Esper the favourite for Chestnut-less hot dog eating contest at Noon ET on TSN
Published
For the first time since 2015 there will be a new winner of the annual July 4th Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest.
Joey Chestnut, the world renowned competitive eater who has won 16 career Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contests, including the last eight, will not compete at this year's event after organizers banned him from competition last month for signing a sponsorship deal with a rival brand called Impossible Foods.
The 40-year-old, who is ranked first in the world by Major League Eating, has appeared in every Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest since 2005 and in 2021 set a world record by eating 76 hot dogs and buns.
Despite missing the sport's biggest star, the show must go on as 14 competitive eaters will chow down and vie for the prestigious title.
According to FanDuel, Geoffrey Esper is the odds on favourite to win at -105.
The 49-year-old from Oxford, Mass., holds many competitive eating records, including eating 23.75 pounds of strawberry shortcake just last month.
Esper will have to fend off the likes of James Webb (+155) and Patrick Bertoletti (+850) to capture his first Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest title.
See below for a full list of competitors and odds via FanDuel:
Geoffrey Esper -105
James Webb +155
Patrick Bertoletti +850
Nick Wehry +1200
King Yamamoto +4000
Gideon Oji +6000
Radim Dvoracek +8000
Darrien Thomas +10000
Max Stanford +10000
George Chiger +10000
Derek Hendrickson +10000
Ricardo Corbucci +10000
William Claude Lyon IV +10000
Sean Yeager +10000