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There's nothing more American on the Fourth of July than watching grown men and women eat as many hot dogs as they can, buns and all, in 10 minutes.  Yes, it's time for another Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest.

This event, on Coney Island, is easily Major League Eating's (yes, it's a thing) largest, but it far predates Major League Eating. The contest has only been sanctioned by MLE since 1997, and this will be the 102nd iteration of it. There are 20 male and 20 female contestants, including the defending champ, Joey Chestnut, the winners of regional qualifiers, individual qualifiers and special invitees.

Chestnut is the current two-time defending champion, and he's won 10 of the past 11 titles. He'll try to hold off Matt Stonie, who handed Chestnut the one defeat in the middle of his dominant run back in 2015 by downing 62 hot dogs. Chestnut has only gotten better(?) year after year. He holds the record with 73.5 hot dogs eaten in 10 minutes in a 2016 qualifier. Last year, he nearly equaled that mark with 72 dogs.

If you're looking for odds on this year's Hot Dog Eating Contest, SportsLine has you covered. Big shocker: Chestnut is the clear favorite.

On the women's side, participants will look to dethrone Miki Sudo, who took the crown from "The Black Widow" Sonya Thomas in 2014 and has worn it ever since. Sudo is a four-time winner herself, and last year she broke 40 hot dogs for the first time at the event, eating 41. The record still belongs to Thomas, who ate 45.

Here's everything you need to know for the big event:

Watch the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest

  • Date: Wednesday, July 4
  • Time: 10:50 a.m. (women's) and noon (men's)
  • Location: New York's Coney Island
  • Channel: ESPN3 (women's) and ESPN2 (men's)
  • Stream: WatchESPN

Prize money

Each side gets $20,000 split among the top five finishers. The tiers go:

  • First place: $10,000
  • Second place: $5,000
  • Third place: $2,500
  • Fourth place: $1,500
  • Fifth place: $1,000

There are parts of this contest that people don't fully understand. For starters, while a hot dog and its bun have to be eaten, they don't have to be eaten together. Buns can be dunked in liquid ("dunking") to soften them up, but not long enough that the bread can dissolve. Contestants can also nibble bites as time expires ("chipmunking") and have the nibbles be counted.

Eaters can be penalized for making a mess, not because manners matter, but because when you're making a mess you aren't eating all of your food. Naturally, if you vomit you're disqualified. Believe it or not, you can also use condiments, but for obvious reasons they aren't used often.

Tiebreakers come down to a five-hot dog showdown, with a one-hot dog sudden death.