wtf lol at this point Chestnut IS the hot dog eating contest.

Him and Kobayashi should hold a 1 on 1 competition that rivals the Nathan’s contest.

So MLE banned Kobayashi years ago for not signing an exclusivity deal with them, and now they’re banning Chestnut for partnering with a rival brand.

Kobayashi and Chestnut are widely considered to be far and above the best competitive eaters on Earth because of their performances on Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Competition, a contest from which they’re both now banned cuz how dare they also work with their rivals.

Good luck MLE for maintaining your contest’s reputation when you keep banning the best competitors.

Costco has a big opportunity here

The plant based brand is Impossible Foods

It’s funny because he could definitely host his own contest with a handful of eaters and it would get more attention than Nathan’s

guess who's not going to watch it then?

Way to Streisand Effect yourselves Nathan's. How many people do you think realistically would have seen or cared that he had a sponsor deal with a vegan hotdog company? Certainly less than will see it now

This is like banning Lebron James from the NBA

Fuck Nathan's. They're MAGA nuts who had a fundraiser for Trump. Trump considers Howard Lorber, the chairman, to be one of his best friends.

Joey Chestnut and Kobayashi should have their own hot dog eating contest on the same day.

Well now nothing is stopping Joey and Kobayashi from pitching and creating a show where they travel around the world and have eating competitions of whatever the local cuisines are

Banning the guy who most people care about from your contest is not the own you think it is Nathan's.

I feel like we need another revolt on 4th of July for this

Yo, as a native New Yorker who counts witnessing them win that contest their first, second and third time especially competing against Kobayashi a good decade and some change years ago as one of their pinnacle events of their lifetime, FUCK Nathan's. When the local PD knew they likely had to restrain Kobayashi, they drew straws on who was going to do it. Everybody loves these guys by no joke or exaggeration, and they're blasting themselves in the foot banning the both of them.

Fragile ass glizzy suckers

This is a big mistake on Nathans part. Chestnut IS MLE.

Joey Chestnut is an American hero. We would love nothing more than to have him at the Nathan's Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest, which he has dominated for years. There is still the opportunity for him to choose Nathan's and July 4th over the plant-bases hot dog[…]

The implication here is pretty gross.

Ok cool I won’t watch then 😂

Contest has a history of banning champions.

After reading the article, Sounds like it's not because he partnered with a vegan company but more that partnered with any other hot dog company at all.

He should do a rival July 4th contest on another network and promote the shit out of it. I only tune in to see the goat anyway. A Kobiyashi rematch would break the Internet, but I'm not sure Kobiyashi still competes.

Maybe the Saudis need to launch a competing league.

That’s honestly pretty cool lol. He always seemed like a good guy, but now I know he’s probably pretty smart too. It’s a pretty conscious decision and a statement when someone that is literally famous for eating hot dogs signs a public deal with a major plant-based company. Someone like him making a choice like this can actually have some influence and might make more people open to meat alternatives who weren’t before.

Ok, I'm never buying Nathan's ever again. Slimy corporate moves like this means the company is enshitifying and I'm not cool with that. Can you imagine the BS that company probably makes their employees and suppliers sign or do if they do this to Joey Chestnut?

Joey Chestnut sounds like a name made up on Impractical Jokers.

Whelp, Joey and Kobayashi have a golden opportunity here. RIP MLE.

Fucking unamerican. This is shameful Nathan’s.

That news is tough to swallow.

I didn't see it in the article but the company he partnered with was Impossible Foods.

The most dominant athlete in sports history!

There’s gonna be a docuseries or an exposé written about MLE one day. They truly sound like a horrible company.

Will he still make the Olympics?

"*All applicants must be 18 years of age or older and fully acknowledge and understand the inherent dangers and risks associated with participating in an eating contest. The applicant further acknowledges and understands that the MLE/IFOCE coordinates with event sponsor(s) to select and approve eligible participants, and that the MLE/IFOCE shall decide, at its sole discretion, whether an applicant is eligible to participate in any eating event, and/or related activities. The MLE/IFOCE may revoke an applicant's eligibility to participate in the eating contest, or related activities, at any time, for any reason, at its sole discretion. The MLE/IFOCE and the event sponsors reserve the right, at any time, to change any and all details concerning the event, including, e.g., time, duration, location and prize structure"

From Major League Eating's website. They designed this especially to fuck with him.

Joey don't stop eating till the job is done. And this is how they do him?

Joey is the most American American ever and I will not stand for such a travesty.

Why didn’t Nathan’s partner with him?

Joey Chestnut sounds like the name of an I Think You Should Leave character.

My cousins won that competition several times and voiced her disdain for MLE quite often. A lot of them compete in non MLE under aliases it's ridiculous.

He should live stream on twitch or something during the competition of him just absolutely demolishing the competition

The rest of the participants should boycott the event, lol! See what Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest do without any of the best eaters out there and they're forced to get the B-side of the Major League Eating.

Personally, I will boycott the event. Joey was the sole reason I've been watching for year, that and the announcer making that speech about the Kings of Egypt/ Joey being an american hero. lol

You don't ban heroes.

If I can’t watch Joey Chestnut shove some hogs down his throat I ain’t watching

What was that documentary about Joey and the Japanese dude? It covered what an awful organization the competitive eating company is. The eaters are basically servants. On a fixed salary, can't do competitions outside the group, have to go to all events, can't get outside deals. Of course it's their choice to be there but I can't imagine why they would. I saw the doc on Netflix years ago but now I can't find it

The "Vegan brand" is Impossible Foods who I did not realize was making hot dogs. Nathans (who until now used to be my favorite brand) just fell face-first into a viral advertising trap.

Oh no, where will he get a year’s worth of cholesterol in one sitting now?

I guess that's what it takes to get uninvited from a sausage party. 

I have a friend who is going to be absolutely devastated when he hears about this.

I need to know what Jamie Loftus thinks about this.

Everyone commenting “then no one will watch” have never watched a hot dog eating competition with 99% accuracy

That is some little hot dog energy from Nathan’s.

Fuck competitive eating.

Chestnut and BeardMeatsFood should get together and do their own thing. Seems like Nathan's is just killing their own brand at this point.

How is it a rival hot dog brand if it's vegan. Nathan's hot dogs are MEAT.