Joey Chestnut will not compete at the 2024 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest due to a sponsorship feud. His absence opens the door for another eater to take center stage and steal the mustard belt away from "Jaws."
The likeliest heir apparent? Geoffrey Esper.
Esper has long played second fiddle to Chestnut at the competition. He began as a little-known competitor in 2015 but worked his way into his spot as the second-best eater in the contest — and in the world.
Who exactly is Geoffrey Esper? Here's what to know about the 47-year-old as he looks to take home the title for the first time in his career.
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Who is Geoffrey Esper?
Esper is Major League Eating's No. 2 ranked competitive eater and has served as a rival to Chestnut in recent years. While he has never reached the level Takeru Kobayashi did in the heyday of his rivalry with Chestnut, Esper figures to be the top contender for the mustard belt at the hot dog eating contest in 2024.
Still, he isn't taking a win in competitive eating's marquee event for granted.
"I got a chance at the belt now. It’s still not going to be easy," he told the Boston Herald. "There are three other guys who are all pretty close, so it should be very close."
Esper finished second to Chestnut in the 2023 contest after downing 49 hot dogs — two more than third-place finisher James Webb and four more than fourth-place finisher Nick Wehry, but 13 less than Chestnut. Ahead of the 2024 event, Esper ate 49.5 hot dogs to handily earn a victory in a qualifier.
If Esper can get to 50 dogs on the Fourth of July, he should have a good chance to win the title, though he feels "there's gonna be a huge asterisk" next to his win with Chestnut not eating in New York.
"Like two or three years ago, I said, 'Well, even if I do win it because Joey's not there, there's gonna be an asterisk,'" Esper told TMZ. "I'll admit that to anybody."
Chestnut announced a sponsorship deal with Impossible Foods earlier this summer. Soon afterward, Major League Eating, which organizes the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, barred competitors from endorsing rival products — effectively banning Chestnut from the competition.
Even so, Esper believes the 2024 edition is going to be an exciting contest because of the comparable numbers that he, Webb, Wehry and more have posted in recent seasons.
"I think it might be even more exciting this year because of how close the four of us are to the winning number," he told TMZ. "The winning number is not going to be in the 70s, but it might come down to the last second."
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Geoffrey Esper hot dog stats
Below is a look at Esper's stats and finishes at the hot dog eating contest since his debut at the event in 2015:
| Year | Hot dogs eaten | Finish |
| 2023 | 49 | 2nd |
| 2022 | 47.5 | 2nd |
| 2021 | 50 | 2nd |
| 2020* | — | — |
| 2019 | 47 | 3rd |
| 2018 | 41 | 4th |
| 2017 | 44 | 4th |
| 2016 | 37 | 5th |
| 2015 | 29.5 | 7th |
*Esper did not participate in the hot dog eating contest in 2020.
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Geoffrey Esper records
The most hot dogs Esper has ever eaten in competition is 50. He hasn't won the mustard belt yet at the Fourth of July showcase, but he stands a chance of doing so in 2024.
In addition to his hot dog-eating prowess, Esper is a four-time reigning strawberry shortcake-eating champion, having consumed 23.75 pounds of it on June 15. Below are some of his other most notable milestones, per his Major League Eating profile.
- Spam: 9.75 pounds in eight minutes
- Chicken wings: 281 buffalo chicken wings in 12 minutes
- Corn dogs: 11 5.6oz Corn Dogs in three minutes
- Banana pudding: 15.5 pounds of Apple Lane Farms banana pudding in eight minutes
- 9-inch personal pizzas: 19.25 Pies in 10 minutes
- Hooters wings: 281 Hooters Wings in 10 minutes
- Egg rolls: 32.25 4oz Outlaw Egg Rolls in eight minutes
- Bagel with Cream Cheese: 17.75 bagels in eight minutes
Next up, Esper will look to add a personal best in hot dogs eaten — and a mustard belt — to that list of accomplishments.
