Nominees Announced for The 2026 ESPYS Presented by Capital One Airing Wednesday, July 15, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Streaming on the ESPN App

WHAT: ESPN announced the nominees for The 2026 ESPYS Presented by Capital One, hosted by Marcello Hernández , and fan voting is now open.

WHERE: A list of The 2026 ESPYS nominees is available here and fans can cast their vote on ESPYS.com. More information is available in the complete 2026 ESPYS Media Kit.

WHEN: Voting is now underway and will be open through July 15.

THE 2026 ESPYS NOMINEE FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Top nominees include: Jalen Brunson, Myles Garrett, Alysa Liu, Matthew Stafford, Rory McIlroy, Lionel Messi, Shohei Ohtani, Mikaela Shiffrin, Victor Wembanyama, and A’ja Wilson
• First-time nominees include: Bam Adebayo, Lauren Betts, Macklin Celebrini, Hannah Hidalgo, Drake Maye, Fernando Mendoza, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba
• Nominated for “Best Athlete – Men’s Sports,” Jalen Brunson led the Knicks to their first title since 1973. Brunson scored 45 points in Game 5, the fourth player ever to score at least 45 points in a NBA Finals clincher.
  
  
• A’ja Wilson and Mikaela Shiffrin are seeking their second win for “Best Athlete – Women’s Sports” to become the seventh athlete to win the award multiple times. In 2025, Wilson became the first player in WNBA or NBA history to win the regular season MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, Finals MVP, and a scoring title in the same season. Shiffrin became the first athlete ever to reach 100 World Cup victories.
  
  
• Shohei Ohtani is nominated in three categories: “Best Athlete – Men’s Sports,” “Best Single-Game Performance,” and “Best MLB Player.” Ohtani won the “Best MLB Player” last year, which was his fifth straight award in the category, passing Barry Bonds and Albert Pujols (four each) for the most career wins.
  
  
• Myles Garrett is nominated for both “Best NFL Player” and “Best Record-Breaking Performance” after he broke the NFL single-season sack record with 23 sacks in 2025. A defensive player has never won the “Best NFL Player” at The ESPYS.
  
  
• Texas Softball won its second consecutive National Championship, defeating intrastate rival Texas Tech in the WCWS for the second year in a row. As only the second program in history to win its first two titles back-to-back, the Longhorns are now chasing their first team ESPY win.
  
  

Hosted by Marcello Hernández, The 2026 ESPYS will air live from the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center on Wednesday, July 15, 2026 at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT on ABC. The show will also stream on the ESPN App in pattern with ABC airings across time zones, and be available to stream the next day on Disney+, Hulu, the ESPN App, and ABC Video on Demand. The star-studded ceremony will celebrate major sports achievements, revisit unforgettable moments, and recognize the elite competitors who dominated this season of sports.

Top celebrities from sports and entertainment will gather to recognize nominees and honor winners in categories such as “Best Athlete – Men’s Sports,” “Best Athlete – Women’s Sports,” “Best Breakthrough Athlete,” “Best Record-Breaking Performance,” “Best Championship Performance,” and “Best Comeback Athlete.”

ESPN will introduce three new social-exclusive categories this year. Designed to celebrate sports culture both on and off the field, the new additions are “Best Tunnel Fit,” “Best Celebration,” and “Best Sports Card.” The full slate of nominees and voting details for these categories will be announced in the coming weeks.

Per tradition, The 2026 ESPYS will also showcase the achievements of inspiring and courageous athletes who embody the spirit of The ESPYS through three pillar awards – Jason Collins will posthumously receive the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage, Jim Abbott will receive the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance, and Scott Ruskan will receive The Pat Tillman Award for Service. The show supports ESPN’s ongoing commitment to The V Foundation for Cancer Research, launched in 1993 by ESPN in partnership with the late Jim Valvano.

Requests to be considered for media credentials for The ESPYS can be filled out here.

