In his latest video, a Jaffa cake challenge, Geoff Esper admits he is lacking enthusiasm for competitive eating and is considering missing Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contest. (via MikeyinCharge)

March 15, 2023 at 12:59 am by ojrifkin · More posts about:Geoff Esper, Videos | Permalink * Comments (22)

22 Comments »

  1. Anonymous said

    March 15, 2023 @ 5:03 am

    Make way for the goat!! He had a 12lb capacity and could easily beat Joey

  2. Anonymous said

    March 15, 2023 @ 1:42 pm

    His capacity was way higher than 12 pounds. Probably could hit 19-20 if he was pushing himself to the limit. Molly’s is a little over 22 and Joey’s max hotdog intake with water was probably about 24lbs. All the huge eaters seem exhausted lately. Molly looks rough, B.O.B. frequently mentions eating has lost its luster.

  3. Anonymous said

    March 15, 2023 @ 2:13 pm

    Of the people above, not all are MLE?

  4. Scotts Nuts said

    March 15, 2023 @ 4:02 pm

    They are all looking for more money .
    Pro Basketball , Football , Soccer , Hockey players make great money . Pro eaters are severely underpaid . Who wants to practice eating all the time for small reward .

  5. Randy Santel said (Registered June 2, 2010)

    March 16, 2023 @ 8:20 pm

    There aren’t ever many real conversations on here, and most of the comments are nonsense just bashing people who are actually trying hard to get better and be better, but aren’t naturally as gifted as the top 1%. I’m going to express my opinion and say pro eaters and competitive eaters are not underpaid. Money follows attention, as with all sports and even recreational activities, if you choose to not call competitive eating a sport. Competitive eating only gets attention on July 4th, and even then, around 1/2 of the world still thinks Kobayashi is the reigning champ. MLE by far has the absolute worst online social media presence of all “major” organizations. Darts, ping pong, chess, and anything else has a better following because people can follow online on social media. Nobody can follow, other than by going to the actual events, and the contests only really happen at festivals and places where people were going to be already, and the eating is just a side-show for entertainment. Most people cannot even name the winner afterwards, and nobody goes to their social media to follow more of their stuff. This is why eaters pay $600 in travel expenses in hopes of maybe winning $500. I would say that would take a toll on anyone, especially with how hard the best and biggest eaters train and prepare for events. There is no actual leadership, and therefore there is no money from sponsors or anyone, because there is no real legitimate attention. The people on social media with followers and lots of attention are not underpaid. Lol we are overpaid if anything.

    Everything is also being ruined by YouTubers trying to make a quick dollar. It’s wild how much faking there is in 2023 compared to 2010 when I first started. Random people who don’t really know better, think it’s actually possible to eat 10 footlong Subway sandwiches loaded with vegetables in one sitting, or eat 20,000 calories in a day. Hey, let’s do 50,000 calories in one weekend!! Haha I mean, come on. Let’s not talk about how much food these days actually makes it from the stomach into the intestines and through the other side. Maybe 24%? Let’s not talk about how much chewing and spitting into trash cans happens during some home challenges on some channels.

    It is pretty much impossible to impress anyone anymore because of all the fake stuff and also because of how incredible some feats have actually been. Joey and Molly eating all the Big Macs and other burgers, and all the legit stunts that Geoff has done on this channel. Nothing is really impressive anymore and that makes it tougher to get any sort of attention, leading to more fake nonsense. Also, I started in 2010 when kids didn’t grow up wanting to be a YouTuber. I must give credit to all the people trying real hard to start YouTube channels and other social media ventures in 2022 and beyond. It is freakin’ hard and if I started today, my chances of success would be way lower than they were in 2010 before the social media boom really started. And with food challenges, things are only getting harder. Restaurants continue to make challenges bigger and harder with shorter time limits, making them less fun and enjoyable, out of reach for normal people. A great eater goes and eats a challenge real fast, and then the restaurant gets scared and thinks everyone can eat like that, so they add more fries and cut the time limit by half, which is absolutely stupid. Restaurant challenges should not be set up for only pros and experienced people to win. Not profitable at all.

