The 2021 ESPY Awards were the 29th annual ceremony of the ESPY Award, held on July 10, 2021 at The Rooftop at Pier 17 in New York City and broadcast on ABC. Actor Anthony Mackie served as the host. The awards aired on ESPN and ESPN2 on July 11, and a two-hour version aired on ESPN July 13.
Format After the COVID-19 pandemic made the 2020 ESPYs a virtual taped event, it was a live in-person show with many of the winners showing up to accept their awards. The ESPYs brought back many of the categories from 2019; however, Best Upset, Best Esports Moment and Best Viral Moment were not awarded.
Several categories were renamed and/or changed in scope: Best Male Athlete and Best Female Athlete are now Best Athlete, Men's Sports and Best Athlete, Women's Sports, respectively. The Best Male and Female College Athlete awards, last presented in 2017, were reinstated and respectively renamed Best College Athlete, Men's Sports and Best College Athlete, Women's Sports. The Best International Soccer Player awards for men and women, previously presented to soccer players who were either born outside the U.S. or were not U.S. citizens, were renamed Best International Athlete, Men's Soccer and Best International Athlete, Women's Soccer. In addition, these awards are now presented to individuals who play at club level in leagues outside of the U.S. soccer pyramid, regardless of the players' nationalities.
Winners and nominees Tom Brady – Tampa Bay Buccaneers, NFL Lewis Hamilton – Formula One Nikola Jokic – Denver Nuggets, NBA Connor McDavid – Edmonton Oilers, NHLNaomi Osaka – Women's Tennis, WTA Simone Biles – gymnastics Amanda Nunes – mixed martial arts, UFC Breanna Stewart – Seattle Storm, WNBALaMelo Ball – Charlotte Hornets, NBA Justin Herbert – Los Angeles Chargers, NFL Chase Young – Washington Football Team, NFL Crystal Dangerfield – Minnesota Lynx, WNBATampa Bay Buccaneers – NFL Alabama Crimson Tide football, NCAA Division I FBS Baylor Bears basketball, NCAA men's basketball Los Angeles Dodgers, MLB Oklahoma Sooners softball, winner of the 2021 Women's College World Series Seattle Storm, WNBA Stanford Cardinal women's basketball, NCAA women's basketballNCAA men's Final Four Gonzaga defeats UCLA 93-90 in overtime NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Stanford defeats Arizona 54–53 NFL Week 14: Baltimore Ravens 47, Cleveland Browns 42 NHL Playoffs Game 4: Winnipeg Jets sweep Edmonton Oilers in triple OTKyler Murray "Hail Murray" pass to DeAndre Hopkins
Finalists: unseeded Marshall scores the game winner in overtime to win NCAA College Cup men's soccer tournament DK Metcalf chases down Budda Baker Simone Biles becomes the first gymnast to execute a Yurchenko Double Pike vault in competitionDeVonta Smith – Alabama Gloire Amanda – Oregon State soccer Luka Garza – Iowa basketball Trevor Lawrence – Clemson footballPaige Bueckers – UConn basketball Odicci Alexander – James Madison softball Jaelin Howell – Florida State soccer Madison Lilley – Kentucky volleyballRussell Westbrook surpassing Oscar Robertson's 181 career triple-doubles record Stanford's Tara VanDerveer passes Pat Summitt for most wins in NCAA Women's basketball history (1,099) Alabama football player DeVonta Smith set records for title game catches (12) and touchdown receptions (three) PGA Championship winner Phil Mickelson became the oldest winner of a major tournament with his victory at age 50Tom Brady – Tampa Bay Buccaneers Aaron Donald – Los Angeles Rams Derrick Henry – Tennessee Titans Aaron Rodgers – Green Bay PackersShohei Ohtani – Los Angeles Angels Jose Abreu - Chicago White Sox Trevor Bauer - Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Dodgers Corey Seager - Los Angeles DodgersStephen Curry – Golden State Warriors Luka Dončić – Dallas Mavericks Nikola Jokić – Denver Nuggets Chris Paul – Phoenix SunsPatrick Kane – Chicago Blackhawks Auston Matthews – Toronto Maple Leafs Connor McDavid – Edmonton Oilers Andrei Vasilevskiy – Tampa Bay LightningBreanna Stewart – Seattle Storm Arike Ogunbowale – Dallas Wings Candace Parker – Los Angeles Sparks, Chicago Sky A'ja Wilson – Las Vegas AcesDiego Rossi – Los Angeles FC Andre Blake – Philadelphia Union Alejandro Pozuelo – Toronto FC Lucas Zelarayán – Columbus CrewJulie Ertz – Chicago Red Stars Rachel Daly – Houston Dash Kailen Sheridan – NJ/NY Gotham FC Lynn Williams – North Carolina CourageCristiano Ronaldo – Juventus/Portugal Kylian Mbappé – Paris Saint-Germain/France Lionel Messi – Barcelona/Argentina Mohamed Salah – Liverpool/EgyptSam Mewis – Manchester City/United States Sam Kerr – Chelsea/Australia Fran Kirby – Chelsea/England Vivianne Miedema – Arsenal/NetherlandsLewis Hamilton – Formula One Scott Dixon, IndyCar Chase Elliott, NASCAR Erica Enders, NHRAJoel Rosario Irad Ortiz Flavien Prat John VelazquezPhil Mickelson Bryson DeChambeau Dustin Johnson Hideki MatsuyamaSei Young Kim Jin Young Ko Nelly Korda Inbee ParkTyson Fury Canelo Álvarez Teófimo López Claressa ShieldsKhabib Nurmagomedov Rose Namajunas Francis Ngannou Amanda NunesGabriel Medina – Surfing Marcus Kleveland – Snowboarding Yūto Totsuka – Snowboarding Cooper Webb – SupercrossChloe Kim – Snowboarding Eileen Gu – Skiing Carissa Moore – Surfing Zoi Sadowski-Synnott – SnowboardingNovak Djokovic Daniil Medvedev Rafael Nadal Dominic ThiemNaomi Osaka Victoria Azarenka Ashleigh Barty Sofia KeninChris Nikic – triathlon Evan Austin – Swimming Jesse Billauer – Surfing Keith Gabel – SnowboardingRebecca Murray – Wheelchair basketball Sam Bosco – Cycling Oksana Masters – Nordic & Cycle Leanne Smith – SwimmingSasha Banks and Bianca Belair make history as the first Black women to main-event WrestleMania Bad Bunny wrestles at WrestleMania 37 Bianca Belair wins Women's Royal Rumble match at 2021 Royal Rumble Edge wins Men's Royal RumbleTom Daugherty Kyle Troup François Lavoie Chris Via
Best Play and Best WWE Moment were in an elimination format with 16 entrants at the beginning. Best MLB Player voting was halted, mainly due to allegations of sexual assault by Trevor Bauer.
Honorary Awards
Jimmy V Award Chris Nikic, triathlon
Arthur Ashe Courage Award Maya Moore
Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award Laurent Duvernay-Tardif
Pat Tillman Award for Service Marcus Rashford, Manchester United and England national football team
Best Coach Tara VanDerveer, Stanford Cardinal women's basketball head coach
Best Championship Moment Los Angeles Dodgers win 2020 World Series
Best Championship Performance Simone Biles - gymnastics
References
External links ESPN: Serving sports fans. Anytime. Anywhere. – ESPN