What Is Joey Chestnut's Hot Dog Record? Here's What He Can Really Eat

Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest is held every year on Independence Day at Nathan's Famous Corporation's original restaurant in Coney Island, New York City.

Every year, at least 20 contestants, including the defending champion, compete to see how many hot dogs and buns they can eat and keep down in just 10 minutes.

Joey "Jaws" Chestnut will be competing to defend his world record title, competing against the likes of Geoffrey Esper and Nick Wehry.

Newsweek has everything you need to know about Joey Chestnut, including his impressive world record.

What Is Joey Chestnut's Hot Dog Record?

Joey Chestnut's hot dog record is 76 in 10 minutes. He made the impressive world record at the 2021 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest and will be back to defend and potentially beat his record this year.

His 2021 record came after he defeated Geoffrey Esper, who consumed just 50 hot dogs and buns, and Nick Wehry, who ate 44.

As a result of his impressive record, Chestnut is ranked first in the world by Major League Eating.

His first win at Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest was in 2007, beating six-time defending champion Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi by consuming a world record 66 hot dogs and buns (HDB) in 12 minutes.

He defended his title in 2008 after tying with Kobayashi in consuming 59 HDB in 10 minutes. They competed in a hot dog eat-off that involved eating five HDBs in the fastest amount of time, with Chestnut taking the winning title.

Chestnut bet Kobayashi again in 2009, consuming a world record of 68 HDB. He won again in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014.

In 2015, he lost Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest to Matt Stonie. In 2016, he defeated Stonie by eating 70 HDBs, and in 2017 he won again by eating 72.

Chestnut won again in 2018 by eating 74, and in 2019 he won by eating 71.

In 2020, he set a world record for the contest by consuming 75 HDB, and then in 2021, he consumed 76 in total, breaking his own record.

Overall, Chestnut has won the competition 14 times and once again is the fan favorite to win the title this Independence Day.

Whoever wins the competition this year will be awarded the famous Nathan's Hot Dog's mustard belt. For the female competitors, they are awarded a bejeweled pink belt.

How to Watch Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest

Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest has been taking place since 1972 and you will not want to miss it. Thankfully, ESPN has you covered and will be broadcasting the event live.

You can tune in at 12 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN+, with SportsCenter anchor John Anderson providing the commentary. Richard Shea will also be providing in-depth analysis.

The women's competition will kick off the event on ESPN3 at 10:45 a.m. ET.

Don't worry if you don't have access to ESPN - you can stream the competition live online via EPSN+ for $6.99 per month.

ESPN is available to watch via Hulu+Live TV, DirectTV, Fubo TV, and Sling TV.
You can sign up to Hulu+Live TV now for $69.99 and DirectTV for $54.99 per month.

After a seven-day free trial, you can subscribe to Fubo TV for $69.99 and Sling TV is offering a three-day free trial. After that, you can sign up for $35 per month.