There’s the foregone conclusion of the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, and then there’s the mystery.
With 14-time champion Joey Chestnut, 38, returning to participate in the Fourth of July event,
betting sites are siding heavily with the man whose rapid-eating greatness seems to improve each year.
Last year, Chestnut broke his own world record by consuming 76 hot dogs on the Coney Island, N.Y., stage where he’ll return as a prohibitive favorite.
Sportsbooks, including Caesars Sportsbook, have established Chestnut as the staggering -3000 favorite to win — despite his foot injury — against an entire field that is posted as the +1100 second choice.
Much of that has to do with Chestnut’s years-long reign and the fact that his victory last year came against a second-place finisher, Geoffrey Esper, who ate 26 fewer hot dogs.
The day’s great intrigue centers on how many hot dogs Chestnut can consume.
Caesars sets his over-under total at 74.5, listing the over as a -130 favorite and the under as a +100 underdog.
Esper’s over-under at FanDuel is 52.5. The last man to defeat Chestnut was Matt Stonie in 2015.