ESPN has announced that Shane Gillis will be hosting the 2025 ESPYS from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, Calif. on Wednesday, July 16 airing at 8 p.m. EST/PST on ABC and streaming live on ESPN+. Gillis, who is the creator and star of Tires on Netflix, is currently on an international stand-up comedy tour that spans approximately 40 cities and has already broken records in 18 arenas. Outside of his touring as a comedian, he is also a former collegiate athlete who maintains a passion for the games, and he appeared in a Super Bowl commercial alongside Post Malone and Peyton Manning.
Over the years, the ESPY Awards have had a variety of hosts from the world of sports, music and entertainment, some of whom include Tracy Morgan, Stephen Curry and Danica Patrick. Serena Williams, the winner of 23 Grand Slam singles titles, hosted the awards ceremony last summer, which ended up accruing its largest audience in five years. Gillis will be hosting this ceremony for the first time before resuming his comedy tour a few days later.
“I’m excited to be at The ESPYS this year,” Gillis said in a statement. “I like sports, so this should be a good time.”
The ESPY Awards ceremony is entering its 33rd year recognizing the most memorable moments in sports airing live on linear television. The program will also be available to stream on demand the next day on Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+. ESPN will be co-producing the ESPY Awards with Full Day Productions, which has Connor Schell and Dave Chamberlin executive producing the show from the company. Through the awards show, ESPN raises awareness and funding for the V Foundation for Cancer Research, a charity founded by the network and former basketball coach Jim Valvano at the inaugural ceremony in 1993.
“Shane is not only one of the top comedians today, but also a huge sports fan, which made him an easy choice to host The ESPYS,” Craig Lazarus, ESPN vice president and executive producer of The ESPYS, said in a statement. “We are thrilled to work with him to create an entertaining show celebrating this year’s best moments in sports and are excited to see what he’ll do on stage.”
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