Saturday Night Live‘s Marcello Hernández will host the The 2026 ESPYs, the awards show celebrating achievements in sports.
This year’s ESPYs return to New York City, where the show will air live from the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center on Wednesday, July 15, at 8 pm ET/7 pm CT on ABC.
The show will also stream on ESPN+ on the ESPN App in pattern with ABC airings across time zones and be available to stream next day on Hulu, the ESPN App and ABC Video on Demand.
Said Hernández in a statement, “I started doing comedy 10 years ago in Cleveland, Ohio, and I would take the train 12 hours to New York to sell comedy tickets on the street in Greenwich Village in exchange for stage time. It is an honor, and frankly feels crazy to be hosting The ESPYs this year in New York. I’m sure the energy is going to be great.”
“Marcello is one of the most electric, young comedians today,” said Craig Lazarus, ESPN vice president and The ESPYs executive producer. “His genuine enthusiasm for sports and his ties to New York City make him a natural fit to host this year’s ESPYs. We are excited to partner with him to celebrate the best moments in sports and look forward to the fresh take he’ll bring to the show.”
Hernández’s role as host follows his debut comedy special Marcello Hernández: American Boy, which premiered in January and was a Top 10 Netflix global hit. In 2025, he was recognized by Time as one of the year’s Latino Leaders.
Previous hosts of the ESPYs include Jimmy Kimmel, John Cena, LeBron James, Peyton Manning, Russell Wilson, Samuel L. Jackson, Serena Williams, Shane Gillis, Stephen Curry, Sue Bird and Tracy Morgan.
The show is co-produced by ESPN, Full Day Productions, the live production arm of Words + Pictures, and Fanatics Studios, a Fanatics and OBB company. The show is executive produced by Connor Schell, Dave Chamberlin and Jennifer Aiello for Full Day and Michael D. Ratner, Kfir Goldberg and Camille Maratchi for Fanatics Studios.
