ESPY Awards

The year’s biggest celebration of all things sports happens on July 17, 2019 when the 27th edition of the ESPY Awards airs in Los Angeles. It’s like the Oscars-meets-sports, when the world’s best athletes and teams walk the red carpet to be honored for their achievements that year. To celebrate the big night, we’ve put together everything you need to throw your own ESPY Awards Viewing Party at home, including decorations, game ideas and a menu inspired by some of the biggest ESPY Award winners.

Do Sport with Style

Stop by your local party store and tastefully pick out a few decorations. Choose one or two fun accents – like these cocktail napkins or this Game Day tablecloth – and then go online for these sporty wine charms. Before the show, pour everyone a glass of Francis Ford Coppola Diamond Collection Claret, and play a quick round of sports trivia.

Fantasy Team Duos

Each year, fantasy sports gets more and more popular. According to the Fantasy Sports Trade Association, 56.8 million people played in some sort of fantasy league last year! So we decided to do some fantasizing of our own to create a menu for your ESPY Award Viewing Party. First, we paired up some of the biggest winners of ESPY Awards in what we think would be killer Fantasy Team Duos. Then we imagined what kind of food they’d bring if the duos crashed your viewing party – with food and drink in hand!

Fantasy Team Duo #1: Vonn and Sorenstam

Imagine if Annika Sörenstam and Lindsey Vonn – two winners of multiple ESPYs for Best Female Athlete — brought an hors d’oeuvre to your party. You may not think that the best female golfer in history and the queen of the slopes would have much in common, but they do: They’re both Scandinavian! Sörenstam hails from Sweden, and Vonn has Norwegian ancestry so we could see them making Roasted Potato Pancakes with Smoked Salmon to honor that region’s love of salmon and pancakes in all forms.

Fantasy Team Duo #2: Kim and Rousey

California-style would be the theme if snowboarder Chloe Kim and mixed martial artist Rhonda Rousey – both multiple ESPY Award winners – teamed up in the kitchen. Since these champions were born and raised in the Los Angeles area, we could see them bringing a healthy salad packed with vitamins and antioxidants, such as this Celery Root and Celery Leaf Salad. Serve with Sofia Brut Rose.

Fantasy Team Duo #3: Woods and Hamm

Imagine if Tiger Woods and Mia Hamm – multiple winners of ESPY Awards for Best Male Athlete and Best Female Athlete — were to cook main courses for your Viewing Party? You’d likely have a ton of paparazzi in front of your house — but you’d also probably have two equally impressive dishes. Woods would use tiger shrimp to make Monkfish and Shrimp Skewers, and Hamm would make a ham, of course, like this Roasted Ham with Maple Bourbon Glaze with Francis Ford Coppola Diamond Collection Pavilion Chardonnay.

Fantasy Team Duo #4: Manning and Williams

Can you say fantasy duo of the year? We’d love to see Serena Williams and Peyton Manning — who’ve won the most ESPY Awards of all time (11 and 9 respectively) – pair up to do something together, even if it’s just to make dessert! Manning would probably make Mamma’s Bread Pudding with Hot Buttered Rum Sauce, a time-honored dish that celebrates his hometown’s culinary heritage of New Orleans, and Serena would bring in-season cherries from her home state of Michigan.