Yes You Can Stream The Hot Dog Eating Contest Live

Hot dog lovers rejoice: The annual Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest is just around the corner. That's right, on July 4, 20 willing contestants (10 in the men's category, and 10 in the women's competition) will compete to see who can eat the most Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs in 10 minutes — without the hot dogs coming back up, of course. What a way to spend the holiday! Have no fear, even those who are not able to make it to Coney Island on Independence Day to watch the event live, can still watch the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest live streamed on ESPN's website.

Coverage of the hot dog eating contest begins at 10 a.m. Eastern Time, with the women's competition at 11 a.m., and the men's event following at 12:40 p.m.

For anyone who's considered tuning into the hot dog eating contest in the past, 2016 wouldn't be a bad year to check out the competition. That's because July 4, 2016 marks the 100th anniversary of the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest — this is a big year in the world of hot dog eating competitions!

Nathan's Hot Dogs itself turned 100 this year: Nathan and Ida Handwerker founded Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs on Coney Island in 1916 — Ida made the hots, and Nathan sold them at a small stand. At the time, the hot dogs sold for five cents each, so the now-national hot dog brand celebrated with a five cent Nathan's hot dog day in May of 2016.

According to the rules of the contest, those who attend the event at Coney Island, as well as those who live stream the hot dog eating contest, will get to watch Matt Stonie, the 2015 hot dog eating champion defend his title against the nine other contestants. That's another reason why 2016 would be an exciting year to start watching the hot dog eating contest — this year's going to be extra competitive.

Although Stonie won the annual competition last year, it was Joey Chestnut who won the hot dog eating contest for the previous eight years — and Chestnut is back for the 2016 contest. Unsurprisingly, this competition is going to get heated — especially since Chestnut recently tweeted that he broke his hot-dog-eating record at the competition's qualifier.

Last year, Stonie won the Coney Island contest by eating 62 hot dogs (and buns) in 10 minutes, but Chestnut just ate a record 73 hot dogs at the qualifying competition — that's a big increase from his 60 hotdogs at the Nathan's Famous contest last year.

Thanks to ESPN's mobile service, the hot dog competition can be streamed from mobile devices now, too — so no matter how you're spending Independence Day, don't worry: you'll be able to tune into the 100th Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest.