\n<\/p>\n
\n\tJoey Chestnut and Miki Sudo won the men\u2019s and women\u2019s editions, respectively, of the 2025 Nathan\u2019s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest.<\/p>\n
\n\tChestnut ate 70.5 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes, and Sudo downed 33 hot dogs and buns.<\/p>\n
\n\tBoth Chestnut and Sudo are past winners and the top male and female champions of all time, winning their 17th and 11th titles overall with their victories this year. While Sudo was defending her top finish from last year, Chestnut returned after he was banned from last year\u2019s event over a sponsorship with Impossible Foods.<\/p>\n
\n\tChestnut\u2019s absence from the 2024 event, his first in nearly 20 years, came after the competitive eater signed a deal to be a spokesperson for Impossible Foods, which launched a plant-based hot dog last year. The deal, Major League Eating claimed, went against the brand\u2019s exclusivity rules for the competition.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cFor nearly two decades we have worked under the same basic hot dog exclusivity provisions,\u201d Major League Eating said in a statement in June 2024. \u201cHowever, it seems that Joey and his managers have prioritized a new partnership with a different hot dog brand over our long-time relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tChestnut said he was \u201cgutted\u201d to learn he wouldn\u2019t be able to compete last year.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cTo set the record straight, I do not have a contract with MLE or Nathans and they are looking to change the rules from past years as it relates to other partners I can work with,\u201d Chestnut wrote on X at the time. \u201cSadly, this is the decision Nathan\u2019s and Major League Eating are making, and it will deprive the great fans of the holiday\u2019s usual joy and entertainment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tInstead, Chestnut competed in a July 4 contest at an Army base in El Paso, Texas, with Patrick Bertoletti, who came in second in this year\u2019s competition, winning the 2024 Nathan\u2019s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest.<\/p>\n
\n\tChestnut later faced off against longtime nemesis Takeru Kobayashi, and emerged victorious, in a Netflix live-streamed Labor Day competitive eating contest.<\/p>\n
\n\tBut in June 2025, Chestnut announced that he\u2019d be returning to Coney Island for the Nathan\u2019s event.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThis event means the world to me. It\u2019s a cherished tradition, a celebration of American culture and a huge part of my life,\u201d Chestnut said in his social media announcement. \u201cI\u2019m 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!\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAs for what brought Chestnut back, he said on social media that there were \u201cdifferences in interpretation\u201d but that he and organizers were able to \u201cfind common ground.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWhile 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,\u201d he wrote. \u201cTo be clear: Nathan\u2019s is the only hot dog company I\u2019ve ever worked with.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tMajor League Eating confirmed that Chestnut would be back at the Nathan\u2019s Famous event, and its cofounder and emcee George Shea told NPR, \u201cwe were able to come together and I think everybody was interested in that.\u201d He declined to comment on details of the agreement.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cMajor League Eating is extremely excited that Joey will be returning to the 4th of July event this year, and it literally will be the greatest sporting event in the history of sports,\u201d Shea said. \u201cWe are excited, the fans are excited and it was sort of all systems go for the 4th.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tChestnut, meanwhile, told the Associated Press, that though he never appeared in any commercials for Impossible Foods\u2019 plant-based dogs, he \u201cshould have made that more clear with Nathan\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tIn a pre-taped interview that aired on ESPN as part of its annual coverage of the hot dog eating contest, Chestnut said it \u201ctook a little bit of talking\u201d and referenced some \u201cegos\u201d and communication that brought him back to the Coney Island stage. But, he said, he never gave up hope he\u2019d be back.<\/p>\n
\n\tBoth Chestnut and Sudo told ESPN they felt they could\u2019ve done better, despite their victories.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI wish I ate a hell of a lot more, sorry guys, but I\u2019ll be back next year,\u201d Chestnut said on ESPN after his win.<\/p>\n
\n\tLater he noted that he was \u201cnervous\u201d and said, \u201cThe first couple hot dogs I was fumbling a little.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tBut ultimately, he \u201cfound a rhythm\u201d and while his goal was to eat \u201cbetween 70 and 77,\u201d he \u201cwanted a bit more.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cShowing up is the hardest part sometimes,\u201d he said. \u201cI love doing it and pushing myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tJoey Chestnut, wearing his championship belt and holding a platter of hot dogs, after winning the 2025 Nathan\u2019s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest.<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAdam Gray\/Getty Images<\/p>\n \n\tSudo\u2019s total meanwhile was down from the 51 hot dogs and buns she ate last year.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI feel like I let the fans down a little bit. I heard people in the crowd saying, \u2018Go for 52,\u2019\u201d Sudo told ESPN. \u201cObviously, I\u2019m always setting my goals high, but the hot dogs weren\u2019t cooperating. For some reason, the buns felt larger today.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe total prize for the contest is $40,000, split between the men\u2019s and women\u2019s divisions. The first place finisher gets $10,000, second place gets $5,000 and third place gets $2,500.<\/p>\n \n\tThis year\u2019s event took place, as usual, outside the original Nathan\u2019s location in Coney Island, New York, and aired on ESPN2 and ESPN3. Fans who missed seeing who became the top dog of both contests can check out replays at 2 and 6 p.m.<\/p>\n \n\tESPN\u2019s platforms have aired the hot dog eating contest since 2004 and inked a new deal with the International Federation of Competitive Eating in 2022, extending the partnership through 2029.<\/p>\n \n\tThis year, Ryan Reynolds also got in on the action, starring in an ad that aired multiple times during the Nathan\u2019s competition on ESPN2. In the commercial, the Deadpool<\/em> star joined hot dog world celeb Richard Galanti, the former CFO of Costco, which has sold a $1.50 hot dog and soda meal for the past 40 years, without raising the price. Galanti was one of the Costco executives who helped keep the price down. The ad, which introduces Galanti as Mint Mobile\u2019s Chief Anti-Inflation Officer, highlights how plans from the wireless company that was sold to T-Mobile two years ago have stayed at $15 since launch.<\/p>\n \n\tThe commercial aired in at least two prime slots, the first break of ESPN\u2019s hourlong broadcast and the break before the winner in the men\u2019s competition was announced.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Joey Chestnut and Miki Sudo won the men\u2019s and women\u2019s editions, respectively, of the 2025 Nathan\u2019s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest. Chestnut ate 70.5 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes, and Sudo downed 33 hot dogs and buns. Both Chestnut and Sudo are past winners and the top male and female champions of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10017,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[474,2754,2752,2753,109,2748,2749,2751,2750,1259],"class_list":{"0":"post-10016","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-chestnut","9":"tag-contest","10":"tag-dog","11":"tag-eating","12":"tag-hot","13":"tag-joey","14":"tag-miki","15":"tag-nathans","16":"tag-sudo","17":"tag-win"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10016\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}