Watch Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest Live Online: Super Bowl Of Eating, Streaming From Coney Island

Watch 20 humans stuff themselves with hot dogs live online, when the American Fourth of July tradition of Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest — the Super Bowl of the recently-created sport known as “competitive eating” — takes the national spotlight amidst celebrations of America’s 239th anniversary of independence from Great Britain.

To find out how to watch Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest live online, streaming from Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York, see the information at the bottom of this article. The main event begins at noon Eastern Time, 9 a.m. Pacific on Saturday, July 4.

Once again, the star of the event, which is fully sanctioned by the International Federation of Competitive Eating, will be 31-year-old Vallejo, California, native Joey Chestnut (pictured), who has won the annual contest eight times — setting a record in 2013 by consuming 69 hot dogs complete with buns within the regulation 10-minute time limit.

Chestnut also won the 2014 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, easing up slightly on his pace by downing “only” 61 hot dogs in 10 minutes.

The American eating king topped the previous record of seven wins by Japan’s Takeru Kobayashi, but Kobayashi now refuses to participate in the contest in protest of the event organizers’ requirement that he sign an exclusive contract for his eating performances.

The contest has been an annual Independence Day tradition since 1972, but today’s Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating contest bears only a passing resemblance to the informal, amateur event staged back in those days.

In fact, the first-ever Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest was won by a college student who stuffed down what at the time seemed like a remarkable 14 hot dogs.

In 1978, a 10-year-old boy tied for the victory, eating just 10 hot dogs.

But when Kobayashi won his first contest in 2001, he raised the game for everyone. His total of 50 hot dogs nearly doubled the previous record of 25.125 set just the previous year by another Japanese eater, Kazutoyo Arai.

In 2006, Kobayashi downed his personal best 53.75 hot dogs — but Chestnut shattered that record the following year with a gargantuan meal of 66 hot dogs.

To find out if Joey Chestnut can hit the magic mark of 70 hot dogs eaten, watch the Nathan’s Famous Hot DogEating Contest live online via WatchESPN at this link. WatchESPN will feature several options for viewing the hot dog eating contest, including an exclusive “Joey Chestnut Cam” carried by the online-only free service of WatchESPN, ESPN3, available at the same link as above. To watch on mobile devices, download the WatchESPN app.

[Image: Kena Betancur/Getty Images]