Eating Contests category

All Nathan’s Famous Coney Island winners

Here is a list of all winners of a hot dog eating contest held at Nathan’s Famous in Coney Island in the database. Before 1980, competitions were held on various days throughout the summer. The first contest to receive news coverage was held on June 30, 1967 to commemorate the centennial of the hot dog. Walter Paul reportedly won that event with a reported total of 127 hot dogs in an hour.
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2026 Great Midwest Ribfest

2026 Nathan’s Famous field announced

The field for the 2026 Nathan’s Famous finals has been announced. There are no international byes other than competitors who have competed in a MLE contest in 2026. Crazy Legs Conti received a wild card spot despite a 6th place finish in his qualifier. His qualifier total of 10 hot dogs might be an all time low for a male finalist. Katie Prettyman received a spot despite not competing in a contest since Nathan’s 2025.
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Six Point Brewery in Brooklyn will hold a hot dog eating contest on July 4 awarding two tickets to the July 5 Yankees game.
Burger 3000 in West Hollywood will hold a 20x20 burger eating contest on July 5 that will award $500 if it is finished in under 5 minutes, $1000 if finished in under 2 minutes.

2026 ESPN/ABC Nathan’s television schedule

update June 29 A press release announces that Jeremy Schapp, Rich Shea and Marion Crowder will be the announcers. This will be the first eating contest to be televised live on a national over-the-air network since the 2008 Collegiate Nationals, won by
Furious Pete, was broadcast by CBS.

Here is the current broadcast schedule for Nathan/s Famous hot dog eating contest on July 4. The men’s contest will be on ESPN2 and simulcast on ABC starting at 12:30 as part of its “Disney Celebrates America” marathon. The women’s contest will be streaming only. Joey Chestnut and Miki Sudo will have individual cameras.

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The weather for Coney Island on July 4 is predicted to be High 86 / Low 71 with a chance of thunderstorms.
The Plaza in Las Vegas will hold a wing eating contest on July 4 awarding $1,000 to the winner.

Nathan’s 2026 men’s odds

Caesars Sportsbook has posted odds for 12 competitors in the upcoming men’s Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest. I am not sure if this is the official and final field. If it is final, there will be no Asian competitors for the second year in a row.
Champion byes:
Joey Chestnut -2500 (bet $2500 to win $100)
Pat Bertoletti +1100 (bet $100 to win $1100)
Qualifier winners:
Max Stanford +15000
George Chiger +15000
Top 12 byes:
James Webb +2800
Geoffrey Esper +2800
Nick Wehry +5000
Ricardo Corrbucci +15000
Derek Hendrickson +20000
Darrien Thomas +20000
Radim Dvoracek +20000
Gideon Oji +20000

For the women’s field, all I can find out is that Cherish Brown will receive a wild card spot, making the known field:
Miki Sudo
Michelle Lesco
Semora Kludy
Larell Marie Mele
Cherish Brown

update Draft Kings also has odds for Adrian Morgan +15000, Cameron Meade +20000 and Jerome Burns +20000

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Parlay in Richmond, VA will hold a hot dog eating contest on July 4 awarding $500 to the winner.
Fish Tales in Ocean City, MD will hold a hot dog eating contest on July 4 awarding $1000 to the winner.

Geoff Esper defends strawberry shortcake title

Full results of today’s Strawberry Shortcake Eating Championship in Mattituck, NY. (8 minutes, results are in pounds)

1st 21.5 Geoffrey Esper
2nd 18 Max Stanford
2nd 18 Nick Wehry
4th 15.5 George Chiger
5th 15 Radim Dvoracek
6th 14 Jerome Burns
7th 9 Josh “The Goat” Krady
8th 8 Joseph Norris
9th 5.1 Crazy Legs Conti
10th 3 Prudence DiBenedetto
11th 2.5 Julie Goldberg

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Geoff Esper, Nick Wehry, Max Stanford, Radim Dvoracek, George Chiger, Jerome Burns, Crazy Legs Conti, Julie Goldberg, Josh Krady, Joseph Norris, Prudence DiBenedetto and Luke Sobieraj are expected to compete in tomorros's World Strawberry Shortcake Eating Championship in Mattituck, NY.

