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

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.

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. 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.