Kobayashi Downs Record 69 Hot Dogs To Win Simulcast Eating Competition

On a rooftop bar in mid-town Manhattan, six-time champ Takeru Kobayashi downed a record 69 hot dogs to become the unofficial winner of this year's annual Nathan's hot dog eating competition--only problem was, he was seven miles west of the actual boardwalk event on Coney Island.

With the Empire State Building as a backdrop and a ten-foot high TV screen broadcasting the sanctioned Nathan's Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Competition in real-time on ESPN , Kobayashi went up against the competitors on the big screen and demolished the rest of the field over the air waves.

You know the new saying:  If you can't beat 'em face-to-face, join 'em via television simulcast. 

Four-time defending champ, Joey Chestnut, ate 62 hot dogs today and won the authentic competition from the Nathan's at Surf and Stillwell Avenues in Brooklyn, but it was Kobayashi who broke Chestnut's two-year old record of 68 and ate more hot dogs on this Fourth of July.

About 500 Kobayashi supporters crowded the 230 Fifth Avenue rooftop bar and braved overcast skies and dehydration as they cheered for their exiled competitive eating champion.

Kobayashi says he is banned from the Nathan's event due to a two year old contract dispute with Major League Eating which oversees the Nathan's annual event.  A clause in the contract stipulates Kobayashi cannot appear in certain eating competitions and the league would control his endorsements.

Last year in protest, Kobayashi was arrested at the Nathan's event after he climbed over a barrier and stormed the stage of the Nathan's contest.  He spent time in a New York City jail.

230 Fifth's owner, Steven Greenberg, said he approached Kobayashi with the simulcast idea after seeing Kobayashi's arrest last year.

"He [Kobayashi] is a cross between an athlete and a performer," said Greenberg.  "It's entertainment."

Greenberg said Kobayashi was paid for his hot dog eating appearance but said it wasn't an endorsement or promotional fee and wouldn't disclose the amount.

Today, Kobayashi stood alone on a stage with a table, which was measured to an exact height, two members of the New York State Athletic Commission--former-boxers Tyrone "The Harlem Butcher" Jackson and Brian Adams-- who acted as judges.

There was a timer on the table along with five large cups of water and a person to count the hot dogs devoured and flip a tally card.  The huge TV screen to Kobayashi's right dwarfed the smallish eater with a huge appetite.  He never looked at the screen even once.

The pro-Kobayashi crowd cheered loudly as he jumped to any early lead over Chestnut.  It was 36-27 at about the half-way mark and the Japanese eater never slowed down before crushing Chestnut.  Sixty-nine barkers later, Kobayshi held the unofficial title once again.

There was some concern at the end of the contest when some credentialed "spies" for Nathan's said there was confusion and a miscount.  The discretion was cleared up when the flipper/counter explained that they didn't only count hot dogs individually eaten, but also by the tray.  Each tray held five hot dogs and there was four left.  It was a two-step counting system.

After sixty-nine hot dogs and 18 pounds of additional weight, Kobayashi, sporting a blond-streaked mane, leaped to the table after the record was announced.  He shook his fist in triumph and pulled up his tee-shirt, which read "Kobi Unleashed" and puffed out his belly.

"I'm so happy to break the record in front of everyone," he beamed.

Asked if it was harder to compete with no one standing next to him Kobayashi said through a translator, "I compete for myself, I was battling myself today."

In the past, MLE president Richard Shea said the league wouldn't recognize Kobayashi's achievement if he wins.  "It's a farce," said Shea.  "He's not banned, he's just mad he lost three years in a row."

Kobayashi claims he has no hard feelings for the MLE.  He just doesn't want to sign a contract that restricts him.

Kobayashi may not lay claim to Nathan's "Mustard Yellow Belt" like  Chestnut, but he did break his record in public.

I don't know if simulcasting competitions from different venues to the same event is feasible or a wave of the future, but in this case it could set up the match-up everyone wants, Pacquaio vs. Mayweather...I mean Kobayashi vs. Chestnut.

Kobayashi Will Compete in Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest Via Satellite

Takeru Kobayashi won't be on the Coney Island boardwalk for this year's Nathan's Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest but will compete from a distance via satellite TV.

Kobayashi, who can't compete because he refuses to sign an exclusive contract with organizer Major League Eating, says he will unofficially compete from a remote location to protest his ban from the Super Bowl of competitive eating.

Kobayashi still refuses to sign any exclusive contract with MLE and insists he will down hot dogs on July Fourth, simultaneously with the other competitors, in a mid-town Manhattan restaurant--a D train ride away from Nathan's.

Six-time champ Kobayashi was once the face of the sport and pretty much brought the Nathan's event to ESPN on his own.  The one-time Babe Ruth of the sport has now become an outcast and even had his image removed from the Nathan's Wall of Fame last April.  Even Al Capone's visit to Nathan's lives in infamy on it's website.

Last summer, Kobayashi, was unable to compete in the Nathan's FFJHDEC because Major League Eating's contract stipulates that he can only participate in it's tournaments and the league has to have total control over Kobayashi's endorsement deals.  He refused to sign.

"I hope to create awareness about the nature of this kind of business," said Kobayashi.  "At least they cannot erase history," he said of his removal from the Wall of Fame.

While Kobayashi becomes a sort of pariah in the sport he once dominated, the current champ, Joey Chestnut has been getting all the glory.

Chestnut, 27, realizes the event isn't the same without Kobayashi.

"He's an awesome eater," said Chestnut.  "He pushes me to work harder."

Some people are wondering if Kobayashi is making a big deal over nothing after setting a world record and personal-best of 64 1/2 downed barkers in 2009.

Some think Kobayashi is just losing his mind.

In 2010, while banned for the first time and watching the Nathan's competition from the crowd, Kobayashi leaped onto the stage in protest after Chestnut won and was arrested.  He spent the night in a New York City holding cell.  Charges were later dismissed.

This year's Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest will have a women only competition for the first time.

It's a shame Kobayashi and Chestnut won't meet again this year.  It's sort of a Pacquiao/Mayweather predicament in the world of competitive eating. There may be competitions against others, but if the two best don't meet, it doesn't really matter.