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You may know Netflix as a place to turn for romantic shows and star-studded action movies, but what about a hot dog–eating showdown between two competitive-eating titans?
If watching rivals chow down sounds like the perfect use of your subscription, Netflix is livestreaming Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef on Labor Day. The event features Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi, who've collected 16 and six victories at the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July hot dog contest, respectively. The last time they faced off, in 2009, Chestnut prevailed. The Netflix match will add a new chapter to "a rivalry simmering for 15 years," the streamer says.
Actor Rob Riggle and former WWE wrestler Nikki Garcia will host the high-stakes eat-off, and two undercard matches will take place before Chestnut and Kobayashi start scarfing. Here's more on when you can watch the hot dog battle.
The champions in a trailer for Chestnut vs. Kobayashi.
Netflix/Screenshot by CNETRelease time for 'Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef'
You can catch the live event on Netflix on Monday, Sept. 2, at noon PT (3 p.m. ET).
Expect two food-related spectacles prior to Chestnut and Kobayashi's duel. Competitive eater and YouTuber Matt Stonie will compete in a chicken wing eat-a-thon against Olympians Ryan Murphy, Max Irving and Ryan Lochte. Pro eater Leah Shutkever will attempt to set a fruit-eating record by consuming the most watermelon ever inhaled in three minutes.
No one has surpassed Chestnut's record of 76 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes at the Nathan's contest. Notably, the exceptional eater was barred from this year's contest after signing a deal with Impossible Foods, which sells plant-based franks.
Netflix's plans include $7 per month Netflix Standard with Ads, $15.50 per month Netflix Standard and $23 per month Netflix Premium. The second two options are ad-free, but Premium bumps the simultaneous streams from two to four and provides 4K streaming, among other perks.
If you're watching a live event on Netflix like Chestnut vs. Kobayashi, you can start it from the top, pause and rewind in addition to watching it live. And Netflix lets you stream later if you miss the real-time action.
What are the rules?
Here are the competition rules, directly from Netflix:
- Ten minutes to eat the most hot dogs and buns
- No dunking or pouring water on hot dogs and buns
- No separation of hot dogs from buns
- Penalties may be issued for breaking rules -- or for regurgitation
- Thirty seconds to finish what's in your mouths at the end of the 10 minutes
- Excess crumbs are weighed and deducted from scores if necessary
- Tie-breaker: three minute overtime. Should a second overtime be necessary, the winner will be the first to finish five hot dogs and buns