If you turned on the TV during the 4th of July in 2024 and didn't see a sweaty man in a white t-shirt inhaling dozens of hot dogs, you probably felt like something was missing from the American experience. That man is Joey Chestnut. For nearly two decades, he was the face of the Nathan's hot dog eating contest disqualification saga that rocked the competitive eating world.
It felt personal. Joey is "Jaws." He’s the guy who once took down a protester with a chokehold while mid-glizzy. So, when the news broke that the 16-time champion was "banned" or "disqualified," fans were rightfully confused. Honestly, the whole thing felt like a bad breakup over a vegan hot dog.
The Beef Over Plant-Based Meat
The core of the issue wasn't a rules violation on the stage. It wasn't about "reversal of fortune" (that's the polite way Major League Eating says "vomiting"). It was about money and branding. Specifically, it was about Impossible Foods.
Chestnut signed a deal with them. They make plant-based hot dogs. Nathan’s Famous, the sponsor of the Coney Island contest, has a very strict "hot dog exclusivity" clause. Basically, you can’t be the face of Nathan’s while also cashing checks from a rival wiener company. Major League Eating (MLE) claimed they went to "great lengths" to accommodate Joey, but the deal with a competitor was the line in the sand.
Joey was gutted. He found out through the media. Imagine being the G.O.A.T. of a sport and finding out you're barred from the Super Bowl because a reporter emailed you while you were in a doctor's waiting room. That’s exactly what happened.
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What the Rules Actually Say
In competitive eating, the rulebook is surprisingly dense. Most people think it's just about who can swallow the most meat in ten minutes. It is, but the "disqualification" terms usually cover:
- The Reversal of Fortune: If it comes back up, you’re out.
- The Debris Rule: You have to eat the whole bun. If you leave piles of crumbs or "hot dog debris" on the table, you get penalized.
- The Dunking Rule: You can dip the bun in water, but you can't hold it there for more than five seconds (in some versions) or use it to turn the bun into a liquid slurry.
Joey didn't break any of these. He "broke" the contract. Or, as he puts it, they changed the terms of the contract on him after he’d already started working with Impossible.
The 2024 Fallout and the Netflix Pivot
With Chestnut out, the 2024 contest felt... quiet. Patrick Bertoletti won the Mustard Belt by eating 58 hot dogs. That’s a lot of food, sure. But it’s not Chestnut-level. For context, Joey's world record is 76. Watching the 2024 contest was like watching a basketball game where the hoop is 8 feet high—it just didn't feel the same.
Chestnut didn't just sit home and pout, though. He went to Fort Bliss in Texas and ate 57 hot dogs in five minutes to raise money for soldiers. Then, he did something even bigger. He signed with Netflix for a live special called Unfinished Beef.
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This was the ultimate "see you in court" move. He faced his old rival, Takeru Kobayashi, on Labor Day 2024. Kobayashi was the original king of the contest before Joey dethroned him in 2007. Kobayashi had his own "disqualification" and ban history with MLE back in 2010. Seeing the two outcasts face off in Las Vegas was the peak of sports drama.
Joey won. He didn't just win; he decimated the competition. He ate 83 hot dogs. On Netflix, they didn't allow dunking (the "no-dunking" rule), which usually slows eaters down. He still broke his own world record. It proved that the Nathan's hot dog eating contest disqualification didn't slow him down; it just made him hungrier.
The Return of the King in 2025
You can only keep a legend away for so long. By the time the 2025 Fourth of July rolled around, the "beef" had been settled. Major League Eating and Joey Chestnut reached an agreement. The details are a bit murky—likely a mix of "we need the ratings" and "okay, fine, you can have your vegan side-hustle."
Chestnut returned to Coney Island in 2025 and immediately reminded everyone why he's the greatest. He put down 70.5 hot dogs. Bertoletti, the 2024 fill-in champ, only managed 46.5. It wasn't even close. The crowd chanting "Joey! Joey!" as he walked onto the stage showed that the fans didn't care about the corporate drama. They just wanted to see a man defy the laws of biology.
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Lessons from the "Glizzy Ban"
What can we learn from this weird chapter in sports history?
- Exclusivity is King: In the world of niche sports, the sponsors own the athletes' images.
- The "Banned" Narrative Sells: Joey's absence in 2024 created more buzz for the 2025 return and his Netflix special than a normal winning year would have.
- Loyalty is Complicated: Joey maintains he only ever worked with Nathan's for "real" dogs, but the business world doesn't see "plant-based" as a different category; they see it as a threat.
If you’re a competitive eater—or just a fan—keep an eye on the contracts. The Nathan's hot dog eating contest disqualification wasn't a tragedy; it was a masterclass in brand management and the power of a single athlete over an entire organization.
If you want to track Joey's training or see if anyone will ever touch that 83-dog record, keep an eye on his YouTube channel. He often posts "practice" sessions where he eats things like 12 pounds of lasagna or 400 shrimp. It's gross. It's impressive. It's uniquely American.
Stay updated on the current rankings through the official Major League Eating site, but remember: the real drama usually happens behind the scenes, far away from the mustard-stained tables of Coney Island.