WASHINGTON - Almost as anticipated as cries of ‘play ball!’, throwing out of first pitches, and the colorful bunting at baseball stadiums across the country on Major League Baseball’s opening day, is the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council’s estimate of hot dog and sausage consumption in the upcoming season. Right on schedule, the forecast for the 2015 season has been issued by the NHDSC: Fans at ball parks throughout the Major Leagues are expected to devour 18.5 million hot dogs and approximately 4.2 million sausages during games this year. And NHDSC’s creative comparisons and analogies never disappoint when quantifying the predictions: “The combined hot dog and sausage total could stretch from Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia to Chase Field in Phoenix,” according to the council. Stacked end-to-end, the hot dogs consumed this season would reach as high as 7,827 Empire State Buildings, the council estimates.

Fans attending the Los Angeles Dodgers home games are again expected to lead the Majors in hot dog consumption, with 2.5 million. On the sausage front, the Milwaukee Brewers’ fans are expected to take the top spot by consuming 480,000 of this regional favorite. Fans of the World Champion San Francisco Giants are expected to give up their title of sausage champion with consumption of 450,000 sausages in 2015. Reports that the trading of Pablo Sandoval from the team and links to his appetite for sausage could not be confirmed at press time.


“It’s no surprise that hot dogs and sausages continue to hit a home run with fans,” said Eric Mittenthal, NHDSC vice president of public affairs. “Hot dogs remain the number one concession at ballparks, as teams offer innovative creations along with classic favorites to appeal to all tastes.”

Based on the council’s Facebook-based contest held for two weeks, NHDSC’s “MLB Madness Bracket” contest, the Cleveland’s Classic Indians Sugardale Dog was voted the “Best in Baseball.”
For more information on hot dog and sausage facts and, go to www.hot-dog.org.