When it comes to sports, we watch football on Thanksgiving and hot dog eating on the Fourth of July. However, this Independence Day one of the greatest competitive eaters won’t be competing because he was banned from the annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Competition. That’s right, the 16-time hot dog-eating champion won’t be back to compete this year over a deal he reportedly made with Impossible Foods.
The Post reported that Impossible Foods recently launched a vegan frankfurter, and Chestnut was allegedly going to represent that plant-based brand. The article noted that Nathan's, who runs the annual event, met a lot of the competitor's other demands – like letting him participate in a rival Labor Day competition for Netflix – however, this deal was the breaking point. Major League Eating (MLE) released a statement to the outlet about this decision, and it broke down their reasoning for not letting Joey Chestnut compete.
It explained: 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 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. Reportedly, a source said Chestnut was paid $200,000 last year to compete, and they claimed that this year he was offered a $1.
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