New York governor Andrew Cuomo announced that he is expanding the list of states whose residents must self-quarantine for 14 days after arriving in his state, which will apparently prevent Matt Stonie (CA), Gideon Oji (GA) and Michelle Lesco (AZ) from competing in the 2020 Nathan’s Finals if they cannot get an exemption. Earlier today, Rich Shea appeared to confirm that Michelle Lesco will not be able to compete. Joey Chestnut is already in New York, so he is not affected by the directive.

update MLE has announced Nick Wehry will replace Matt Stonie.

update July 1 George Chiger will replace Gideon Oji.

update July 1 #2 A press release lists Miki Sudo, Katie Prettyman and Larell Marie Mele as female competitors. Katie Prettyman does not think that Sarah Reinecke and Sophia DeVita will compete due to schedule conflicts.

update July 2 NJ.com reports Rene Rovtar will be the 4th female competitor.

update July 2 #2 Julie Goldberg will apparently complete the women’s field.

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The following is a list of all the Nathan’s Famous personal bests for competitors with a known result in the database.

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This is the same list of Nathan’s Famous hot dog results posted yesterday sorted by contest average.

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The following is a list of the cumulative totals from both qualifiers and finals (excluding exhibitions) for all Nathan’s Famous hot dog competitors along with the maximum and average totals. The left column is the number of contests for the competitor with a known result. These statistics will not be 100% accurate as full contests results are not always posted.

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updateMiki Sudo recorded a video about the contest. She says (around 3:00) that the field will not be selected solely on MLE ranking but that geographic location and media availability will also be considered.

A press release (screen capture) announces that the July 4, 2020 Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest will be held without fans at an undisclosed Coney Island location. Five men and five women will compete; defending champions Joey Chestnut and Miki Sudo are the only listed competitors. ESPN will televise the contest at noon Eastern with Mike Golic, Jr. replacing Adam Amin as commentator. The women’s division will be broadcast on ESPN or ESPN2 for the first time with a starting time of 12:20 pm. The Wall Street Journal has a paywalled article.

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The New York Times reports that Smithfield Foods meatpacking plant in Sioux Falls, SD, which has been labeled as the top coronavirus hotspot in the USA, will resume operations tomorrow. One of the products the facility produces is Nathan’s Famous hot dogs.

In Sioux Falls, S.D., where the virus sickened more than 1,000 people at a Smithfield pork processing plant, the outbreak appears to be slowing, Mayor Paul TenHaken said. More than 4,000 Smithfield employees, their family members and close contacts, were recently tested.

Yet the mayor fears that his city’s progress could be temporary. On Monday, the plant will begin slaughtering hogs again. Hundreds of employees will be back together at work.

“I’ll be honest, it makes me nervous,” Mr. TenHaken said. “We’ve seen how a zero-case facility can become a 1,000-case facility.”

Nathan’s Famous did not expect the closure to have a negative impact on hot dog supply in a SEC document from April.

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AMNY has an article about the prospects for Coney Island which includes quotes from George Shea on options for Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest:

The popular Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest also hangs, in the balance with several proposals by George Shea, the organizer and “ring master” of the event, as he tries to find an alternative way to hold the Independence Day hot dog extravaganza that normally attracts thousands.

The contest itself isn’t officially canceled. Shea is looking at ways to hold the July 4 ‘gorgefest’ behind closed doors, possibly without a crowd as Major League Baseball is proposing.

Shea, the eternal optimist, is being hit badly by the pandemic. Many of his projects involve large crowds.

“We can hold the Hot Dog Eat contest with 10 people if we needed,” said Shea, who views the contest as American as apple pie and a proud Fourth of July tradition.

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