WABC has uploaded a mini-podcast in which Curtis Sliwa, Republican candidate in last week's New York City Mayoral election, discusses his competitive eating experience. He says that his third place finish in the 1996 Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contest was assisted by stuffing three hot dogs in his pocket. He also discusses former NFL lineman William "The Refrigerator" Perry's disappointing four hot dog result in the 2003 Nathan's contest, which he claims was caused by injuries resulting from a fight with competitor Chris Eyre after Perry had an affair with Eyre's wife. November 12, 2025 at 8:26 am by
ojrifkin · More posts about:Nathan's History, New York City, Podcasts | Permalink * Comments
The Major League Eating calendar has been updated with the 2026 Nathan's Famous hot dog eating finals and three other 2026 third quarter competitions. The World Famous Hermanaki Wing Eating Contest, to be held at Big Ten Fan Fest in Indianapolis on December 6 has yet to be listed. update Nov 5 Registration for the wing eating contest is now open November 4, 2025 at 11:27 pm by
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October 31, 2025 at 10:28 am by
ojrifkin · More posts about:Nathan's History, New York City
The New York City mayoral election is on Tuesday. The Republican candidate in that race, Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, competed in several Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contests in the 1990s. At the July 3, 1998 weigh-in/press conference, Sliwa discussed his theory that defending champion Hirofumi Nakajima had been surgically modified to enhance his eating ability.
The source of the clip is “Footlong”, a documentary about a cross-country tour of hot dog restaurants. The Nathan’s weigh-in segment starts around 6:22
update Nov 1 The Daily Mirror has an article about competing against Sliwa in the 1997 Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest.
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James Webb discussed competing in the 2025 Nathan's Famous finals on the Australian television program "Gogglebox". He says that one of his plates had six hot dogs when it should have had five and that he was not provided with adequate water. October 28, 2025 at 9:20 pm by
ojrifkin · More posts about:2025 Nathan's Hot Dog Contest, Australia, Television | Permalink * Comments (9)
Takeru Kobayashi's shirt with signatures of the 2009 Nathan's Famous finalists was appraised at 300,000 Yen ($2031). Kobayashi has shaved his head. July 25, 2025 at 8:00 am by
ojrifkin · More posts about:2009 Nathan's Hot Dog Contest, Kobayashi (å°æž—å°Š), Merchandise | Permalink * Comments (1)
ESPN PR reports that an average of 1.62 million viewers watched the Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contest on July 4, the highest total since 2014. July 9, 2025 at 7:32 pm by
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ABC7 is doing a live video of today's "weigh-in" for Nathan's Famous competitors. update ABC's video has stopped, but the NY Posts's is going. July 3, 2025 at 12:04 pm by
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July 1, 2025 at 9:21 am by
ojrifkin · More posts about:2025 Nathan's Hot Dog Contest, Statistics
Here are some statistics for the 2025 Nathan’s field. Explanation of the columns:
# Finals – number of Nathan’s finals appearances
Best – best finish in a Nathan’s final
Max – personal best Nathan’s result (finals and qualifiers)
Total – total number of hot dogs eaten in finals and qualifiers
Avg – average number of hot dogs (finals and qualifiers)
All previous finals results for the field
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July 1, 2025 at 9:11 am by
ojrifkin · More posts about:2025 Nathan's Hot Dog Contest, Statistics, Women
Here are some statistics for the 2025 Nathan’s women’s field. Explanation of the columns:
# Finals – number of Nathan’s finals appearances
Best – best finish in a Nathan’s final
Max – personal best Nathan’s result (finals and qualifiers)
Total – total number of hot dogs eaten in finals and qualifiers
Avg – average number of hot dogs (finals and qualifiers)
All previous finals results for the field:
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Today mark's the fifth anniversary of former governor Andrew Cuomo's requirement that travelers from 16 states must self quarantine for 14 days after arriving in New York. The edict prevented Matt Stonie (CA), MIchelle Lesco (AZ) and Gideon Oji (GA) from competing in the 2020 Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contest. June 30, 2025 at 11:12 pm by
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George Shea, Badlands Booker, Crazy Legs Conti and Miki Sudo appeared on CUNY-TV's "A Slice of New York" program to discuss Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contest. June 30, 2025 at 10:06 pm by
ojrifkin · More posts about:2025 Nathan's Hot Dog Contest, Crazy Legs Conti, Eric "Badlands" Booker, Miki Sudo, Television | Permalink * Comments
The New York Post has an interview with Joey Chestnut about his return to Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contest. He also discusses his fiancee Brie, but says he has yet to set a wedding date. He says a guy from Montreal (most likely Australian James Webb) is his only threat. June 28, 2025 at 11:20 pm by
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June 26, 2025 at 6:30 pm by
ojrifkin · More posts about:2025 Nathan's Hot Dog Contest, ESPN
The ESPN schedule for the men’s and women’s 2025 Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest is finally out. Joey Chestnut and Miki Sudo will have personal cameras. The documentary, “The Good, The Bad, The Hungry will also be rerun three times.
