Joey “Jaws” Chestnut, widely regarded as the greatest professional hot dog eater of all time, will no longer be able to compete in the Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest due to an endorsement deal he has signed with plant-based company Impossible Foods.
The deal with Impossible, which is trying to win over meat-eaters with its new plant-based hot dog, does not bar Chestnut from taking part in eating contests, including the Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest on July 4. “We love Joey and support him in any competition he chooses to compete in. It’s OK to experiment with new dogs, and meat-eaters shouldn’t have to be limited to just one wiener,” the California-based company said in a statement.
But Nathan’s expects loyalty from its competitors, at least when it comes to its hot dog brands, said George Shea, chairman and co-founder of Major League Eating, the umbrella organization for numerous competitive eating contests, including Nathan’s. A key agreement for all contestants in the Nathan’s contest, where participants compete in front of ESPN cameras for the “mustard belt” and cash prizes, is that they “will not represent rival hot dog brands,” Shea told The Washington Post.
According to Shea, Chestnut’s most recent contract with Nathan’s had expired, and the two companies were negotiating a new deal when Chestnut announced it had signed a deal with a “plant-based company,” though Nathan’s did not know at the time that the deal was with Impossible.
Shea said Nathan’s asked Chestnut about the possibility of representing all of the company’s other products except for the plant-based hot dogs.
“They said no, so we’re stuck,” Shea said. “We’re just surprised by this.”
Impossible Foods would not comment on Chestnut’s deal, but in signing with Impossible, Chestnut likely gave up a lucrative contract with Nathan’s, which was willing to pay the 16-time champion $300,000 a year for four years, said a source who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations.
“I was very disappointed to learn today that the media has shut me down from the Nathan’s Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest after almost 20 years of competing,” Chestnut said in an Instagram post. “I love competing in the competition, I love celebrating America on Independence Day with fans across this great country, and I have been training hard to defend my title.”
Chesnut did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
With Chesnut out, the new champion will be crowned on July 4, when 35,000 people will gather at the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues in Coney Island to watch the world’s most advanced hot dog lovers slurp down more than 60 hot dogs in 10 minutes. Chesnut has not lost since Matthew Stoney won in 2015. Chesnut still holds the Nathan’s record. In 2021, he slurped down 76 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes.
Impossible Foods may have acquired the world’s most famous carnivore as part of a new branding campaign to attract more meat-eaters to its fold.
“Listen up, Americans: meat has a problem,” says a meat-loving man in Impossible’s flagship campaign commercial. “And we, the meat eaters, are the ones to solve it.” The ad suggests, with a determined irony, that the solution is to eat more meat – and to eat plant-based meat, which studies have found has, on average, 50 percent less of an environmental impact than protein raised through conventional animal agriculture.
Chesnut, 40, may be the ideal person to steer meat-eaters towards a plant-based diet, at least some of the time. He is the world’s No. 1 ranked competitive eater and holds 55 world records. Along with his former rival, now retired “Kobi” Kobayashi Takeru, Chesnut has transformed what is widely considered a form of competitive eating into a sport that requires discipline and training. (He’s probably also saved months of his life.)
But that mission — if that is indeed his mission — cost Chestnut a chance to participate in the world’s most famous hot dog eating contest — at least for now. Major League Eating had agreed to let Chestnut participate in a rival hot dog eating contest — a competition for “unbranded” dogs — on Labor Day, Shea said. That’s proof the governing body isn’t trying to limit Chestnut’s opportunities, he added.
And despite the new contract with Impossible Foods, Chestnut has not been officially banned from competing in Nathan’s contests again, Shea said.
“It may be a matter of language, but to me, a ban means he’s out. That’s it. We’re done with Joey. That’s not it. We love Joey. If we can resolve this issue of representing a rival brand, we’d love to have him on Independence Day. We’d love to have him again next year,” Shay said.
This is not the first time Major League Eating has had a contract dispute with one of its top competitors. Kobayashi stopped competing in the annual Nathan’s contest after refusing to sign with MLE. Kobayashi felt the terms of his contract were too restrictive and prevented him from competing in contests that were not under the MLE banner.
With Chestnut out, the favorite to win this year’s Nathan’s is Jeffrey Esper, currently ranked No. 2 in the world. Esper finished second last year, downing 49 hot dogs in 10 minutes, 13 fewer than Chestnut.
