The ESPYs are back on July 15, and this year’s ballot comes with a strong Florida presence.
The annual Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly awards, produced by ESPN since 1993, will air at 8 p.m. July 15, 2026, on ABC.
The show will come from the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in New York City, the first time the event has been held there since 1999 after years in Los Angeles.
This year’s host is "Saturday Night Live" cast member Marcello Hernandez.
Voting is already open through ESPN and will remain open until the night of the ceremony.
Among the 32 athletes nominated across the board, Florida can point to five familiar names: Lionel Messi, Nikita Kucherov, Nelly Korda, Cameron Boozer and Bam Adebayo.
Messi, the centerpiece of Inter Miami, has piled up individual hardware in Miami, including MLS MVP, MLS Golden Boot 2025, Ballon d'Or 2023 and Time's Athlete of the Year in 2023. His team success has been just as prominent, with Inter Miami winning Leagues Cup in 2023, Supporters' Shield in 2024 and MLS Cup in 2025.
Kucherov’s resume with the Tampa Bay Lightning is loaded as well. He has helped the franchise to two Stanley Cups and has collected the Hart Memorial Trophy, Art Ross Trophy, Ted Lindsay Award, Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy Runner-up, along with multiple NHL All-Star selections.
Korda, born and raised in Bradenton, Florida, is the No. 1 ranked women's golfer in the world. She has 20 professional wins, two major championships, an Olympic gold medal from the 2020 Summer Olympics, and has spent more than 100 weeks at No. 1.
Boozer’s Florida ties run through Christopher Columbus High School, where he starred before moving on to a decorated run that included back-to-back Gatorade National Player of the Year honors, Florida Mr. Basketball, Mr.
Basketball USA and several MVP awards. He was the consensus national player of the year in college basketball in 2026 and went No. 3 in this year's NBA draft.
Adebayo, the Miami Heat center, is a three-time NBA All-Star, five-time NBA All-Defensive team honoree and a two-time Olympic gold medalist. He also made headlines earlier this year by scoring 83 points against the Washington Wizards, topping Kobe Bryant's 81 for the second-most points ever in an NBA game.
The larger field is packed with big names and big moments. Jalen Brunson, Lionel Messi, Shohei Ohtani and Matthew Stafford make up the men’s athlete category, while Hilary Knight, Korda, Mikaela Shiffrin and A’ja Wilson are up for women’s athlete.
The breakthrough race includes Macklin Celebrini, Alysa Liu, Drake Maye and Fernando Mendoza. Other categories feature Myles Garrett’s NFL sack record, Megan Grant’s NCAA softball home run mark, Johannes Høsflot Klæbo’s six Winter Games golds and Sabastian Sawe’s marathon feat of going under two hours.
Several headline plays are also in the mix, including the Golden Goal for Gold! moments in Olympic women’s hockey and Olympic men’s hockey, UConn’s buzzer-beating win over Duke on Braylon Mullins’ 3, OG Anunoby’s tip-in in the NBA Finals and Caleb Williams’ game-tying touchdown against the Rams.
Team categories include the Las Vegas Aces, Los Angeles Dodgers, Indiana Hoosiers, Carolina Hurricanes, New York Knicks, Texas Longhorns, Seattle Seahawks and both Team USA hockey squads.
The single-game performance group features Tyce Armstrong’s three grand slams for Baylor Baseball, Adebayo’s 83-point night, Hannah Hidalgo’s NCAA-record 16 steals for Notre Dame and Ohtani’s six scoreless innings, 10 strikeouts and three homers for the Dodgers.
Other category leaders include Cameron Boozer, Fernando Mendoza, Mitchell Mesenbrink and Donavan Phillip for best college athlete among men; Olivia Babcock, Lauren Betts, Madison Taylor and Faith Torrez on the women’s side; and Jake Adicoff, Declan Farmer, Oksana Masters and Susannah Scaroni among athletes with a disability.
The pro-player categories are stacked too: Myles Garrett, Drake Maye, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Matthew Stafford for NFL; Aaron Judge, Ohtani, Cal Raleigh and Paul Skenes for MLB; Macklin Celebrini, Kucherov, Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid for NHL; Jalen Brunson, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanyama for NBA; and Napheesa Collier, Allisha Gray, Alyssa Thomas and A’ja Wilson for WNBA.
Rounding out the board are the driver nominees Kimi Antonelli, Lando Norris, Alex Palou and Tyler Reddick; the fighter nominees Terence Crawford, Gabriela Fundora, Justin Gaethje and Claressa Shields; the soccer nominees Temwa Chawinga, Ousmane Dembélé, Messi and Alexia Putellas; the golf nominees Korda, Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Jeeno Thitikul; and the tennis nominees Carlos Alcaraz, Elena Rybakina, Aryna Sabalenka and Jannik Sinner.
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