The 2026 Contest is in the books.
Chestnut 66 for belt No. 18. Sudo 38¾ for title No. 12. The full results, where to watch the replay, and everything you need for next July 4.
The Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest airs live every July 4 from the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues in Coney Island, Brooklyn. The 2026 edition — the 54th formally documented contest — is in the books. Here's what happened, and how to watch the replay or plan for next year.
The 2026 results
Joey Chestnut ate 66 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes to win his 18th Mustard Belt — a 15-dog margin over the field. Miki Sudo took her 12th women's title with 38¾. Neither world record fell: Chestnut's 76 (2021) and Sudo's 51 (2024) both still stand.
| Division | Place | Eater | HDB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's | 1st | Joey Chestnut | 66 |
| Men's | 2nd | Patrick Bertoletti | 51 |
| Men's | 3rd | James Webb | 47.5 |
| Men's | 4th | Nicholas Wehry | 45 |
| Women's | 1st | Miki Sudo | 38.75 |
| Women's | 2nd | Michelle Lesco | 22 |
| Women's | 3rd | Domenica Dee | 21.5 |
Where to watch the replay
The contest has aired on ESPN annually since the early 2000s. The 2026 broadcast followed the usual template — a roughly 90-minute production covering pre-show, women's contest, men's contest, the weigh-ins, the Solomon Method explainer for new viewers, and the Mustard Belt ceremony. The full replay lives in the ESPN+ catalog; finish clips are on ESPN's and Major League Eating's YouTube channels, or start from our year-by-year watch links.
Start times in your timezone (every year)
The men's contest starts at 12:00 PM Eastern Time. The women's contest precedes it at approximately 11:00 AM Eastern Time. Local-time conversions for the men's contest (the main event):
| Region | Local Start (Men's) | Local Start (Women's) |
|---|---|---|
| Eastern (NYC, ATL, MIA) | 12:00 PM | 11:00 AM |
| Central (CHI, DAL, MSP) | 11:00 AM | 10:00 AM |
| Mountain (DEN, SLC, ABQ) | 10:00 AM | 9:00 AM |
| Pacific (LA, SF, SEA) | 9:00 AM | 8:00 AM |
| Hawaii | 6:00 AM | 5:00 AM |
| Alaska (ANC) | 8:00 AM | 7:00 AM |
| UK (London) | 5:00 PM | 4:00 PM |
| Japan (Tokyo) | 1:00 AM (Jul 5) | 12:00 AM (Jul 5) |
How the broadcast runs
- 11:00 AM ET — Pre-show. ESPN crew on the boardwalk. Pacing analysis, weigh-ins, history segments, this-year predictions.
- 11:00–11:30 AM ET — Women's contest. 10-minute eat. Pink Belt to the winner.
- 11:30 AM–12:00 PM ET — Interlude. Interviews, commercials, the men's competitor walkout introductions, the Solomon Method recap.
- 12:00 PM ET — Men's contest. 10-minute eat. The main event.
- 12:15 PM ET — Awards. Belt ceremony. Winner interviews. Confetti.
How 2026 played out
- The favorites held. Chestnut and Sudo came in as the heavy favorites and neither was seriously threatened.
- The margin. Chestnut's 66 beat Patrick Bertoletti's 51 by fifteen dogs — the same Bertoletti who won the belt in Chestnut's 2024 ban year.
- The Sudo gap. Sudo's 38¾ was nearly seventeen clear of second place. Her own world record of 51 (2024) was never in reach on the day.
- The records survived. Chestnut's 76 (2021) and Sudo's 51 (2024) both still stand. The 66 was, notably, the exact total that dethroned Kobayashi in 2007.
How to host the watch party (file this for next July)
The contest runs 10 minutes. The broadcast runs 90 minutes. Lean into both. Grill in the second hour. Eat during the actual contest. Run a friendly office-pool style bet on the final count.
Recipe: grill-stand glizzies (10 minutes)
- Heat a grill to medium-high. Score Nathan's all-beef franks lengthwise twice, lightly.
- Grill the franks 3–4 minutes per side until charred.
- Toast bun-length buns face-down on the grill for the final 30 seconds.
- Top with yellow mustard. Nothing else. (You can argue about toppings on a non-contest day.)
Watch-party betting pool (free, takes 2 minutes)
Have each guest pick: (1) the men's winner, (2) their final hot dog count, (3) the women's winner, (4) the women's final count. Closest to the actual numbers wins. Best with stakes that are also hot dogs.
Why this contest matters on July 4
The Nathan's contest is one of the only continuous traditions of the modern American Fourth of July that is genuinely competitive, genuinely funny, and genuinely good television. It's also the only event in the American sports calendar where the equipment, the venue, the sport, and the sponsor are all the same product — a Nathan's all-beef frankfurter in a bun, on the same corner where one was sold for a nickel in 1916.
Whatever else you do on July 4, 2027, set a 12:00 PM ET alarm.