Jalen Brunson and A’ja Wilson won Best Athlete in men’s and women’s sports at the 2026 ESPYS, and Brunson’s New York Knicks took Best Team. The show was held on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in New York, hosted by Marcello Hernández.
The date of the 2027 ESPYS has not been announced by ESPN, and no sportsbook price for any 2027 category is on this page. This page keeps the 2026 winners as the record and is refreshed when ESPN names the next date and the nominees. For the league awards in the same sports, see our NBA MVP odds and WNBA MVP odds.
The 2026 ESPYS: when, where, who hosted
ESPN scheduled the show for 8 p.m. ET on ABC and in the ESPN App, after a preview show at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN, with streaming the next day on Disney+ and Hulu. Hernández had just finished his fourth season on “Saturday Night Live”. The show returned to New York for 2026.
The ESPYS raise money for the V Foundation for Cancer Research, which ESPN and Jim Valvano founded at the first ESPYS in 1993. ESPN says it has helped raise over $292 million for the foundation in the past 33 years.
The 2026 winners
| Award | Winner | Team or sport |
|---|---|---|
| Best Athlete, Men’s Sports | Jalen Brunson | New York Knicks |
| Best Athlete, Women’s Sports | A’ja Wilson | Las Vegas Aces |
| Best Team | New York Knicks | NBA |
| Best Breakthrough Athlete | Alysa Liu | U.S. figure skating |
| Best Championship Performance | Jalen Brunson | New York Knicks |
| Best Record-Breaking Performance | Myles Garrett | NFL |
| Best Comeback Athlete | Christian McCaffrey | San Francisco 49ers |
| Best Play | OG Anunoby | New York Knicks |
| Best Single-Game Performance | Shohei Ohtani | Los Angeles Dodgers |
| Best College Athlete, Men’s Sports | Fernando Mendoza | Indiana football |
| Best College Athlete, Women’s Sports | Lauren Betts | UCLA women’s basketball |
| Best Athlete with a Disability | Declan Farmer | Paralympic hockey |
The Knicks and their players took five awards: three for Brunson, Best Play for Anunoby and Best Team. ESPN’s nominee announcement called Brunson the NBA Finals MVP and said the Knicks rallied in Game 5 against the San Antonio Spurs to win their first championship in 53 years. Brunson was also named Best NBA Player.
Wilson’s win was her second in the women’s category, after 2024. The college award for men went to Mendoza of Indiana; our Heisman Trophy odds cover college football’s own player award.
Sport-by-sport and honorary awards
Beyond Best NBA Player, ESPN named a best player in nine other leagues or sports. Three honorary awards close the list. The Pat Tillman Award for Service went to Scott Ruskan, a U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmer.
- Best NFL Player: Myles Garrett
- Best MLB Player: Shohei Ohtani
- Best NHL Player: Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
- Best WNBA Player: A’ja Wilson
- Best Driver: Lando Norris, F1
- Best Fighter: Terence Crawford, boxing
- Best Soccer Player: Lionel Messi, Inter Miami CF
- Best Golfer: Scottie Scheffler
- Best Tennis Player: Carlos Alcaraz
- Arthur Ashe Courage Award: Jason Collins
- Jimmy V Award for Perseverance: Jim Abbott
- Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award: Stephen Curry
ESPN asked fans to vote on its nominee page, which says “your vote helps to determine ESPY winners”. It does not say how fan votes are weighed against any other vote, so this page does not either.
What the old prices said
Before the 2024 show, this page listed prices from BetUS and picked Caitlin Clark at -300 for Best Athlete in Women’s Sports. ESPN’s 2026 nominee page records that Wilson won that category in 2024, so that pick lost.
We make no pick on the ESPYS. Our method is built for single games, and an award decided partly by fan votes gives it nothing to measure. If a book lists the 2027 categories, compare prices with our sportsbook reviews, and see the entertainment section of our blog for other awards markets.