ESPN To Air Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest for 19th Year

By
( )
last updated

'SportsCenter' anchor John Anderson to do play-by-play

ESPN plans to televise the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest live for the 19th consecutive year on July 4.

SportsCenter anchor John Anderson will do play-by-play with analysis from Richard Shea of Major League Eating.

The hot dog contest returns to Brooklyn’s Coney Island this year. It was held in other locations in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic.

Coverage will start with the women’s competition live on ESPN3 at 10:45 a.m. ET. The men’s competition coverage begins at noon and will be carried on ESPN News and ESPN3. ESPN3 will have isolation cameras focused on world champion Joey Chestnut and top-ranked female contestant Miki Sudo. 

Chestnut ate 36 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes to win last year’s title. Sudo missed last year's contest because she was pregnant.

Coverage will be repeated on ESPN at 4 p.m. and 10 p.m.

Nathan’s Famous will make its annual donation of 100,000 Nathan’s Famous hot dogs to the Food Bank for New York City prior to the event. ■

Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.