http://www.majorleagueeating.com/contests.php is now accepting registration for all upcoming Nathan’s qualifiers except Valdosta, GA (May 13), Washington, DC (June 24) and Naperville, IL (June 30)

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Here is a list of states sorted by the number of Nathan’s qualifiers they have held since July 5, 2002 according to the eatfeats database. A list of all qualifiers follows. I think the NYNY Casino in Las Vegas is the only site to have held a qualifier all 15 years.

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Here is the number of Nathan’s qualifiers held during a circuit (July 5-July 3) for each finals since 2003 as best as I can figure out. The 19 qualifiers scheduled for 2016-17 are the most since 2007-2008. This means that at least 44 people will qualify for the 2017 finals assuming Matt Stonie and Sonya Thomas receive byes (4 previous champions, 38 qualifier winners and 2 wild cards).

A numbered list of all the qualifiers in the database since July 5, 2002 follows if anyone wants to count. (The second column is the year of the finals for the qualifier)
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update Mar 26 Naples News has an article

Nate Figgs has a video

update News Press has a contest report and video

Results Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
1) Pablo Martinez 25.5
2) Nate Figueroa 21.5
3) Crazy Legs Conti 19
4) Andrew Renfrow 13.5
Tom Riordan 6.5
Stewart Beck? 6.5

1W) Mary Bowers 10

The MLE facebook has a live video

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The full 2017 Nathan’s qualifier circuit appears to have been posted on nathansfamous.com

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update KSAT and FoxSports Ohio have videos. KingCarb has a video breakdown.

Results Part 1 | Part 2

1) Juan Neave 22.5 (“Juanito wants Food” instagram)
2) Nate Biller 21
3) Steve Schuster 19

1W Kassie Zapata 11

Steve Schuster, Nate Biller and Kassie Zapata are expected to compete.

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DirectActionEverywhere has an interview with Olivia Mihalcik-Duvall, who admits to disrupting the Nathan’s finals:

What is your favorite or most accomplished moment in activism or other DxE activity?

I would say my most accomplished moment in activism was when I was a part of the group that disrupted the Nathan’s hotdog eating contest. It went pretty much according to our plan and got a lot of media attention.

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Montclair State in Little Falls, NJ will hold a presentation titled “Ending Racism and Inequality in the Food System” on February 28. One of the speakers has the following biography:

Raffaella Ciavatta- Raffaella Ciavatta is an art director/graphic designer, immigrant, queer, activist, radical dreamer and the co-founder of Collectively Free. She has organized disruptions at Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, St Patrick’s Cathedral on Easter Mass and the Chick-Fil-A grand opening, generating significant media attention for animals.

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A timeline listing the intersection of the worlds of competitive eating and the 2016 Republican presidential candidate follows:

• 1966 Fred Trump, father of Donald, has the Steeplechase demolished. The Coney Island amusement park had earlier rejected a purchase offer from the Handwerker family, founders of Nathan’s Famous.
• 2005 Sports Illustrated has a blurb
  about filmmaker Michael Tollin’s plans for a fictional movie based on
  Bill “El Wingador” Simmon that did not come to fruition. Tollin would
  later make a documentary about the USFL spring football league in which Donald Trump was cast as the villain.
• 2005-2007 The Trump Marina in Atlantic City holds a wing eating contest for females only during Super Bowl weekend.
  

  2005 Feb 3		Wing Fling 1	Trump Marina	Atlantic City, NJ
  2006 Feb 4		Wing Fling 2	Trump Marina	Atlantic City, NJ
  2007 Feb 3		Wing Fling 3	Trump Marina	Atlantic City, NJ

  2007 contest video

• 2009-2012 The Trump Plaza Beach Bar in Atlantic City, NJ hosts a Nathan’s qualifier. The winners of those contests:
  

  2009 May 23	1st	30.5	10 min	“The Lovely” Juliet Lee	Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest qualifier	Atlantic City, NJ
  2010 May 29	1st	40	10 min	Bob “The Notorious B.O.B.” Shoudt	Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest qualifier	Atlantic City, NJ
  2011 May 28	1st	27	10 min	Pat “from Moonachie” Philbin	Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest qualifier – men	Atlantic City, NJ
  2011 May 28	1st	34	10 min	Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas	Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest qualifier – women	Atlantic City, NJ
  2012 May 19	1st	45	10 min	Tim “Eater X” Janus	Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest Qualifier – men	Atlantic City, NJ
  2012 May 19	1st	18.5	10 min	Larell Marie “The Real Deal” Mele	Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest Qualifier – women	Atlantic City, NJ

  2010 gallery | 2011 video

• 2013 The Trump Plaza was sold to Meruelo Group for $20 million. No Nathan’s qualifiers would take place at that site after the sale.
• Dec 2015 Everybody Loves Raymond’s in San Antonio starts a “Shut Your Mouth Trump” spicy burger challenge in response to negative feelings about the candidate by the restaurant’s clientele. 
• Feb 2016 Donald Trump visits Chez Vachon in Machester, NH for a campaign stop. A picture of him in front of the “Wall of Fame” for the restaurant’s poutine challenge would receive a lot of publicity. Hillary and Bill Clinton would also visit the location.
• May 2016 Burger Urge in Queensland, Australia holds a “Trump Burger” contest awarding a trip to Trump Tower in New York City won by Col “The Conqueror” MacLaurin.
• Aug 2016 Howard Lorber, chairman of Nathan’s Famous, is announced as a member of Donald Trump’s economic policy team.  Lorber received a $25 million payment in 2015 after a special dividend was issued to Nathan’s stockholders.

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Results from the first qualifier in the 2016-17 Nathan’s circuit: Part 1 | Part 2

Men
1 Brian Dudzinksi 27.5
2 Badlands Booker 25.5, takes wild card lead
3 Nate Biller 18

Women
1) Liz McClurg 9.5
2) Taylor Coombs 8.5, takes wild card lead
3) Noelle Morgan 8, thinks she had 8.5

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