Joey Chestnut to Face ‘Fiercest’ Rival Takeru Kobayashi in Netflix Hot Dog Eating Contest After Nathan’s Ban

Joey Chestnut’s (hot) dog days aren’t over yet!

Just one day after being deemed ineligible to competitively devour hot dogs at the 2024 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, the 16-time hot dog–eating champion will now be facing off against Takeru Kobayashi — a six-time champ himself — as they partake in their own live Netflix eat-off on Sept. 2.

The event, Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef, boasts all-beef hot dogs and as the streaming service puts it, will settle a 15-year rivalry between the two competitive eaters. With a location and time yet to be announced, Netflix noted on its website that the live event will mark the “ultimate wiener-takes-all competition.”

“Through all of my years in competitive eating, Kobayashi stands out as my fiercest rival,” Chestnut said. “Competing against him pushed me to be so much better. I know that fans have waited a long time for another chapter of our rivalry and I can’t wait for our massive showdown live on Netflix! It’s time to give the people what they want!”

As for Kobayashi, who also famously went head-to-head with Chestnut in a “sudden death” competition back in 2009, the competitive eater announced his retirement back in May.

“Retiring for me will only happen after I take him down one last time,” Kobayashi said. “This rivalry has been brewing for a long time. Competing against Joey live on Netflix means fans all over the world can watch me knock him out.”

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The announcement comes just one day after Major League Eating announced on June 11 that Chestnut would not be participating in the forthcoming Nathan’s contest — in response to a conflict involving a plant-based brand. Nathan’s does not allow their competitors to endorse a “rival brand.”

Major League Eating noted at the time that it has “worked under the same basic hot dog exclusivity provisions” for nearly two decades, and that Chestnut’s team “prioritized a new partnership with a different hot dog brand over our long-time relationship.”

“I was very disappointed to learn from the media today that after nearly 20 years I am banned from the Nathan’s 4th of July Hot Dog Eating Contest,” Chestnut wrote on social media at the time. “I love competing in that event, I love celebrating America with my fans all over this great country on the 4th and I have been training to defend my title.”

The New York Post noted that the conflict was in response to Chestnut’s partnership with Impossible Foods.

“To set the record straight, I do not have a contract with MLE or Nathan’s and they are looking to change the rules from past years as it relates to other partners I can work with,” Chestnut wrote in response. “This is apparently the basis on which I’m being banned, and it doesn’t impact the July 4th contest.”   

Chestnut has competed in Nathan’s July 4 Hot Dog Eating contest since 2007, winning from 2007 to 2014, and then 2016 until 2023. Kobayashi won six years in a row in the early 2000s, per Variety.

Announcing his retirement from the sport last month, Kobayashi shared that he was closing the chapter in his life to “live a long and healthy life.”

Citing the fact that he “eats too much” — specifically, 10,000 career hot dogs — the competitive eater shared that he’s lost the ability to fully taste, savor and smell food. “I don’t feel that joy about eating anymore,” he said at the time.

“It’s scary to think that the brain and the gut are so closely related. It makes me want to be more careful with what I eat.”