    With that said, yes it would be awesome for eaters to make more money, but they are not underpaid. They are paid out of the scraps available for them due to lack of attention, which is not worth all the time and effort. We as a competitive eating and food challenge community have done it to ourselves and are responsible for the decline ourselves. It’s nobody else’s fault. Loads of work, training, practice, and everything for little appreciation and pay would take a toll on anyone, and that is completely understandable. Good luck to anybody really trying hard to do well in competitive eating and food challenges these days, and it will be interesting to see how everything goes these next few years. Anybody have any thoughts, feel free to chime in…

  6. Anonymous said

    March 17, 2023 @ 5:54 am

    Thank you Randy for taking the time to express what are clearly some of the many problems with being a competitive eater. I think Jeff knows he cannot beat Joey or it isn’t worth his time or punishment to his body to try. There isn’t even any payoff for second and third place and beyond, I think. It is just Joey taking home his $10,000. And it is completely boring knowing the outcome in advance. Joey should retire for the sake of his health. Perhaps Geoff is thinking the same thing.

  7. Brett Healey said

    March 17, 2023 @ 9:57 am

    Well said Randy!

    You’ve obviously met way more eaters than I have, but for the eaters I have met and talked with, 90% of them are in this game for fun and community and not for a primary source of income. I am fortunate to have a very good career and I got to treat competitive eating solely as a fun hobby and it was very rewarding to me in that sense, as well as allowing me to teach myself the arts of video editing, philanthropy, networking within the restaurant community, and more. For that I am incredibly grateful for the impact I left on the community and the impact it left on me.

    Cheers to a great weekend for those who enjoy thinking positively!

  8. Anonymous said

    March 17, 2023 @ 11:31 am

    Even if you are top 1%, it has got to be hell trying training to beat Joey.
    Watching Carmen was exciting, but I imagine he truly gave it his all before leaving. There’s the old theory about super skinny people having larger capacities, but Joey and Geoff are pretty normal, so I don’t think that applies here. Not exactly the healthiest sport/activity for sure, but it would definitely be more interesting if someone else could surpass 60 hotdogs regularly.

  9. Anonymous said

    March 17, 2023 @ 8:30 pm

    Agree with the above comments. It’s not all about the money especially for those eaters that are wanting to have a good time and enjoy the experience. Sure, there are plenty of other options to make money and a lot of eaters are doing just that with regular jobs and using the eating events/food challenges as way to interact with the community and fellowship among other eaters. For the few that are able to make a sizable payout and no not talking about a couple hundred dollars but consistently 1st or 2nd in a eating event or making money from Youtube with a large following then the perspective is different. Also there is a finite time like any professional sports league before it starts taking a toll on one’s health or ability to perform at the top of their game. Will this take off or have a following such as professional football or baseball, likely not which will keep the limited payouts to only the elite in check. However, this doesn’t mean that eaters can’t have a good time, money aside

  10. Anonymous said

    March 17, 2023 @ 8:43 pm

    I think another MLE eater will be around 60 hot dogs this year.

  11. Anonymous said

    March 18, 2023 @ 10:55 am

    Thanks Randy, Brett, and ‘Anonymous’!

    I am an eater and think that the comments above are generally correct. In order to make it a profitable sport for the eaters/athletes (and really everyone involved) the marketing push needs to be amplified by like ten-fold. Think about Prime Energy or Mr. Beast Burger. The products are very “standard” but the branding push and customer reach is top-level. If MLE or competitive eating in general used a similar marketing tactic, I think the amount of advertising revenue they could generate would be impressive.

    I think a 2nd league that competes with MLE would also help in achieving better payouts/income for Eaters. MLE would be forced to pay higher to retain talent. Imagin if Joey, Geoff, and Nick all held-out and boycotted Nathan’s contest this year? If they severed their contract and threatened to form their own league (or join a new “start-up” league)…I guarantee MLE would re-think how eaters are compensated.

    Another huge issue is the realities of this sport–it is rife with eating disorder-type practices (purging, laxative abuse) that nobody wants to talk about or admit. Just like bodybuilding, which involves heavy steroid usage to be competitive on the pro level, it is hard for a sport to gain popularity when it involves some undeniably not-so-healthy practices. This will never change though–to be the best in competitive eating, you need to do these unhealthy things. As much as people say they “eat healthy most days of the week”, the truth is that almost all of these people are also purging after challenges/YouTube videos/contests. And water stretching is probably not a healthy practice to do for years at a time, since it also involves purging.

    Bottom-line: Until comp. eating / MLE makes a huge marketing shift, it will continue to remain a very niche hobby/sport, that gets somewhat higher national attention 1 day a year. Until then, let’s all continue to enjoy it just like Brett said–for fun and community–not necessarily income. Most eaters I’ve met (I am local to Mid-Atlantic: PA/NJ/DE) are very nice, funny, and sometimes a bit quirky–so I can agree that income/contest payouts are an added bonus. It would be nice if there was less targeted bashing of people on this site, but I don’t think that will change anytime soon. Keep Calm and Eat On, everyone!

