World Twinkie™-Eating Champion Joey Chestnut To Defend Title As He Battles Arch Rival Matt Stonie

$5,000 Prize Purse on the Line in Second Annual Twinkie-Eating Contest Broadcast Live on ESPN3

New York, November 6, 2014 World Twinkie Eating Champion Joey “Jaws” Chestnut will seek to defend his sponge cake supremacy as he battles arch rival Matt Stonie and other competitive eating titans at the 2014 World Twinkie-Eating Championship taking place on Saturday, November 8th at 1:00 P.M. CT at the Bally’s Casino in Tunica, Mississippi.

Last year, Chestnut set a Twinkie-eating world record by consuming 121 Twinkies in six minutes – about one every three seconds. However, the 30-year-old veteran narrowly held off a fearsome challenge by Stonie, the 22-year-old known as Megatoad, in the annual hot dog eating competition and lost in back-to-back battles over poutine and pumpkin pie during the 2014 season. Looking to pull off an upset– and take home the top prize of $2,500 – will be Badlands Booker.

“The Twinkie is acknowledged throughout the competitive eating world as the most elegant possible delivery system for snack cake satisfaction, and our eaters are honored to participate in this contest,” said Major League Eating Chairman George Shea. “If it were up to MLE, the United States would adopt the Twinkie as a unit of measurement for deliciousness.”

“It is an honor to host this world-class sporting event, and we are confident that Joey Chestnut will again make history, besting his 2013 world record performance of 121 Twinkies in six minutes,” said Eddie Llambias, vice president and general manager of Bally’s Casino – Tunica. “The Bally’s World Twinkie-Eating Championship is the fastest six minutes in sports.”

“If there was a snack cake Hall of Fame, Twinkies would most certainly be the first inductee,” said David Leavitt, vice president of marketing for Hostess Brands, LLC. “For more than 80 years, the simple golden sponge cake with crème filling has delighted generations of fans, and risen to highest levels of confectionary superstardom. This competition marks another exciting milestone in the Twinkies’ storied history – win or lose it will be quite a treat.”

ESPN3 will broadcast the event live from Tunica. ESPN also airs the Nathan’ Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, held every July Fourth on Coney Island. This year’s contest delivered a 1.6 HH US rating and 2.8 million viewers on ESPN2, making it the highest-rated and most-watched Contest telecast ever on the ESPN networks. ESPN3 also carried the U.S. National Buffalo Wing-Eating Championship this summer for the first time.