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Morning Edition

July 4, 2025

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Fireworks, flags, and hot dogs. The annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest is a huge operation before the competitors even take a bite. Plus, an interview with the event’s perennial second-place finisher. Happy Fourth of July.

— Colin Salao [[link removed]] and Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]

3,000 Hot Dogs, $20K in Prizes: Behind the Nathan’s Eating Contest [[link removed]]

Major League Eating

According to legend, the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest has been around since 1916, when a group of immigrants determined that chowing down on wieners was the appropriate way to quantify their level of patriotism.

Nathan’s executives have admitted that the story is a myth, though the contest does have a rich history. It started in the mid-’70s at the company’s flagship outpost in Coney Island, growing from a handful of contestants competing on a single eight-foot table to a nationally televised event with tens of thousands of attendees.

And 3,000 hot dogs: Phil McCann, senior director for marketing at Nathan’s Famous, tells Front Office Sports that 800 hot dogs and buns are prepared for the men’s contest and 350 are cooked for the women. About another 2,000 hot dogs are prepared in the feeding tents, where they’re given to special guests, performers, the NYPD, and 750 audience members allowed in the VIP area dubbed “The Pit.”

But on the Fourth of July, Nathan’s cooks and sells an estimated 10,000 more dogs from its flagship location, raking in $150,000—about five times as much as a regular summer day. (Another location, about a block away on the Coney Island boardwalk, adds another $75,000, about four times its usual summer day revenue.) The 47-register flagship faces Surf Avenue, while the contest takes place on the Stillwell Avenue side of the building. The streets are closed off to accommodate the estimated 35,000 fans who attend—though only those who enter The Pit are able to snag a free wiener.

Major League Eating

The first dogs hit the grill at around 9:30 a.m, two hours before the start of the women’s contest. About a dozen Nathan’s crew members delivered the hot dogs to the eaters, laying them out at five per plate; a base layer of three with two crisscrossed on top.

“We start these guys out with typically 15 hot dogs—three plates of five. The eaters go to town, and we just keep replacing [them] with another plate of five,” McCann says.

Nathan’s tries to maintain the same preparation team for its hot dogs, which are about six inches long and weigh 2 oz. For the past decade, brothers Ed and Kevin McDonald have led the grill operations.

“We have them do it because there’s a true cadence as to getting the hot dogs cooked, getting them to the right temperature that can’t be too hot or too cold for the eaters,” McCann says.

This year’s men’s contest will feature 15 participants, including 16-time champion Joey Chestnut, who returns after a controversial one-year absence [[link removed]]. Chestnut set the competition record by eating 76 hot dogs in 10 minutes in 2021. Last year’s winner, Patrick Bertoletti, finished with 58 hot dogs and buns—lower than all but one of Chestnut’s winning marks.

The women’s event will feature 14 eaters, including 10-time champion Miki Sudo, who set the women’s record last year with 51 hot dogs and buns consumed.

The top dog devourers don’t go unrewarded, as the five best go home take home a cash prize. Here’s the incentive:

First Place: $10,000 Second Place: $5,000 Third Place: $2,500 Fourth Place: $1,500 Fifth Place: $1,000

On top of the cash prize, winners also walk home with a championship belt: mustard yellow for the men and a bejeweled pink for the women.

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS NETWORK

The Culture Shift That Saved Army Football

In this episode of Next Up with Adam Breneman, Adam sits down with Army head coach Jeff Monken, one of the most respected and disciplined leaders in college football. Coach Monken shares the full story of how he took over a struggling Army program in 2014 and built it into a winner, leading them to a historic 12-win season and conference championship.

He talks about the unique challenges of coaching at a service academy, the culture shift he demanded from day one, and why the mission at West Point goes far beyond football. Monken dives deep into how he’s used analytics to gain an edge, why he returned to the triple-option offense, and what makes players like Bryson Daily so special. He also opens up about adversity in his coaching journey and why serving his players is his greatest responsibility.

Watch the full Next Up episode here [[link removed]].

