Joey Chestnut To Compete In 4th Of July Hot Dog Eating Contest With Soldiers At Fort Bliss, Texas, Instead Of Nathan’s Famous Contest

Joey Chestnut won't be "sitting on the bench" when July 4th rolls around. Unfortunately, it appears that he still won't be allowed to compete in Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest on July 4th. That news hit really hard for some , including myself, who have made it an Independence Day tradition to turn on the TV and watch the greatest athlete of all time, Joey Chestnut, devour hotdogs at breakneck speeds. The decision to ban Chestnut from the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest came after it was revealed that the competitive eater signed an endorsement deal with Impossible Foods. The New York Post learned through a representative of Major League Eating (MLE) that Chestnut had penned a deal with a rival hot dog company - and one that doesn’t even make real dogs. The vegan brand recently launched a meatless frankfurter, which obviously makes it hard for Chestnut to proudly shove Nathan’s franks down his gullet. So now, Joey "Jaws" Chestnut will be taking his talents from where he usually is on July 4th (Coney Island) to Fort Bliss in Texas, where he'll compete against four soldiers there in hot dog eating contest of their own. The glizzy gobbling competition will be a part of the "Pop Goes the Fort" celebration. https://twitter.com/DallasTexasTV/status/1807045292572786954 The rules for the event that Chestnut will now be competing in will be a little different than the Nathan's one he's spent nearly two decades dominating (he's won every year since 2016). At the Fort Bliss contest, there will only be five minutes to eat as many hot dogs as possible, compared to the ten minute timer that usually paces Nathan's contest. And in a fun twist, the four soldiers combined hot dog totals will be going up against Joey Chestnut's solo numbers. Can one man out eat four soldiers? I guess we'll find out on July 4th... though Joey Chestnut doesn't feel like there's a good chance of them out-eating him: "If they (each) break 10, that’d be pretty good." Hopefully that event will be televised, live-streamed, or recorded in some way so we can all witness greatness. If it isn't, then competitive eating fans (or really just Joey Chestnut fans) will have to wait until September to watch Chestnut take on longtime rival Takeru Koyashi in a special, one-on-one competiton airing live on Netflix. Get your popcorn hotdogs ready. https://twitter.com/netflix/status/1800996834027999361?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1800996834027999361%7Ctwgr%5E033e9c59126ab17246e97be3b2b58f65bc47b0f5%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.whiskeyriff.com%2F2024%2F06%2F13%2Fnetflix-announces-live-one-on-one-hot-dog-eating-contest-chestnut-vs-kobayashi-unfinished-beef%2F