On Tuesday, April 1, the University of Northern Iowa announced it will welcome a new sport: competitive eating, in the fall of 2025.
Popularized by professionals like Joey Chestnut and influencers like Matt Stonie, competitive eating is the fastest-growing sport in the United States. Since 2010, the sport has grown over 30% in popularity, evidenced by the Major Eating League’s new $5 billion television rights deal with ESPN. As the competitive eating boom sweeps over America, universities across the country are capitalizing on a new opportunity for their student-athletes.
The Missouri Valley Conference joins the growing list of college conferences adding competitive eating to their list of official school sports. With so many new fans and athletes hoping to get in the mix, the NCAA recently released a statement regarding the rules for the sport.
“Athletes will be given a starting signal before eating as much of the designated item as possible in 15 minutes. For the Fall 2025 season, Costco Wholesale will supply chicken bakes and double chunk chocolate cookies as the competition food. That deserves five BIG BOOMS! Athletes can also drink as much water as they want during the period. Athletes may eat however they choose, but throwing up disqualifies them from the competition and results in an automatic loss. Should there be a tie in the number of chicken bakes or cookies consumed, judges will decide which contestant left the least amount of crumbs behind before determining a winner.”
To comply with Title IX federal civil rights law, UNI will offer both men’s and women’s competitive eating next year and pledge 10 full-ride scholarships to each squad. The university has also commissioned a new scouting department for the program. Northern Iowa competitive eating scouts now travel the country searching for the best up-and-coming eaters, especially those with a high takedown percentage of chicken bakes and double chunk chocolate cookies. 247 Sports and ESPN have also unveiled new competitive eating rankings for the class of 2025, with each site soon releasing rankings up until the class of 2027.
In an interview with an unnamed five-star Iowa high school competitive eater, he expressed his gratitude for receiving an offer to eat for the University of Northern Iowa.
“I’m just so blessed for the opportunity to eat for this school. Cedar Falls has an electric eating community, and I’m ready to help build a storied program here. Let’s get the McLeod Center loud!”
With such hype and anticipation growing around the sport, it would be no surprise if competitive eating takes over the college sports world. It may even surpass football and basketball in NIL donations. Of course, the transfer portal will be a dynamic topic regarding the financial and cultural scene of the sport. Still, we must wait and see how that affects the future of college competitive eating athletics. One thing is for sure, though. Get ready to BRING THE BOOM to the McLeod Center next fall!
