New York eating challenges and contests category

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eating challenges
(All New York eating challenges and contests in database)

2026 Buffalo Wing Festival wing championship

2026 Buffalo Buffet Bowl

update Totals have been posted for the non-prize winners. Cherish Brown’s result of .39 lb. (6.24 oz) might be the lowest poundage ever in a weight-based MLE contest. Assuming a duration of 8:59, she ate less than 7/10 of an ounce per minute.

Official results, first to finish five pounds of Buffalo food items

1st 5 4m12s $1,000.00 James Webb Sydney, NSW, Australia
2nd 5 4m55s $750.00 Geoffrey Esper Oxford, MA
3rd 5 6m27s $500.00 Max Stanford Brixton, England, UK
4th 5 8m44s $250.00 Miki Sudo Tampa, FL
5th 5 8m59s Nick Wehry Tampa, FL
6th 4.72 8m59s Jerome Burns Danbury, CT
7th 1.69 8m59s George Chiger Pocono Pines, PA
8th 1.47 8m59s Camille O’Brien Jeffersonville, NY
9th 1.45 8m59s William “Wild Bill” Myers Breinigsville, PA
10th 0.88 8m59s Rene Rovtar Basking Ridge, NJ
11th 0.39 8m59s Cherish “Five Pounds” Brown Edon, OH might be lowest poundage ever in a weight-based MLE contest

James Webb is doing a livestream of today’s Buffet Bowl eating contest at the Buffalo Wing Festival.

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Japan Village in Brooklyn will hold a wanko soba eating contest on August 29 awarding a trip to Japan.
Gino's Pizza in Ronkonkoma, NY will hold a pizza eating contest on September 7 awarding $1,000 to the winner.
Joey Chestnut, Geoffrey Esper, James Webb, Miki Sudo, Nick Wehry and Badlands Booker are expected to compete in the USA Chicken Wing Eating Championship at the Buffalo Wing Festival on Sunday.
Scott Watkins ate 15 mini-burritos in 8:50 to win the first prize of $1,000 in Wednesday's eating contest at Shrimpy's Burrito Bar in Massapequa, NY.
Shrimpy's in Massapequa Park, NY will hold a mini burrito eating contest on August 12 awarding $1,000 to the winner. The registration fee is $100.
The Schuyler, NY Cornfest will hold a corn eating contest on August 8 awarding $1,000 to the winner.
Registration is open for the Buffalo Wing Festival contests: the Buffet Bowl on August 29 and the Wing It On! USA Chicken Wing Eating Championship on August 30.

USA Today on Nathan’s Famous gambling

Josh Peter of USA Today has has written an article about the post contest jumps for Miki Sudo (33->38.75) and Nick Wehry (39->45) in Saturday’s Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest. The increments enabled over/under bettors who wagered on overs to declare victory. Sam Barclay was responsible for boosting Miki Sudo’s count by 5, claiming a missed plate. In the ESPN Miki Sudo camera, it appears that she came into contact with at most 34 hot dogs for the duration of the contest. Retired eater Darron Breeden had the following quote:

I agree that standards need to be raised for the eaters, the fans and especially for anyone that has money tied to it,’’ said Breeden, who finished second twice. “…You want to preserve the integrity of the contest.

Miki Sudo did a radio interview for Q105. When asked about the counting issues, she said she did not know where the extra five hot dogs came from. (AI transcript from youtube)
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2026 Nathan’s Famous men’s contest

Results from the MLE Instagram story

1st 66 Joey “Jaws” Chestnut
2nd 51 Pat “Deep Dish” Bertoletti
3rd 47.5 James Webb
4th 45 Nick Wehry
5th 42.5 Max Stanford
6th 40.5 Geoffrey Esper
7th 35.5 Cameron Meade
8th 30 Derek Hendrickson
8th 30 Gideon Oji
10th 28 Radim Dvoracek
11th 27 Jerome Burns
12th 26 George Chiger
13th 22 Yunho Choi
14th 18.5 Tanner Gray
15th 10.5 Crazy Legs Conti

Unofficial results
1 Joey Chestnut 66
2 Pat Bertolett 52
3 James Webb 48

The ESPN2/ABC Nathan’s Famous appears to have been tabled. The livestream by Live Wallking is working.

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Jeffrey Epstein and the mysteries of Nathan’s Famous 2018


Warning: This is a long, dark and disquieting post. Do not click “read the rest” unless you think you are in an optimal mindset.
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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 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.
The weather for Coney Island on July 4 is predicted to be High 86 / Low 71 with a chance of thunderstorms.

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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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.
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.

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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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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The Corner Spot in Ocean Beach, NY will hold a hot dog eating contest on July 4 awarding $500 to the winner.
Registration is open for the Strawberry Shortcake Eating Contest to be held at the Mattituck, NY Strawberry Festival on June 20.
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