Since 2001, only two men have won the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest outside of Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi. Those two titans of competitive eating had a great rivalry for many years before their paths diverged. But those paths are set to come back together in September of 2024, as they will face off in a one-on-one hot dog eating contest. Here, we break down that contest, our expectations, and everything you need to know before Chestnut vs Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef.
Chestnut vs Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef Betting Odds
Going into the hot dog eating contest between Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi, Joey Chestnut is a heavy favorite to eat the most hot dogs and buns (HDBs). Below are the odds for each competitor to win that event, as well as the over/under being set for the contest.
| Eater | Current Odds |
| Joey Chestnut | -750 |
| Takeru Kobayashi | +450 |
| Over/Under For the Winner (10 Minutes) | 64 HDBs |
Now there are a few things bettors need to consider before they even consider wagering on this event. First, bettors need to wait until the rules for this event are confirmed. While it is expected that this will be a 10-minute hot dog eating contest where the winner will have eaten the most hot dogs, that has not been written in stone just yet. After all, the older versions of the contest featured 12 minutes of eating instead of 10 minutes.
There are also questions about how Kobayashi will perform in this event after he hasn’t competed in the Nathan’s contest since the 2000s. One would think that he is still capable of eating hot dogs at a rapid rate if he agreed to do this competition in the first place. But there’s always the possibility that Kobayashi is washed up and is simply getting a bag of money from Netflix regardless.
As far as a best bet for this contest, the over on the number of hot dogs eaten by the winner is probably the way to go. Chestnut is more than capable of downing 70 dogs and Kobayashi is more likely to push Joey than anyone since Matt Stonie beat him in all the way back in 2015. We’ll bank on someone to put down 65 HDBs here.
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Chestnut vs Kobayashi Rivalry History
The rivalry between Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi is one that dates back to 2005, when competitive eating was briefly treated like a mainstream sport. At that time, Kobayashi was in the middle of a dynastic run as the king of competitive eating, including the hot dog eating contest. But Chestnut broke through to win that contest for the first time in 2007 and never looked back.
While those two legends were slugging it out at Coney Island every year, Kobayashi was still receiving interest from other companies looking to work with him. But Major League Eating, who runs the hot dog eating contest, banned Kobayashi for looking to make money from outside of their organization in 2010. Since then, the contest has never been the same, with Chestnut losing just once since 2007.
Chestnut was clearly trending in a direction to be better than Kobayashi by the time Kobayashi was banned from the Nathan’s contest. But the fact that we were robbed of many years of contests between the two of them was a black eye for Major League Eating and competitive eating as a sport. The national attention faded when Kobayashi was not there to compete with Chestnut and now this sport has just one day where it is in the public eye per year.
This competition should surpass the Nathan’s contest in terms of mainstream interest. Whether that means additional chapters for the rivalry between these men in the future remains to be seen. But it will mean at least one more time getting to watch these men masticate against one another and that is better than nothing.
Where to Watch Chestnut vs Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef
Chestnut vs Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef will stream live on Netflix on September 2, 2024. It will be a live streaming event, similar to the Netflix Slam between Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal in tennis or the live roast of Tom Brady that aired on the platform. It will be fascinating to see what the viewership numbers are like for an event like this given how niche it is, yet how much morbid curiosity there is around it.
