On the heels of its upcoming live bout between over the hill boxing great Mike Tyson and YouTuber Jake Paul, Netflix has taken another turn toward becoming The Ocho of live sporting contests.
Netflix will stream a winner take all hot dog eating contest on Labor Day between reigning Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest champ Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi, the venerable hot dog chomper Chestnut unseated. The event is being called Chestnut Vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef, and while they’ve settled on September 2, they’ll announced venue and time later on.
Chestnut’s the world record-holder for eating 76 hot dogs in 10 minutes, and he has won the July 4 Coney Island event 8 years in a row. If he’s Muhammad Ali of hot dog gorging, his Joe Frazier would be Kobayashi, who put the “sport” on the map in 2001 when he doubled the amount consumed by the past winner, his first of six Hot Dog Eating titles.
They haven’t competitively dined together in 15 years. This event became possible after Nathan’s regurgitated Chestnut as a participant in this year’s speed eating orgy because he aligned as endorser with a plant-based hot dog maker.
“Through all of my years in competitive eating, Kobayashi stands out as my fiercest rival,” said Chestnut. “Competing against him pushed me to be so much better. I know that fans have waited a long time for another chapter of our rivalry and I can’t wait for our massive showdown live on Netflix! It’s time to give the people what they want!”
They’re going to have to work on putting some mustard on the trash talking, because they seem to relish each other a little too much.
“Retiring for me will only happen after I take him down one last time,” said Kobayashi. “This rivalry has been brewing for a long time. Competing against Joey live on Netflix means fans all over the world can watch me knock him out.”
Netflix rescheduled Jake Paul Vs. Mike Tyson for November 15, and it is leaning in on other sports including WWE Raw next year, and a Netflix Cup contest that matches Formula One drivers and pro golfers on the links. The streamer is moving beyond pseudo-sports this Christmas, when it streams a couple of National Football League games.
The post Is Netflix The New ‘Ocho’ Of Live Pseudo-Sports? Chestnut Vs. Kobayashi Will Settle The Beef On Who Can Inhale The Most Hot Dogs appeared first on Deadline.
