ESPN will celebrate the July 4 holiday with live coverage of the annual Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest without arguably the event's most famous contestant, 16-time champion Joey Chestnut.
The competitive eating event will begin Thursday morning with coverage of the women’s competition at 10:45 am, followed by the men’s competition at 12 noon, according to the network. ESPN Outside the Lines host Jeremy Schaap and Major League Eating president Rich Shea will host the competition for ESPN, which is airing the Hot Dog Eating Contest for the 21st consecutive year.
