Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest 2024: When, where to watch

Tomorrow on ESPN, you are going to have a chance to engage in an annual tradition: The Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest. Is it a tradition that everyone loves? Hardly, but it is one that has a dedicated audience of its own. It is something that is often over-the-top, ridiculous, and funny — but admittedly, there is something about it this year that feels a little bit hollow.

What are we talking about? Well, that is the absence of Joey Chestnut after his deal with Impossible Foods left him ineligible to participate in the competition this year. Basically, he ran afoul of some of the roles that made Big Hot Dog upset. This feels like a massive loss to the Nathan’s competition, though we do tend to believe that some people will watch.

With all of this being said, we should go ahead and note that if you want to watch the competition this year, you should take a good look at your cable package. The women’s competition is reportedly airing at 10:45 a.m. Eastern time, but on ESPN3. The men’s competition is going to start at noon Eastern, but even it is on ESPN2! While not get either one of them on the flagship channel? Well, viewership may not demand it. This is one of those events that is watched through social-media clips as much as anything else. (We should note that the competition will re-air on ESPN proper later on in the day.)

While the men’s competition could allow for a chance at a new champ, will it be as exciting without Chestnut around? That’s a hard thing to believe, since watching him be potentially dethroned would be a little more interesting. To us, the drama now may be more on the women’s side, where you have Miki Sudo, well-known for dominating this competition across many years. Can someone actually thwart her?

Are you watching the 2024 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, even without Joey Chestnut?

Be sure to share right now in the comments! Once you do just that, come back — ther are some other updates on the way.