Nathan’s 4th of July Hot Dog Eating Contest Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest is a modern American ritual with a cult following. It’s an annual competitive eating competition where contestants try to eat as many hotdogs as they can within 12 minutes.  For decades, Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest was dominated by large, heavyset men. Not just this contest but competitive eating at large. Competitive eating was seen as a brute-force spectacle - not a technical sport. All that changed in 2001.