July 4th marks the annual return of Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, but 2024 will be different than previous years, as champion eater Joey Chestnut was banned from the event and will be competing elsewhere. While that's a bummer, it leaves the event wide open for new competitive eaters to have a chance to reign supreme. Readers may assume everyone has an equal shot at taking home the title, but there are two men that oddsmakers are crowning as the favorites to win this year.
Draftkings Sportsbook has posted their odds on the winners of the 2024 hot dog eating contest, and without the stalwart champ who once choked out a protestor onstage in the mix, two frontrunners have risen to the top as the current favorites to win it all. Here's a little background info about each, as well as their odds of winning when they go to Coney Island to compete on July 4th.
Geoffrey Esper
The overall favorite for the hot dog eating contest, at -120 odds, is Massachusetts native Geoff Esper. He was the second-place winner in last year's competition, taking 49 hot dogs to the dome. It was a far cry from Chestnut's winning total of 62 hot dogs, but was still a few higher than the rest of the pack. Unfortunately, he probably still dealt with the weird things that happened to your body after eating that much, which Chestnut has addressed in the past, all without taking home the title.
Outside of hot dogs, Esper has some other incredible eating feats worth talking about. He devoured 9.75 pounds of SPAM in just 8 minutes in 2021, and 15.5 pounds of banana pudding in 2022. That's just a couple of some wild eating victories he's had over the years, so it's not much of a surprise he's the one to beat in this competition. Adam Richman could've used this guy to tag in during some of his brutal Man v. Food challenges.
James Webb
The next favorite to win is James Webb, who is currently given +200 odds to win. That may not seem great, but it's worth noting that in Nathan's Hot Dog Contest last year, he only lost to Geoffrey Esper by two hot dogs. The Australian is making waves in the eating world, and he just devoured 350 donut holes a couple of months ago over the course of eight minutes. (I guess he was a really big fan of Ben Affleck's Dunkin' Super Bowl ads.)
At his current odds of winning, I would actually take Webb for a small wager just in the event that he pulls off the upset. In the grand scheme of things, losing by just two hot dogs doesn't feel like a lot. Of course, I'm not a competitive either, and I've never tried to eat 40+ hot dogs in one sitting, so who am I to say?
For those curious about the overall odds for competitors thus far, here's the full breakdown:
- Geoffrey Esper - -120
- James Webb - +200
- Nick Wehry - +550
- Patrick Bertoletti - +800
- Field - +2000
- Gideon Oji - +4000
- Derek Hendrickson - +7500
- Darrien Thomas - +7500
- Max Stanfor - +7500
- George Chiger - +7500
So, for those wondering what they're going to do on Independence Day ahead of nightly fireworks displays that rival Disney World's Epcot show, or perhaps not, the 2024 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest should be a great one to watch. Some might be disappointed they won't get to see Joey Chestnut doing what he does best, but if they have a Netflix subscription, they'll get to see him face Takeru Kobayashi in a hot dog eating contest on September 2nd. Until then, we'll see a champion crowned on July 4th, and I can't wait to see who the new winner will be.
Tune in for the 2024 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest on ESPN on the Fourth of July, beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET. Tune in to see a fresh face rise to stardom or a potentially surprising upset.
