The 2026 ESPY Awards will go live on Wednesday, July 15, at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT, and Marcello Hernández will host the ceremony for the first time. The show will air from the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in New York City, putting the ESPYS back in the city where they were last held in 2021.
That date is why viewers are searching now. The broadcast will run live on ABC and stream on + through the app, with next-day viewing available on Hulu, Disney+, the App and ABC Video on Demand. Hernández called the job “an honor” that feels “crazy,” a sign that the awards are leaning on a fresh face for a night built around sports’ biggest names.
The field is crowded with familiar star power. Jalen Brunson, Myles Garrett, Alysa Liu, Matthew Stafford, Rory McIlroy, Lionel Messi, Shohei Ohtani, Mikaela Shiffrin, Victor Wembanyama and A'ja Wilson are among this year’s top nominees, with Brunson up for three categories and Ohtani also in three. The New York Knicks are among the nine best team nominees, while the Los Angeles Dodgers are in the best team race.
Some of the strongest names arrive with recent history attached. Ohtani is chasing another best MLB player win after taking the honor for the fifth consecutive time last year. Wilson and Shiffrin are both trying for a second win in best athlete - women's sports, while Wilson’s 2025 season already put her in a class by herself as the first player in WNBA or NBA history to win regular season MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, Finals MVP and a scoring title in the same season. Garrett, meanwhile, is in the mix for best NFL player and best record-breaking performance after his 23-sack season.
The night also carries a quieter wrinkle. Stephen Curry received the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award on the eve of the show, away from the main broadcast that is meant to celebrate the year’s top athletes and entertainers. Curry said he and Ayesha were proud of what Eat Learn Play has built over seven years and called the award a strong push to keep going, especially because the work in Oakland has already made a real impact.
For the ESPYS, the move back to New York and the choice of a first-time host give the 2026 show a reset feel. The larger question now is not who is coming, but how the live ceremony will balance its biggest stars, its newer faces and the honors that are being handed out before the cameras start rolling on July 15.
