The Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards — or, the ESPYs, for short — aired Wednesday night. Hosted by Shane Gillis, the big sports celebration had its 33rd annual ESPY Awards ceremony, airing live out of Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre.
With a series of competitive and special awards handed out at the annual sports awards, here’s how you can watch the 2025 ESPYs from home if you missed the live airing.
When did the ESPYs air?
The ESPYs aired Wednesday, July 16, at 8 p.m. ET/PT, broadcast live from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
The ceremony aired on ABC and streamed live on ESPN+.
What if I missed the ESPYs live?
Starting Thursday, July 17, anyone with a subscription for ESPN+, Disney+ or Hulu can stream the 2025 ESPYs on-demand across the three streaming services.
Who hosted the show?
Stand-up comic Shane Gillis hosted the 33rd ESPYs for ESPN. Gillis recently hosted “Saturday Night Live” for a second time back in March — a show he was briefly hired onto and fired from before his first season due to a history of insensitive jokes. In June, the actor released the second season of his Netflix comedy “Tires,” which has already been renewed for a third.
Though the ceremony has been hosted by actors and comedians many times before, Gillis is a departure from last year’s host, athletic megastar Serena Williams. The year before Williams, the ESPYs went without a single host due to the 2023 WGA strike. Past hosts include Anthony Mackie, John Cena and Norm Macdonald.
Who are the nominees?
There are a slew of categories that will be presented at the ESPYs, recognizing athletes and performances across athletics. Josh Allen, Saquon Barkley, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Shohei Ohtani are nominated in Best Athlete — Men’s Sports, while Simone Biles, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Gabby Thomas and A’ja Wilson make up the Best Athlete — Women’s Sports category.
Are there any special awards?
There are four individuals who will be recognized with special awards at the 2025 ESPYs Wednesday night.
Oscar Robertson, a former NBA player for the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks, will receive the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage at the annual ceremony. This award is presented to the former player for his fight to establish free agency within the league.
Katie Schumacher-Cawley, current head coach of Penn State’s women’s volleyball team, will be honored with the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance. This comes after Schumacher-Cawley led her team to become an NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship-winning group in 2024. Schumacher-Cawley, who became the first female coach to achieve this victory, was battling breast cancer at the time of the season.
Both David Walters and Erin Regan will receive the Pat Tillman Award for Service at the 2025 ESPYs. The two former athletes (Walters an Olympic medalist in swimming and Regan a goalkeeper for the Wake Forest University women’s soccer team in the late 90s and early 2000s) both serve in the Los Angeles County Fire Department. They were both on the front lines as part of the relief effort for the 2025 Southern California wildfires.
Who is performing?
There will be a few musical performances at the 2025 ESPYs. Busta Rhymes, Clipse and GELO will all perform throughout the ceremony. Additionally, artist Tobe Nwigwe will lead the In Memoriam segment, featuring a performance from David Michael Wyatt.
Who is presenting?
There is an extensive list of presenters who will give out awards at the 2025 ESPYs. Presenters includes Angela Bassett, Alison Brie, Billie Jean King, Rob Mac (formerly Rob McElhenney), Pat McAfee, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Gabby Thomas, Lindsey Vonn, Russell Wilson and more.
