ESPN is moving up and scaling down the ESPY Awards.
ESPN announced Tuesday that it has canceled all live events associated with this year’s ESPY Awards and that the event will instead take place in an unspecified altered form. The show will take place June 21, earlier than its usual mid-July date, and air on ESPN rather than on ABC.
The alterations to the ESPYs are due to pandemic-related concerns about hosting large gatherings.
In a statement announcing the move, ESPN said the altered ESPY broadcast will continue to include its signature elements, including the Arthur Ashe and Jimmy V awards.
The ESPYs had aired on ABC since 2015. The event averaged its five largest audiences in its five years on the broadcast network.
The new June 21 date is the earliest for the ESPYs since it last took place in February in 2001. June 21 was the original date for a Game 7 of the NBA Finals, but that event will take place much later in the summer if it takes place at all.
Typically, the ESPYs takes place during the empty stretch between the MLB All-Star Game and the resumption of the MLB season.
[News from ESPN PR 5.5]
