Soooo.... what did the Impossible foods offer him?

Obviously more than $1.2M/5 years.

If the contest insisted on exclusivity and he went with other exclusivity then it’s gay on both sides rather than just one side.

The contest is ran by Nathan’s Famous Inc., a hot dog chain restaurant started by Jewish-Polish immigrant Nathan Handwerker. As stated in the article they already have had problems with Joey competing in “rival hot dog contests” and said very blatantly in the article that he was welcome back when he wasn’t “representing a rival brand”. So yes it’s gay on both sides (though if you offer me a $200k+ a year to eat a soy dog on camera once in a while I’d be hard pressed to say no).

 

[FatalTater]

something something global food prices rising grumble mumble

 

[bliblblblbbllb]

Obviously more than $1.2M/5 years.

I wonder if it also could be a way for a graceful exist from the competitive scene. I highly, highly doubt that vegan competitive eating will be popular. He must be worth it for something else, like appearing in ads/shilling.

 

[Rogue AI]

Joey Chestnut is an American hero.

Shoveling hot dogs in your face makes someone a hero now? That word has lost all its meaning.