George Chiger & Larell Marie Mele win Hershey Park qualifier

update July 13 Franky WooWoo has a video

update June 22 PennLive, WHTM and WGAL have videos. Penn Live has an article and gallery.

Official results:

1st 25.5 George Chiger
2nd 25 Yunho Choi
3rd 22 Tanner Gray
4th 17 Jacob Williams
5th 13.5 Mitchell Ashe
6th 12 William “Wild Bill” Myers
7th 10.25 Paul Chen
1st 12.25 Larell Marie “The Real Deal” Mele
2nd 7.5 Cherish “Five Pounds” Brown
3rd 5 Prudence DiBenedetto
3rd 5 Elizabeth “Glizzy Lizzie” Salgado
5th 3.75 Rori Hausman

George Chiger and Larell Marie Mele won today’s Nathan’s Famous qualifier at Hershey Park in Hershey, PA.

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Joey Chestnut, Geoff Esper and influencer Harmon Caponigro are expected to compete in the Saugus Wing Eating Championship at The Brook in Seabrook, NH on July 11.
Registration is open for a Nathan's Famous qualifier to be held at the New York, New York Hotel Casino in Las Vegas on July 4 that will award a spot in the next year's finals on July 4, 2027. The site was a mainstay on the qualifier circuit, but has not held an event since 2019.
Jimmy's Famous Heroes Sandwich Shop will hold a sandwich eating contest at the Sheepshead Bay Fest in Brooklyn on June 21 awarding $500 to the winner.
Dogs Out in Manasquan, NJ will hold a hot dog eating contest on July 4 with a purse of at least $3500.
Matt Stonie posted a Nathan's Famous hot dog practice session on his Instagram, so he might be returning to that contest for the first time since 2019.
Ben Huddleston reports that the men's Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contest will be televised live on ABC starting at 12:30 pm Eastern as part of the network's "Disney Celebrates America" programming. With a 24 hour run-time, there is no excuse for not televising the women's contest earlier in the day.
State Fare in Catonsville, MD will hold a hot dog eating contest on July 4 awarding $500 to the winner.

Trump, Howard Lorber & the NY Knicks

One June 5, the official White House X account posted a picture of President Trump watching a New York Knicks game from courtside seats. His seatmate is believed to be Howard Lorber, his longtime friend and CEO of Nathan’s Famous. The picture was taken at a 2007 game against the Los Angeles Lakes and comes from a NY Magazine article which claims that Lorber was Trump’s most common companion at Knicks games. The game Trump attended on June 8 was the only game lost by the Knicks in a 4-1 NBA Championship Series win.

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Max Stanford, Semora Kludy win Lake Compounce qualifier

update June 29 Jerome Burns and Lake Compounce have videos

Fox61 has an article about the qualifier

Results from today’s Nathan’s qualifier at Lake Compounce in Bristol, CT via MLE instagram

1st 32 Max Stanford
2nd 24 Jerome Burns
3rd 15.5 Josh “The Goat” Krady
4th 14.5 Joshua Norris
5th 13 Brandon “The Titanium Jaw” Macey
6th 10 Crazy Legs Conti
1st 15 Semora Kludy
2nd 8.5 Lainey Eaton
3rd 7 Lauren Fraunfelter
4th 5.5 Madison Barone
5th 4.5 Lily Krigelski
6th 3.25 Julie Goldberg

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Roma Pizza in Brooklyn will hold a rotisserie chicken eating contest on June 21 awarding $500 to the winner.

Flashback: Nathan’s City Hall weigh-ins

Tonight’s weigh in at the Lincoln Memorial for Sunday’s UFC card at the White House is not the first time a weigh-in for a competition has been held at a major public building. Weigh ins for Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest were held at NYC City Hall until 2014 and the Brooklyn Borough Hall from 2015-17. The mayor often attended the weigh-in; Michael Bloomberg attended the weigh-in 11 of the 12 years he was in office and Rudy Guiliani was present at least three years. The hot dog documentary “Footlong” has footage (starts at 6:23) of the 1998 weigh-in attended by Rudy Guiliani and Curtis Sliwa, who ran for mayor in 2021 and 2025.

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