The Fourth of July tradition of watching grown adults stuff down tens of hot dogs is one we’ve all come to love. When the news that Joey Chestnut was banned from this year’s Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest broke earlier this year, it was devasting, to say the least. Soak up those tears Americans, it turns out the 19x champ will be eating hot dogs on Independence Day after all!
Chestnut was barred from Nathan’s annual competition after he partnered with a rival vegan company Impossible Foods. The competitive eater has now announced he has accepted an invitation to compete in an alternate hot dog eating contest against Amercian soldiers in Fort Bliss, Texas on July 4th. The event will be sponsored by Impossible Foods.
There are rumors that Chestnut, Nathan’s, and the Major League Eating are negotiating to reunite in 2025. However, Joey has stated that the MLE ‘moved the goalposts’ after he signed a deal with Impossible Foods.
“Looking at my contracts, I’ve been allowed to work with meat companies… they had a list of probably about 60 companies I couldn’t work with and Impossible wasn’t on the list.”
While there is no word on if the military base event will be live streamed, you will be able to watch Chestnut compete against long-time rival Takeru Kobayashi live on Netflix Labor Day!
We’re just glad some great Americans will be able to witness the champ in action on July 4th!
