The one factor that may cease Joey Chestnut is purple tape.

Watching Chestnut dominate the Nathan’s Scorching Canine Consuming Contest has turn out to be as a lot a staple of Fourth of July festivities as barbecues, fireworks and your raunchy uncle downing one too many Miller Lites. This 12 months, although, Chestnut will not be dunking buns or the competitors.

MORE:Joey Chestnut by the numbers – How ‘Jaws’ dominated the sphere

The present — and the stomachs — should go on, even with out Chestnut. Here is why he will not be on the nook of Surf and Stilwell come July 4:

Is Joey Chestnut within the Nathan’s scorching canine consuming contest?

Chestnut won’t be competing within the 2024 Nathan’s Well-known Scorching Canine Consuming Contest as a result of a contractual dispute with Main League Consuming, the group that sanctions the occasion.

In June, Chestnut signed an endorsement take care of Unattainable Meals to sponsor a brand new, meatless scorching canine. Representing a rival model is one thing that gave MLE and Nathan’s Well-known greater than a little bit of indigestion, resulting in him not being on the occasion this 12 months.

Watch the 2024 Nathan’s Scorching Canine Consuming Contest

The ban, although, is not everlasting, in line with MLE, which needs Chestnut to compete at future occasions.

“Joey Chestnut is an American hero. We might love nothing greater than to have him on the Nathan’s Well-known Worldwide Scorching Canine Consuming Contest, which he has dominated for years. We hope that he returns when he’s not representing a rival model,” MLE mentioned in an announcement.

That mentioned, this is not the final you will see of Chestnut downing canine.

Chestnut vs. Kobayashi

Although he is not consuming scorching canine on the Fourth of July, Chestnut will return to the aggressive consuming highlight in an enormous, large means in 2024, by going through an outdated rival.

Chestnut will tackle nemesis Takeru Kobayashi on Sept. 2 in a stay Netflix particular titled “Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef.”

“By all of my years in aggressive consuming, Kobayashi stands out as my fiercest rival,” Chestnut mentioned in an announcement. “Competing in opposition to him pushed me to be so significantly better. I do know that followers have waited a very long time for one more chapter of our rivalry and I can not watch for our huge showdown stay on Netflix!”

Kobayashi and Chestnut final jawed off in 2009, with Chestnut chewing out the six-time Mustard Belt winner.

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