It’s an annual Fourth of July tradition:
Fans sitting at home before igniting their grills, watching the world’s best eaters compete to see who can take down the most hot dogs. This year, all eyes were on Joey “Jaws” Chestnut to see if he would be able to break his record of 75 last year.
Well, as long as ESPN’s feed allowed, anyway.
Throughout the afternoon’s broadcast of the 10-minute men’s competition, ESPN lost the feed three times, including near the end of the competition as Chestnut was about to break the world record (which he did, finishing his 76th hot dog and bun).
MORE: 2021 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest results
With the stakes high and the competition taking place in front of fans again for the first time since 2019, at-home viewers were obviously distraught to lose the broadcast, especially since the event only lasts 10 minutes.
Here’s how people reacted to the feed cutting out on Twitter:
Tomorrow we find out ESPN paid hackers $92 million of crypto in ransom to restore the hot dog feed
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) July 4, 2021
Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest is 10 minutes of action — and ESPN robbed us of like 5 minutes, including a historic ending. We are disappointed, @espn. pic.twitter.com/I4xsJM2xnM
— Matt Bufano (@MattBufano) July 4, 2021
ESPN’s feed giving out multiple times in the pivotal moments of the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest 😬😬😬 pic.twitter.com/WlxEujwrbG
— Mark Freund (@MarkFreundTV) July 4, 2021
ESPN losing the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest “feed.” Guess they couldn’t cut the mustard. I take no relish in their failure.
— Robert A George (@RobGeorge) July 4, 2021