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The New York Times reports that Mortimer Matz, co-founder of the Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contest, has passed away at the age of 100. June 26, 2025 at 6:07 pm by
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Pittsbugh Magazine has an article about Wildcat Championship Belts in Latrobe, PA, producer of the belts for Nathan'Famous hot dog eating contest. June 25, 2025 at 9:15 pm by
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Cherish Brown appeared on WFFT to discuss competing in the Nathan's Famous finals for the third year in a row. June 25, 2025 at 8:19 am by
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June 23, 2025 at 8:50 pm by
ojrifkin · More posts about:2025 Nathan's Hot Dog Contest, Contest Previews
MajorLeagueEating.com has a page about the 2025 Nathan’s finals listing the fields. Ricardo Corbucci from Brazil will be the only international bye.
Men
Champion byes: Joey Chestnut, Pat Bertoletti
Qualifier winners
Wild Cards
International bye: Ricardo Corbucci (Brazil)
Women
Champion byes: Miki Sudo, Michelle Lesco
Qualifier Winners
Wild Cards
The page says that both the men’s and women’s contests will be televised live on ESPN News and also streamed on ESPN3. This contradicts ESPN’s schedule page which says the men’s competiton will be live on ESPN2.
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June 22, 2025 at 5:56 pm by
ojrifkin · More posts about:2025 Nathan's Hot Dog Contest
With all the Nathan’s qualifiers for 2025 complete, here is the current field:
Champion Byes:
Joey Chestnut, Pat Bertoletti
Miki Sudo, Michelle Lesco
Qualifier winners:
There have been three or four wild card entrants the past two years, but the number has yet to be officially announced. Here are the wild card leaders:
Corbucci from Brazil is currently in the USA and practicing for the contest, so he will apparently receive an international bye. Presumably there will be other international byes.
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June 21, 2025 at 5:08 pm by
ojrifkin · More posts about:2025 Nathan's Hot Dog Contest, Contest Results, George Chiger, Harrisburg
Fox 43 has a news video
Local21News has a gallery
Official results
George Chiger (26.75) and Camille O’Brien won today’s Nathan’s qualifier at Hershey Park.
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James Webb announced that he will compete in the Nathan's qualifier at the Giant National Capital Barbecue Battle in Washington, DC on Saturday. June 19, 2025 at 7:11 pm by
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June 16, 2025 at 12:00 pm by
ojrifkin · More posts about:2025 Nathan's Hot Dog Contest, Joey Chestnut
update TMZ has an interview with Joey. He hopes to hit 80 hot dogs.
Joey Chestnut announced that he will be returning to Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest after missing the 2024 competition due to a sponsorship dispute. With two qualifiers remaining on Saturday, this makes the current field for the 2025 contest:
Champion Byes:
Joey Chestnut, Pat Bertoletti
Miki Sudo, Michelle Lesco
Qualifier Winners
There have been three or four wild card entrants the past two years, but the number has yet to be officially announced. Here are the wild card leaders:
Non American competitors have also received international byes the previous two years.
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June 14, 2025 at 4:55 pm by
ojrifkin · More posts about:2025 Nathan's Hot Dog Contest, Contest Results, Derek Hendrickson, Oakland
update Derek Hendrickson has a video
Official results This is probably the first Nathan’s qualifier with more female competitors than males.
facebook live video
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TMZ reports that Joey Chestnut is negotiating a return to Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contest next month. According to the article, Joey's relationship with Impossible Foods is no longer impeding his return. It is possible the deal has been terminated; Joey Chestnut has not made any videos or appearances for the plant-based meat company in 2025. June 10, 2025 at 10:09 pm by
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