Media Contacts

ESPN:

Cecile Cross-Plummer: cecile.crossplummer@espn.com

Sunshine Sachs Morgan & Lylis: ESPYS@ssmandl.com

ABC:

Lauren Milovich: lauren.milovich@abc.com

THE 2026 ESPYS NOMINATIONS:

BEST ATHLETE, MEN’S SPORTS

• Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks
• Lionel Messi, Inter Miami CF
• Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers
• Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams

BEST ATHLETE, WOMEN’S SPORTS

• Hilary Knight, Hockey
• Nelly Korda, Golf
• Mikaela Shiffrin, Ski
• A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces

BEST BREAKTHROUGH ATHLETE

• Macklin Celebrini, San Jose Sharks
• Alysa Liu, Figure Skating
• Drake Maye, New England Patriots
• Fernando Mendoza, Indiana Football

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 Skier – first athlete to win six golds at Winter Games
• Sabastian Sawe, Long-Distance Runner – first to finish a marathon in under two hours

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP PERFORMANCE

• Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks
• Aerin Frankel, USA Women’s Hockey
• Connor Hellebuyck, USA Men’s Hockey
• Teagan Kavan, Texas Longhorns Softball

BEST COMEBACK ATHLETE

• Anthony Kim, Golf
• Savy King, Angel City FC
• Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers
• Kyndal Stowers, Texas A&M Volleyball

BEST PLAY

• Golden Goal for Gold! – Olympic Women’s Hockey
• Golden Goal for Gold! – Olympic Men’s Hockey
• UConn stuns Duke with Braylon Mullins’ buzzer-beating 3 – NCAA Men’s March Madness
• OG Anunoby’s Tip-In – NBA Finals
• Caleb Williams Game Tying TD vs. Rams – NFL

BEST TEAM

• Las Vegas Aces, WNBA
• Los Angeles Dodgers, MLB
• Indiana Hoosiers, NCAA Football
• Carolina Hurricanes, NHL
• New York Knicks, NBA
• Texas Longhorns, NCAA Softball
• Seattle Seahawks, NFL
• Team USA Men’s Hockey
• Team USA Women’s Hockey

BEST SINGLE-GAME PERFORMANCE

• Tyce Armstrong, Baylor Baseball – hit three grand slams in a single game, tying a record set 50 years ago
• Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat – scored 83 points for the Miami Heat in a 150–129 win against the Washington Wizards, recording the second-highest single-game total in NBA history
• Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame Basketball – broke the NCAA record for most steals (16) in a game
• Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers – pitched six scoreless innings, struck out 10 batters and hit three home runs

BEST COLLEGE ATHLETE, MEN’S SPORTS

• Cameron Boozer, Duke Basketball
• Fernando Mendoza, Indiana Football
• Mitchell Mesenbrink, Penn State Wrestling
• Donavan Phillip, NC State Soccer

BEST COLLEGE ATHLETE, WOMEN’S SPORTS

• Olivia Babcock, Pittsburgh Volleyball
• Lauren Betts, UCLA Basketball
• Madison Taylor, Northwestern Lacrosse
• Faith Torrez, Oklahoma Gymnastics

BEST ATHLETE WITH A DISABILITY

• Jake Adicoff, Para Nordic-Skiing
• Declan Farmer, Para Hockey
• Oksana Masters, Para Cross-Country Skiing
• Susannah Scaroni, Wheelchair Racing

BEST NFL PLAYER

• Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns
• Drake Maye, New England Patriots
• Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle Seahawks
• Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams

BEST MLB PLAYER

• Aaron Judge, New York Yankees
• Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers
• Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners
• Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates

BEST NHL PLAYER

• Macklin Celebrini, San Jose Sharks
• Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning
• Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
• Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers

BEST NBA PLAYER

• Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks
• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
• Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets
• Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs

BEST WNBA PLAYER

• Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx
• Allisha Gray, Atlanta Dream
• Alyssa Thomas, Phoenix Mercury
• A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces

BEST DRIVER

• Kimi Antonelli, F1
• Lando Norris, F1
• Alex Palou, IndyCar
• Tyler Reddick, NASCAR

BEST FIGHTER

• Terence Crawford, Boxing
• Gabriela Fundora, Boxing
• Justin Gaethje, MMA
• Claressa Shields, Boxing

BEST SOCCER PLAYER

• Temwa Chawinga, KC Current
• Ousmane Dembélé, PSG/France
• Lionel Messi, Inter Miami CF
• Alexia Putellas, Spain/Barcelona

BEST GOLFER

• Nelly Korda
• Rory McIlroy
• Scottie Scheffler
• Jeeno Thitikul

BEST TENNIS PLAYER

• Carlos Alcaraz
• Elena Rybakina
• Aryna Sabalenka
• Jannik Sinner

By: Courtney Clawson