The aggressive consuming world has been upended: Aggressive eater Joey Chestnut, who holds a report of 76 sizzling canine in 10 minutes, introduced this week through X that he’ll not be competing on this yr’s Nathan’s Well-known Fourth of July sizzling dog-eating contest, which he has received 16 occasions. Main League Consuming, which places on the occasion in partnership with Nathan’s, has described Chestnut as “the best eater in historical past.”
Chestnut wrote on X: “I used to be gutted to study from the media that after 19 years I’m banned from the Nathan’s July 4th Scorching Canine Consuming Contest.” In a subsequent put up, he elaborated: “To set the report straight, I wouldn’t have a contract with MLE or Nathans they usually need to change the principles from previous years because it pertains to different companions I can work with.”
However based on George Shea, co-founder of MLE, that’s not fairly the case. Right here’s what you’ll want to know in regards to the sizzling canine contest controversy — and why it may not be the top of Joey Chestnut’s involvement.
What’s the Nathan’s sizzling canine consuming contest?
The competition pits rivals towards one another to see what number of sizzling canine they’ll eat in 10 minutes. The occasion as we now comprehend it — an athletic show of stomach-stretching capabilities that’s carried out in entrance of an enormous viewers — has been taking place since 1972. It all the time takes place on the Fourth of July at Coney Island in Brooklyn and can be broadcast on ESPN. A sizzling dog-eating contest is central to the lore of Nathan’s well-known: The story goes that 4 immigrants competed over consuming sizzling canine again on the Nathan’s stand in 1916 as an act of patriotism.
So is Joey Chestnut banned from competing on the Nathan’s sizzling canine consuming contest?
First off, “he’s not banned from the competition,” Shea says. “We might like to have him there. We are attempting to resolve this, and we hope to resolve this.” The issue lies with a deal that Chestnut delivered to MLE.
What it comes right down to, because the New York Put up first reported, is a model partnership between Chestnut and Unattainable Meals, which is launching a vegan sizzling canine. (Whereas Chestnut hasn’t but recognized Unattainable particularly, the Athletic confirmed the partnership with the corporate.) That’s the one factor Chestnut — or another athlete — has by no means been in a position to endorse as a participant within the Nathan’s contest, Shea says: “For 20 odd years, Joey has competed, and the straightforward, single, related exclusivity clause says that he can’t symbolize one other sizzling canine model. That has all the time been the way in which it’s; nothing has modified.”
Why does Nathan’s care that Chestnut has a distinct endorsement?
Nathan’s cares a lot as a result of it’s one other sizzling canine model, and that is Nathan’s huge occasion to advertise its sizzling canine. Accordingly, sizzling canine exclusivity is a elementary aspect “that’s half and parcel of the occasion,” Shea says. “That is the Nathan’s occasion. The champion of the Nathan’s occasion can’t say, ‘Yeah, I’m right here to win the Nathan’s contest, however I symbolize X.’ That’s actually the place the battle resides.”
Actually, Shea says, the MLE is completely happy to accommodate secondary sponsorships as long as they’re not from competing sizzling canine manufacturers. These have included manufacturers like Pepcid and Pepto-Bismol, he factors out. Chestnut has, for instance, partnered with Pepto-Bismol prior to now, and based on Shea, this might have been no downside in any respect if Chestnut had “gotten to be the sponsor of an vehicle model or a tire model or a roofing model — you title it.” Mainly, something however a sizzling canine.
Is that this sponsorship rule completely different from earlier Nathan’s competitions?
Regardless of Chestnut’s assertion that the principles have modified, Shea says this isn’t the case and that sizzling canine exclusivity has all the time been part of the participation settlement. Sponsorships have created some points prior to now, however seemingly to not this degree. Typically, it’s extra across the query of the timing of sponsorship bulletins. “The overall reply is stuff all the time comes up, no huge deal,” Shea says.
One excessive profile dispute occurred in 2010, when star eater Takeru Kobayashi confronted contract points with the MLE over an exclusivity contract that restricted him to MLE occasions. Chestnut defeated Kobayashi for the primary time in 2007, setting off his present successful streak. The 2 will rematch in a reside Netflix broadcast on Labor Day in what shall be referred to as Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef. Shea talked about the streaming competitors as one thing the MLE didn’t struggle Chestnut on because it didn’t contain a rival sizzling canine model.
Can there even be a Nathan’s contest with out Joey Chestnut?
With Chestnut’s “spellbinding enchantment” and, for a lot of, his ubiquity with the Nathan’s contest, it’s a tricky loss for anybody eager about aggressive consuming. In any case, Chestnut has dominated the competition for almost twenty years. Shea, nonetheless, stays optimistic that Nathan’s, MLE, and Chestnut can resolve the scenario. In line with Shea, they’re keen to determine the scenario proper right down to the final minute. “Joey isn’t banned. He’s a hero. He’s freedom made man, in my view,” he says.
