Joey Chestnut is usually the favorite to enter the Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest, but the 16-time champion won’t be competing this year, leaving a wide-open field with the odds tightest in years.
Geoffrey Esper was an even-money favorite in the men’s event on ESPN BET Thursday morning, followed closely by James Webb at +150. The men’s event will take place at noon ET (ESPN2).
Miki Sudo, who was the big favorite in the women’s competition at -750, became a ten-time champion by consuming 51 hot dogs in 10 minutes, setting a world record for women.
Chestnut has eaten 1,214 hot dogs and buns at the contest since 2005, more than double the number of any other competitor during that span. But Chestnut won’t be competing at the annual Fourth of July event at Coney Island in New York City because of a dispute over his recent sponsorship deal with Impossible Foods, a competitor of Nathan’s Hot Dogs.
Patrick Jay, senior vice president and director of sports betting for ESPN BET, said Chestnut would have been a roughly -2,500 favorite on the field, a price similar to what he has been in previous years.
Without Chestnut, BetMGM chief commercial officer Christian Cipollini said the men’s competition was wide open and “could attract more action from punters because of its competitive field.”
Esper finished second last year with 49.5 dogs and buns, 12.5 behind Chestnut. According to Jay, Esper stood out in the qualifying rounds for the Nathan competition, with Webb and Patrick Bertoletti as his closest competitors.
Webb had drawn the most early action from bettors on ESPN BET on Wednesday, but the bulk of the bets will be placed in the hours leading up to the event.
Bertoletti, who is married to Sudo, was the third favorite at +850 on ESPN BET, followed by Nick Wehry at 12-1.
