On July 4, the annual Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest will take place at Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. Joey Chestnut will be there to defend his men's title, while Miki Sudo will be doing the same in the women's division. It will, as always, be exceptional entertainment that begins with fun and games and eventually grows into horror at how many hot dogs these athletes have trained their bodies to consume.

On that note, have you ever wondered what these athletes actually win? Brief fame for shoveling hot dogs into your face can't be enough, and most competitors need to literally rival Joey Chestnut to attain any level of notoriety that lasts beyond the holiday. There's always joy in competition but elite athletes (and these are elite athletes, don't get it twisted) play to win the freaking thing.

So what's the prize situation like for Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest?

The longtime prize for the men's competition has been a championship belt, as seen below. It is mustard-yellow.

The women's division winner gets a pink one, and both also get sets of the cool trophies that are in the cover photo of this article. But what about the money?

According to an article The Athletic wrote ahead of the 2022 event, each winner receives a $10,000 cash prize. So last year Chestnut and Sudo both took home $10K along with some sick championship belts.

Who will take home the prize money this year? Tune in at 10:45 a.m. ET on July 4 to find out.

This article was originally published on thebiglead as Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest Prize: How Much Money Does the Winner Get?.