Grab Your Buns! Joey Chestnut Defects To Netflix After Being Banned From Nathan’s July 4th Hot Dog Eating Contest

Competitive hot dog eating champion Joey Chestnut and Netflix are shaking up the competitive eating industry.

The New York Post reports that Chestnut, a 16-time winner of the annual July 4th Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Competition, was let go from this year’s competition after he penned a new partnership with Impossible Foods to promote their brand new vegan hot dog.

“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,” Major League Eating, which runs the Nathan’s event, said in a statement.

A rep for MLE also revealed another interesting layer to the controversy: The organization had allowed Chestnut to participate in “a rival, unbranded hot dog eating contest on Labor Day” that will be filmed by Netflix, per the Post. In the end, it was the deal with Impossible that got him axed from the Nathan’s event.

The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that this hot dog eating contest will stream on Netflix, though a release date has not been announced yet.

UPDATE (6/12/24): Netflix confirmed that Chestnut Vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef, a competitive eating challenge between Joey Chesnut and former world champion Kobayashi, will be happening on September 2, 2024.

This news comes as a shock considering Chestnut had built an exclusive partnership with the Nathan’s and was even offered a $1.2 million four-year deal.

It is even more shocking that Netflix is planning on breaking into the competitive eating market. As THR notes in their reporting, ESPN has exclusive rights to the Nathan’s event through 2029, which means the streamer is breaking new ground by creating its own Labor Day event.

Decider reached out to Netflix for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.

For now, MLE stated that it gladly would welcome Chestnut back as long as he ended his partnership with the “rival brand,” per the Post.

“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, which he has dominated for years,” the organization said, adding, “We hope that he returns when he is not representing a rival brand.”