Art for the 2023 ESPYS. Art for the 2023 ESPYS. (ESPN Press Room.)

Stephen Curry was the last athlete or celebrity to host ESPN”s annual ESPYS award show—at least for now.

According to The Big Lead, the 2023 version of The ESPY Awards will be without a host for the first time in the history of the event. This decision came as a result of the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike in Hollywood. Instead of having a host, The Big Lead reports that the ESPYS instead will have a variety of presenters and guests to announce the winners during the premiere on Wednesday, July 12.

The ESPYS have also had an athlete or celebrity host the event, whether it was Dennis Miller at the first-ever ESPY Awards in 1993 or Peyton Manning in 2017.

But the show must go on, and the 31st ESPYS will indeed do so next week.

While the ESPYS will be without a host this year, ESPN’s annual award show will not be without one of its most notable parts of the event, which is who receives the special awards. ESPN announced those last month, and some notable people and groups are being honored this year. Those include the U.S. women’s soccer team, Chicago White Sox pitcher Liam Hendriks, the Buffalo Bills’ training staff, and sports researcher Dr. Richard Lapchick. Lapchick will be honored at the ESPYS Preview Show on July 11 as part of the Sports Humanitarian Awards, while the USWNT, Hendriks, and the Bills staff will be honored on the main televised broadcast of the ESPYs on July 12.

[The Big Lead]

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.