  12. Anonymous said

    March 18, 2023 @ 2:31 pm

    Does anyone else think Geoff’s comment may have been a strategic, psychological game? He is a VERY smart guy. If word gets out to Joey that Geoff isn’t motivated / maybe won’t show, then maybe Joey will not prep as hard/aggressively. This time on “mind game” is something I could see Geoff using to hsi advantage. He might be quietly training harder than ever, and trying to catch Joey “asleep at the wheel”.

    Just a theory, but crazier things have been said on this website haha 🙂

  13. Anonymous said

    March 18, 2023 @ 6:10 pm

    Thankz goodness we have Randy ‘this small challange was set up for me’ on here as the arbituer of competiteve eating. No need to throw up when you are eating 5 pound never again offered challangez. Interesting he only names 3 big eaterz when even their are probably 50 eaterz that can do double every one of his challangez. Hi EvErY bOdY I Am VeRy eXcItEd tO bE tHe FiRst person to ever attempt eating a whole mcdonalds’ cheeseburger. Can I do it? Either way I will not throw up afterwards cause I eatz my food. luckely we have brett with his awesome career which is best sumed up with Corbuchi laughing at him during thier colab. did brett ever beat anyone or say what the record was in any of his videos when it was a third the time he took? anyhooo I am done watching nic as he is a faker according to 5lb challange guy. so is everyong else. they are all wimps not being able to hold down 15+ pounds of food when I holdz downz all my kidz mealz. r people fakerz on youtube? sure top three are rnady raina joel. All doing set upz noone else can even try. Followed by peoplez like brett who are opening moched in colabs. so full of himself he doesnt even realize he is the punchline of the jokez. Cheerz to corbuchi for eating 75 pencen of the food while i talked bout how good an eater i am, bE pOsItV! I woulda eaten faster but im just not good atz seefood, peperoni, sausage, cheeze, milk, pepperz, bread, ize cream, tacoz, onioz, steakz, pizza, tomatoez, lettice, burgerz, rice, fruitz but I dominatez in all elze unles there is another eater

  14. Randy Santel said (Registered June 2, 2010)

    March 19, 2023 @ 5:40 am

    Lol 6:10 you write like the owner of Champs Pizza & Subs does in Maryland. That’s pretty funny!

  15. Anonymous said

    March 19, 2023 @ 9:13 pm

    Hi. Randy Santel. Atlas. I’m here today to ask the owner to scale back my challenge size for a guaranteed win. Your girlfriend knows how to get the challenges back up. If she was like you she’d be a mountain. Just like climbing you.

  16. Randy Santel said (Registered June 2, 2010)

    March 20, 2023 @ 7:05 am

    Katina is 5’2″ so I am not sure it’s possible for her to be considered a “mountain.” Mountains are usually pretty tall.

  17. Anonymous said

    March 20, 2023 @ 7:43 am

    I think what 9:13 was getting at is that katina is the puker and you are the holder. I can see at 5’2” that no matter how much gym work or “walking “ while being touristy could account for the influx of calories from both challenges and normal meals/alcohol we all see you enjoying everyday. She can admit it. Nobody here is really that naive.

  18. Anonymous said

    March 20, 2023 @ 8:59 am

    ^^Love Randy’s comebacks. Shots fired!!! 🙂

    Funnily enough, Katina’s name spelled backwards in Anitak, which is a mountain range in the Nepal region of South Asia.

  19. Brett Healey said

    March 20, 2023 @ 12:49 pm

    This 6:10 character is a riot! I hope I get to meet them one day and enjoy a nice chuckle but they’re anonymous, so I guess I’ll never know…

  20. Balls said

    March 26, 2023 @ 2:46 am

    People that think Kobiyashi is still the champion are not real fans . – And yes , there aren’t many real fans .
    Because there’s no tv program , radio show, magazine, etc talking about competitive eating .
    11 years ago I thaught competitive eating would rise .. – I thaught the prizes would get bigger . I had no idea how the power of YouTube would influence everything on the eating field.

  21. Anonymous said

    March 28, 2023 @ 12:26 pm

    This is the first time positive writing has occurred on eatfeats Congratulations

  22. Anonymous said

    March 29, 2023 @ 1:09 pm

    Join in anything or anyone can post here. No filters

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