The best of the best of the past year in sports will be celebrated tonight during the 2026 ESPY Awards.
“SNL” star and stand-up comedian Marcello Hernández will emcee the annual awards ceremony honoring excellence in sports performance and achievements, airing tonight, July 15, at 8 p.m. ET.
The winners of 22 award categories will be announced tonight during the broadcast by celebrities including Tracy Morgan, Robin Roberts, Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish; and athletes like Billie Jean King, Mike Tyson, Ilona Maher and Simone Biles.
In addition to those awards, Jason Collins will be posthumously honored with the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage, 10-year MLB veteran Jim Abbott will receive the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance, and Coast Guard rescue swimmer Scott Ruskan will receive the Pat Tillman Award for Service.
espy awards 2026: what to know
- When: July 15, 8 p.m. ET
- Where: David H. Koch Theater (New York, New York)
- Channel: ABC
- Streaming: DIRECTV (try it free)
De La Soul, Ghostface Killah, Slick Rick, and the Savannah Bananas will perform throughout the evening.
Here’s everything you need to know to watch the ESPY Awards without cable.
ESPYs 2026 date and time
The 2026 ESPYAwards are tonight, July 15, at 8 p.m. ET.
How to watch the 2026 ESPYs for free
If you don’t have cable, you’ll need a live TV streaming service to stream the ESPY Awards for free.
DIRECTV is our top pick for watching TV live for free — its five-day free trial includes ABC on a handful of plans including the MyNews genre pack and the Choice streaming package. When the trial is over, you’ll pay as low as $44.99/month depending on which plan you choose.
Sling TV is another affordable way to stream live TV; its Select plan includes ABC and starts at $19.99/month.
Who is hosting the 2026 ESPYs?
ESPYs 2026 nominees list
Check out the nominees for some of the ESPYs top categories below.
Best Athlete, Men’s Sports
- Jalen Brunson – New York Knicks, NBA
- Matthew Stafford – Los Angeles Rams, NFL
- Shohei Ohtani – Los Angeles Dodgers, MLB
- Lionel Messi – Inter Miami FC, MLS
Best Breakthrough Athlete
- Alysa Liu – Figure Skating
- Fernando Mendoza – Indiana Hoosiers football
- Drake Maye – New England Patriots, NFL
- Macklin Celebrini – San Jose Sharks, NHL
Best College Athlete, Men’s Sports
- Cameron Boozer – Duke basketball
- Mitchell Mesenbrink – Penn State wrestling
- Fernando Mendoza – Indiana football
- Donavan Phillip – NC State soccer
Best Athlete with a Disability
- Jake Adicoff – Paralympic Nordic skiing
- Declan Farmer – Sledge hockey
- Oksana Masters – Paralympic cross-country skiing
- Susannah Scaroni – Wheelchair racing
Best Championship Performance
- Jalen Brunson – New York Knicks
- Teagan Kavan – Texas Longhorns softball
- Aerin Frankel – USA Women’s Hockey
- Connor Hellebuyck – USA Men’s Hockey
Best Team
- Seattle Seahawks – NFL
- Texas Longhorns – Women’s College World Series
- Indiana Hoosiers – NCAA Football
- Las Vegas Aces – WNBA
- New York Knicks – NBA
- Carolina Hurricanes – NHL
- Los Angeles Dodgers – MLB
- Team USA Women’s Hockey – 2026 Winter Olympics
- Team USA Men’s Hockey – 2026 Winter Olympics
Best Athlete, Women’s Sports
- Mikaela Shiffrin – Alpine Skiing
- Hilary Knight – USA Hockey/Seattle Torrent, PWHL
- Nelly Korda – Golf
- A’ja Wilson – Las Vegas Aces, WNBA
Best Comeback Athlete
- Anthony Kim – Golf
- Kyndal Stowers – Texas A&M volleyball
- Christian McCaffrey – San Francisco 49ers, NFL
- Savy King – Angel City FC, NWSL
Best College Athlete, Women’s Sports
- Lauren Betts – UCLA basketball
- Madison Taylor – Northwestern lacrosse
- Faith Torrez – Oklahoma gymnastics
- Olivia Babcock – Pittsburgh volleyball
Best Play
- USA Women’s Hockey – Golden Goal for Gold!
- USA Men’s Hockey – Golden Goal for Gold!
- Braylon Mullins – Buzzer-beater 3 for UConn to beat Duke in NCAA Men’s March Madness
- OG Anunoby – Tip-In to win game 4 of the NBA Finals
- Caleb Williams – Game Tying TD vs. Rams
Best Record-Breaking Performance
- Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns – broke the NFL single-season sack record
- Megan Grant, UCLA Softball – broke the NCAA single-season softball home run record
- Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, Cross-country skiing – first athlete to win six golds at Winter Games
- Sabastian Sawe, Long-distance running – first to finish a marathon in under two hours
Why Trust Post Wanted by the celebrity.land
This article was written by Angela Tricarico, Commerce Streaming Reporter for Post Wanted Shopping, Page Six, and Decider.com. Angela keeps readers up to date with cord-cutter-friendly deals, and information on how to watch your favorite sports teams, TV shows, and movies on every streaming service. Not only does Angela test and compare the streaming services she writes about to ensure readers are getting the best prices, but she’s also a superfan specializing in the intersection of shopping, tech, sports, and pop culture. When she’s not writing about (or watching) TV, movies, and sports, she’s also keeping up on the underrated perfume dupes at Bath & Body Works and testing headphones. Prior to joining Decider and The celebrity.land in 2023, she wrote about streaming and consumer tech at Insider Reviews.
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