The return of Joey Chestnut to Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, New York City’s cherished and stomach-turning Fourth of July tradition, drew thousands of action-hungry foodies to Coney Island on Friday.
The $10,000 cash prize and the coveted championship belts—the Mustard Yellow Belt for men and the Pink Belt for women—were up for grabs among the world’s most competitive eaters, with 15 men and 13 women from the United States, Canada, England, Brazil, the Czech Republic, and Australia competing.
As anticipated, this year’s huge wiener-eating champion, Joey Chestnut, who owns the all-time event record after swallowing an incredible 76 hot dogs in 2021, did not set a new record.
After a surprising one-year break due to a sponsorship agreement with plant-based company Impossible Foods that violated Nathan’s exclusivity regulations, the 41-year-old Indian resident consumed a total of 70.5 hot dogs and buns on his triumphant return to the Nathan’s Famous stage.
To win his 17th Nathan’s title, Chestnut ate 24 more dogs than the runner-up. After consuming 46.5 hot dogs and buns, Chicago’s Patrick Bertoletti, who won the title last year while Chestnut wasn’t there, concluded the battle.
Chestnut, however, expressed regret to the supporters for not breaking his own record in spite of the resounding win.
The champion of competitive eating informed the audience, “I wish I ate a couple more.” I apologize, everyone.
THE DOMINANCE OF JOEY CHESTNUT CONTINUES
Chestnut wins his 17th Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest title after downing 70.5 hot dogspic.twitter.com/B3TMBrayZ7
ESPN July 4, 2025 (@espn)
For the eleventh time, the world’s top-ranked female competitive eater, Miki Sudo, took home the women’s top prize.
With 33 hot dogs overall, she won the competition. After devouring 51 hot dogs and buns last year, the New York-born eating sensation broke the global record in her category.
According to Phil McCann, vice president of marketing for Nathan’s Famous, the event, which has been hosted by Major League Eating since 1997, continues to be the summertime highlight and one of our country’s finest holiday traditions.
The simple rules for the gluttony and patriotism extravaganza are as follows: competitors have ten minutes to consume as many Nathan’s Famous hot dogs as they can.
Water is strongly recommended, buns are required, and condiments are optional. In addition to being unpleasant and disgusting, vomiting—also known by MLE as a “reversal of fortune”—leads to disqualification.
According to organizers, the annual eating festival attracts over 40,000 people to Coney Island, and over 2 million people watch the exclusive broadcast on ESPN.
Top dogs have consumed 1,509 beef franks, or roughly 330 pounds of meat, since the competition’s inception in 1972.
