America’s classic Fourth of July tradition, the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, will look unrecognizable this year without its superstar Joey Chestnut. And a business decision is to blame.

Chestnut’s partnership with Impossible Foods, which makes plant-based meat alternatives to burgers and hot dogs, is what’s blocking him out of the event, according to the New York Post. Major League Eating said a Labor Day competition on Netflix with no brand promotion was offered, but the Nathan’s competition has had the same “basic hot dog exclusivity provisions” for nearly 20 years.

“We are devastated to learn that Joey Chestnut has chosen to represent a rival brand that sells plant-based hot dogs rather than competing in the 2024 Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest,” MLE said in a statement. “MLE and Nathan’s went to great lengths to accommodate Joey and his management team, agreeing to the appearance fee and allowing Joey to compete in a rival, unbranded hot dog eating contest on Labor Day.”

The Post reports that Chestnut made $200,000 competing in last year’s contest, and was offered a $1.2 million contract to stick around for the next four years. Whatever Impossible offered ultimately was more enticing.

An Accomplished Eater

Chestnut, 40, is the star of the competitive eating world, and has won 16 Nathan’s competitions while gaining national acclaim. He holds the world record for eating 76 dogs and buns in 10 minutes in 2021, and has won the Fourth of July competition every year since ’16. In ’23, he sailed to victory with 62 dogs.

MLE’s own website calls him the “greatest eater in history.” 

“Joey Chestnut is an American hero. We would love nothing more than to have him at the Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest. We hope he returns when he is not representing a rival brand,” MLE said.

MLE and Chestnut did not immediately respond to Front Office Sports’ requests for comment.

Chestnut’s biggest rival, Takeru Kobayashi, won six straight Nathan’s contests before also dropping out due to business quarrels with MLE. He hasn’t entered the competition since 2009 because he refused to sign an exclusive deal with the organization. Kobayashi retired in May, saying: “I no longer feel hunger.”

Warner Bros. Discovery, like any other media company, cannot fully project the long-term state of the industry, or even its own business, amid an accelerating state of disruption. But the TNT Sports parent has nonetheless made another big bet on the future.

WBD has completed a 10-year rights deal with the French Open to carry the tennis major starting next year and through 2034. Worth about $650 million over the full term, according to industry sources, the agreement immediately vaults to a position as TNT Sports’ longest rights deal, surpassing the current end in ’32 of its shared March Madness rights with CBS Sports and a new NASCAR pact expiring in ’31. 

The French Open agreement arrives directly in the midst of a particularly fragile time for WBD. The company is trying to preserve an NBA media-rights relationship that has lasted four decades, but it could now be on the outside looking in against rival bids from ESPN, NBC Sports, and Amazon. 

Regardless of the outcome of the basketball situation, though, WBD executives said the French Open deal represents another important move to secure top-tier content. It’s also part of ongoing transformation across the company’s entire rights portfolio also including a recent agreement to sublicense some College Football Playoff games from ESPN.

Changing Media Landscape

Though it’s essentially impossible to know what the cable and streaming businesses will look like by the mid-2030s, WBD executives touted their array of cable channels, Max streaming service, Bleacher Report, and new participation in Venu Sports with ESPN and Fox as key tools to show coverage from the French Open and their other sports rights.

“This one just felt right. We look for properties and events where we can really bring in our own DNA, our own brand of storytelling, and the French Open and Roland-Garros is definitely that,” Luis Silberwasser, TNT Sports chairman and CEO, tells Front Office Sports. “We are certainly aware of the challenges of the cable business, but we also continue to be eager to find as many ways as possible to distribute our content.”

The French Open in some respects is seen as the weakest of tennis’s four majors. Competing in a particularly crowded part of the sports calendar in the U.S. against the heart of the NBA and NHL playoffs, the tournament also foregoes some of the power and speed of tennis on hard courts and grass in favor of the longer volleys and extended matches of clay. But Silberwasser says he intends to lean directly into all of that in TNT Sports’ coverage.

“Clay is a central character in this story. Paris is a central character in this story,” Silberwasser says. “It’s a very unique event, with a particular set of branding characteristics, and we’ll absolutely feature that.”

WBD will also leverage Eurosport, its European outlet that has covered the tournament since 1989, in building out its French Open coverage for the U.S.

No News on NBA

Silberwasser declined to comment on the ongoing NBA media-rights negotiations. That situation has largely remained the same in recent weeks, though, with league officials aiming to bring an end to the negotiations soon, and conversations continuing about the possibility of a fourth package being created that would allow TNT to remain in business with the league. 

During the ongoing uncertainty, though, tension and unease continue. TNT Sports analyst Charles Barkley made a guest appearance Monday during ESPN’s coverage of Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, and Steve Levy jokingly introduced the Basketball Hall of Famer as “the newest member of ESPN’s NBA coverage?”

Tiger Woods is a busy man. This week, he’s in Pinehurst, N.C., getting ready to compete in his 23rd U.S. Open. On Tuesday night, he’ll also receive the Bob Jones Award—the highest honor given out by the United States Golf Association to recognize sportsmanship and respect for the game. And over the weekend, Woods was part of an hours-long meeting in New York City with representatives from LIV Golf’s financial backers at the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, including governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan.

“It was productive,” Woods said Tuesday during his pre-tournament press conference. “And is there light at the end of [the] tunnel? I think we’re closer to that point than we were pre-meeting.” On Saturday morning, the PGA Tour released a statement confirming the meeting, saying that “more progress was made” and the Tour remains “committed to these negotiations.”

“Both sides were looking at different ways to get to the end game,” Woods said. “Both sides shared a deep passion for how we need to get there. And yes, there are going to be differences of opinion, but we all want the same thing.”

Return on Investment?

Rory McIlroy, who is also part of the PGA Tour’s transaction subcommittee negotiating with the PIF, gave his reaction to the meeting Saturday at The Memorial Tournament. “They’re a sovereign wealth fund,” he said. “They invest in companies and in different things and they want a return on their investment. … It doesn’t seem like they’re getting that at the minute within golf.”

Last Thursday marked one year since the PGA Tour and the PIF announced a shocking framework agreement to unify men’s professional golf. Still without a deal, the future of golf and ongoing divide between PGA Tour and LIV Golf players remains murky.