Geoffrey Esper Can’t Catch a Break at Nathan’s Hot Dog Contest

Major League Eating

Geoffrey Esper knows a thing or two about second place. The humble Massachusetts native, recognizable for his beat-up Red Sox hat, placed runner-up behind megacelebrity Joey Chestnut for three straight years at the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest.

When the world-record holder was disqualified from last year’s competition [[link removed]] over his sponsorship deal with Impossible Foods, Esper was favored to win [[link removed]]. He put on his best performance yet with 53 hot dogs, but settled for the $5,000 second-place check again—and Chesnut is returning this year.

Ahead of competitive eating’s biggest event, FOS’s Margaret Fleming spoke with Esper, a vocational high school electronics teacher and the No. 3 eater in the world, about his training, prize money, and handling the spotlight.

Front Office Sports: How are you feeling about this year’s competition?

Geoffrey Esper: We do practice for it, and I have to say the practices haven’t been going as good as usual. But last year they didn’t either and I did well.

FOS: You placed just behind Joey a few years in a row. Did you think last year was finally going to be your year?

GE: I was trying. I didn’t know for sure, because my practices weren’t going too good, but I was hoping. And then when I looked over at the end and I saw Pat [Bertoletti] was a couple dogs ahead of me, I was like, ‘Oh, I guess not this year again.’

It was kind of neat because other people got to shine. Pat Bertoletti won, and he got to do the Good Morning America TV show the next day.

FOS: What’s your mindset this year knowing Joey’s coming back?

GE: Pretty much the same. I’m going to go out there and do my best. I hope the hot dogs are good. … Sometimes, like when Joey’s there, it’s a bigger production. They might put the whole table full of hot dogs out, and then they sit in the sun for like 40 minutes, 50 minutes, and they start to dry out and get leathery, and I’m like, “Oh, Jesus, not gonna be good.” So I hope that doesn’t happen.

I can already tell this year, I think it’s going to be camera on Joey the whole time. … It’s probably less stressful when he’s there for us, the rest of the eaters, because he gets all the attention.

FOS: Tell me about the cycle of being in the spotlight once a year on July 4.

GE: I don’t go seek the spotlight. There’s some people, they’re real characters. They think it’s like their chance to be a WWE wrestler, very dramatic. I don’t do that. I like the competition. The actual 10 minutes of the competition is the reason why I’m there. I’m not there to get famous.

Read the full interview with Geoffrey Esper [[link removed]] at FOS.

SPONSORED BY RBC WEALTH MANAGEMENT

Soccer Talks at RBC House

Join Front Office Sports and RBC Wealth Management on July 22–23 for two afternoons full of networking and thought leadership surrounding the All-Star Game in Austin, Texas.

RBC House [[link removed]] will bring the Front Office Sports brand to life with a Second Acts showcase and first-time live broadcasts of Redefined and FOS Today.

We’ll also host timely discussions with top soccer executives and innovators on the sport’s rapidly growing U.S. presence—exploring how the World Cup can be a catalyst for long-term momentum across leagues, teams, and communities.

Learn more or request to attend here [[link removed]].

Hot Dogs… and More Hot Dogs FOS on the Fourth of July Spectacle

Major League Eating

Joey Chestnut will be back in Coney Island after the last contest year’s ban. FOS breaks down the GOAT’s return to Brooklyn. [[link removed]] George Shea works a serious job at his New York–based real estate public relations firm. But every summer, he dons a straw hat and emcees the Nathan’s contest. FOS reporter Ben Horney spoke to Shea [[link removed]] about the business of competitive eating. Jeremy Schaap, an ESPN stalwart for more than three decades, will be on the network’s broadcast of the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest. FOS ’s Ryan Glasspiegel spoke to him [[link removed]] about Chestnut, the contest, the oddest sports he’s covered, and more. Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Events [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Shows [[link removed]] Written by Colin Salao [[link removed]], Margaret Fleming [[link removed]] Edited by Peter Richman [[link removed]], Meredith Turits [[link removed]], Or Moyal [[link removed]]

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