| Best Game ESPY Award | |
| Awarded For: | best professional or collegiate game |
| Presenter: | ESPN |
| Location: | Microsoft Theater, Los Angeles (2017)[1] |
| Year: | 2002 |
| Holder: | 2022 NFL AFC Divisional Game: Chiefs vs Bills |
The Best Game ESPY Award is an annual award honoring the achievements of a team who has performed the best play in the world of sports.[2] It was first awarded as part of the ESPY Awards in 2002. The Best Game ESPY Award trophy, designed by sculptor Lawrence Nowlan,[3] is awarded to the team on the single regular season or playoff game contested professionally under the auspices of one of the four major North American leagues or collegiately under the auspices of the National Collegiate Athletic Association adjudged, in view of its quality, competitiveness, excitement, and significance, to be the best. Since 2004, the winner has been chosen by online voting through choices selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee.[4] Before that, determination of the winners was made by an panel of experts.[5] Through the 2001 iteration of the ESPY Awards, ceremonies were conducted in February of each year to honor achievements over the previous calendar year; awards presented thereafter are conferred in July and reflect performance from the June previous.[6]
The inaugural winner of the Best Game ESPY Award in 2002 was the seventh game of the 2001 World Series which decided that year's baseball title in favour of the expansion team Arizona Diamondbacks over the New York Yankees. The following year's recipient of the accolade went to Ohio State University Buckeyes in their 2003 Fiesta Bowl victory over the University of Miami Hurricanes. College football games have won the award three times and earned another two nominations after American football which has the most wins of any other sport with eight awards and six nominations while basketball and ice hockey games each have one victory each. The 2018 winner of the Best Game ESPY Award is the 2018 Winter Olympics women's ice hockey gold medal game in which the United States team won against Canada's squad in a 3–2 shootout victory to claim their first gold medal in women's ice hockey since the 1998 Winter Games.[7] The award wasn't awarded in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2023 and 2024.
| scope=col | Year | scope=col | Game/event | scope=col | Date | scope=col | League/governing body | scope=col | Sport | scope=col | Winners | scope=col | Losers | scope=col | Score | scope=col class=unsortable | Nominees | scope=col class=unsortable | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 2001 World Series, game seven | November 4, 2001 | Major League Baseball | Baseball | Arizona Diamondbacks | New York Yankees | 3–2 | align=left | Super Bowl XXXVI – New England Patriots vs. St. Louis Rams Women's Olympic Figure Skating at the 2002 Winter Olympics | [8] [9] [10] | |||||||||
| 2003 | 2003 Fiesta Bowl | January 3, 2003 | NCAA Division I-A | College football | University of Miami Hurricanes | 31–24 (double overtime) | align=left | 2003 Australian Open – Men's singles: Andy Roddick vs. Younes El Aynaoui 2002 NFC wild card game – San Francisco 49ers vs. New York Giants 2002 World Series, game six – Anaheim Angels vs. San Francisco Giants | [11] [12] [13] | ||||||||||
| 2004 | Super Bowl XXXVIII | February 1, 2004 | National Football League | American football | New England Patriots | Carolina Panthers | 32–29 | align=left | 2003 ALCS, game seven – New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox 2003 Little League World Series – Saugus vs. Richmond 2004 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament – Saint Joseph's vs. Oklahoma State | [14] [15] [16] | |||||||||
| 2004 American League Championship Series, game five | October 18, 2004 | Boston Red Sox | New York Yankees | 5–4 | align=left | 2005 Rose Bowl – Michigan Wolverines vs. Texas Longhorns 2005 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament –Michigan vs. Kentucky | [17] [18] [19] | ||||||||||||
| 2006 Rose Bowl | January 4, 2006 | College football | University of Texas Longhorns | University of Southern California Trojans | 41–38 | align=left | Houston Astros vs. Atlanta Braves – National League Division Series, game four Andre Agassi vs. James Blake – 2005 US Open Quarter-Finals | [20] [21] | |||||||||||
| 2007 Fiesta Bowl | January 1, 2007 | College football | University of Oklahoma Sooners | 43–42 (overtime) | align=left | 2007 AFC Championship Game – Indianapolis Colts vs. New England Patriots Oklahoma State vs. Texas triple overtime game | [22] [23] [24] | ||||||||||||
| Super Bowl XLII | February 3, 2008 | National Football League | American football | New York Giants | New England Patriots | 17–14 | align=left | 2008 NBA Finals, game four – Boston Celtics vs. Los Angeles Lakers 2008 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game | [25] [26] [27] | ||||||||||
| Super Bowl XLIII | February 1, 2009 | National Football League | American football | Arizona Cardinals | 27–23 | align=left | Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal – 2008 Wimbledon men's singles final 2009 Connecticut vs. Syracuse men's basketball game | [28] [29] [30] | |||||||||||
| 2010 | Winter Olympics men's hockey gold-medal game | February 28, 2010 | International Olympic Committee | Ice hockey | Canada | United States | 3–2 (overtime) | align=left | 2009 American League Central tie-breaker game – Detroit Tigers vs. Minnesota Twins 2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game – Duke Blue Devils vs. Butler Bulldogs | [31] [32] [33] | |||||||||
| 2011 | NFL Week 15 game | December 19, 2010 | National Football League | American football | Philadelphia Eagles | New York Giants | 38–31 | align=left | 2010 Iron Bowl – