The hot dog news from Coney Island is hard to swallow.
Joey Chestnut, perennial winner of the annual July 4th Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Competition, is out of this year’s beef barf over a deal he made to represent a different weiner brand, The Post has learned.
The brand is Impossible Foods, according to sources.
The leading maker of meatless “meats” is known for its Impossible Burger which contains a laboratory-synthesized substance called “heme.”
It recently launched a frankfurter impostor that’s “made from plants.”
The Nathan’s contest at the corner of Stillwell and Surf avenues, one block from the famous Boardwalk, has been a Coney Island tradition since 1916.
California-born Chestnut has won it 16 times, including every year since 2016.
He gobbled a world record 76 dogs and buns in 2021 and kept his title with a paltry 62 down the hatch last year.
A rep for Major League Eating (MLE), which Nathan’s sanctions to run the event, said the organizers bent over backwards to meet Chestnut’s various other demands.
They even agreed to let him participate in a rival Labor Day dog-eating fest to be taped for TV as long as no hot dog brand was mentioned.
But they said they drew the line on letting Chestnut pitch for a different hot dog brand.
A source said Chestnut was paid $200,000 to appear in the Nathan’s contest last year, and was offered a $1.2 million, four-year contract going forward.
“The two sides could still come to a resolution before July 4, but it depends on Joey,” an insider said.
“He’s the Michael Jordan of competitive eating. But imagine if Michael Jordan said to Nike, ‘I love being the face of Nike but I want to do commercials for Adidas too,” the source said.
If Chestnut’s out for good, leading sportsbook Bovada called Geoffrey Esper, who came in second last year for eating 49 hot dogs, this year’s favorite at -225 odds.
MLE said in a statement: “We are devastated to learn that Joey Chestnut has chosen to represent a rival brand that sells plant-based hot dogs rather than competing in the 2024 Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest.
“MLE and Nathan’s went to great lengths in recent months to accommodate Joey and his management team, agreeing to the appearance fee and allowing Joey to compete in a rival, unbranded hot dog eating contest on Labor Day.
“For nearly two decades we have worked under the same basic hot dog exclusivity provisions. However, it seems that Joey and his managers have prioritized a new partnership with a different brand over our long-time relationship.”
“Joey Chestnut is an American hero. We would love nothing more than to have him at the Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest. We hope he returns when he is not representing a rival brand.”
Neither Chestnut nor his agents would immediately comment. Impossible Foods didn’t respond either.