As part of its push into live sports and entertainment, Netflix (NFLX) has announced that it will live stream a popular hot dog eating contest on Labour Day this year.
The competitive eating event will pit rival world champions Joey “Jaws” Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi in an event titled “Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef.”
Chestnut is the current world record holder for eating 76 hot dogs in 10 minutes and a 16-time Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest champion.
He will face off in the live competition against rival six-time Nathan’s winner Kobayashi for the first time since Chestnut beat Kobayashi back in 2009.
Netflix said that it plans to heavily promote the hot dog eating contest in the lead-up to Labour Day. In a press release announcing the event, Chestnut said: “It’s time to give the people what they want!”
For his part, Kobayashi announced that he plans to retire from competitive eating over health concerns after the match against Chestnut this September.
“Retiring for me will only happen after I take him down one last time,” said Kobayashi in the news release.
The Labour Day contest, which is typically run by the organization “Major League Eating,” is
Netflix’s latest push into live sports and entertainment.
The streaming giant previously announced a $5 billion U.S. deal to stream World Wrestling Entertainment’s (WWE) weekly flagship program Raw starting in 2025.
This November, Netflix plans to live stream a boxing match between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson. And the company is scheduled to broadcast an NFL football game on Christmas Day.
Recently, Netflix live streamed a celebrity roast of former NFL quarterback Tom Brady that drew high ratings for the company.
Netflix’s stock is up 39% this year and currently trading at $650.06 U.S. per share.
