Joey Chestnut enters the 2026 Nathan's Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest as a massive favorite to secure his 18th championship title on Coney Island, New York, on Saturday, July 4, 2026.
Oddsmakers have positioned Chestnut as high as a -2500 favorite, representing an implied winning probability of approximately 96 percent, according to sports.
yahoo. com.
Patrick Bertolli, the runner-up from the previous year who consumed 46.5 hot dogs and buns, holds the next-best odds at 11-1.
The over/under line for Chestnut is set at 72.5 hot dogs, following his 2025 victory where he ate 70.5 hot dogs and buns after returning from a one-year ban.
Chestnut established the world record in 2021 by consuming 76 hot dogs and buns within the 10-minute time limit.
Entering the competition, Chestnut is serving 180 days of probation after pleading guilty in May to a misdemeanor battery charge stemming from an April incident where he slapped a fan at a bar.
Strategic Insights and Training
Ahead of separate competitive eating events, Chestnut shared strategic insights regarding the physical and psychological demands of the sport, krcrtv.
com reported.
"If I'm at a baseball game, I have to have a hot dog," said Joey Chestnut, competitive eater.
Chestnut explained that techniques like jumping help settle food lower in the body, while dunking buns in warm water facilitates faster swallowing during competitions.
Concurrently, other competitors are preparing for the July 4 event, including 21st-ranked Major League Eating competitor Jerome Burns of Danbury, Connecticut, who qualified by eating 24 hot dogs and buns at a June 13 qualifier, according to courant.
com.
"It was wild," said Jerome Burns, competitive eater.
"I thought I was going to be ashamed and guilty for eating so much but it ended up being super fun."
Burns entered the competitive eating scene in January 2025 after participating in a team ice cream challenge.
"It was like playing a team sport," Burns said. "We were all cheering each other on.
Rick was really supportive, like, 'Man you're really good at this, you should try some other challenges.' I figured, 'Why not?'
It just snowballed from there."
Burns subsequently completed various solo food challenges, including eating an eight-pound burrito and a 10-pound ice cream sundae.
"No one came close to finishing and we finished it in 14 minutes," Burns said. "Thirty minutes later, there was a giant mass of cold in my stomach….
cold and the overload of sugar – it's a bizarre sensation."
To combat flavor fatigue during long challenges, Burns utilizes flavored drinks or distinct condiments.
"It was hard," Burns said. "It was the first time I encountered some of the mental hurdles of eating challenges.
The excitement and adrenaline – the first 5-6 minutes are always pretty fun. You still like the pizza.
Then I got to the halfway point – just the reality of 'Wow, I'm only halfway there.'"
Burns manages his stomach capacity by consuming seven to eight pounds of boiled cabbage to stretch his stomach while remaining within his daily calorie targets.
"The speed of eating slows down," Burns said. "It's an exponential drop-off of speed.
The time it took me to eat the first half of the pizza, the second half took me twice as long."
The competitive eaters will face off at 12:30 p. m.
ET on Saturday, with the event broadcast nationally on ABC and ESPN2.
"I've been trying to figure out pacing," Burns said. "Ten minutes (at Nathan's), it's kind of a marathon but it's still sort of sprint-ish.
If I try to go at a slower pace to leave room at the end, it never works."
Burns previously placed third in a banana eating contest and sixth in a strawberry shortcake competition.
"The biggest one was a 10-pound ice cream sundae – every flavor the shop had," Burns said. "That one was scary.
It was made for a team of two and no team had finished it."
The 34-year-old musician and grocery clerk will join the rest of the field on the traditional transport to the Coney Island venue.
"I went and tried to do it solo," Burns said. "I think I'm the only person who finished it.
That was one of the hardest ones to recover from because my stomach was so cold. It almost went numb from the cold."
To build physical capacity, Burns continues using inexpensive vegetables during his training cycles.
"The biggest thing that helps competitive eaters is having a large stomach capacity – the larger your capacity, the more you can eat without feeling full," Burns said.
"You can get to a higher number without your brain telling you to stop."
The final roster of competitors will gather at the Coney Island stage on Saturday afternoon.
