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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Results from the MLE Instagram story

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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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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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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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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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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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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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 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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ESPN coverage of introductions and contest

Official results

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ESPN has the contest coverage on youtube
USA Today has an article about the disqualification of Madison Barone

Official results

Live Walking NYC has started a live video from Coney Island
Dutchmazz also plans to do a live video

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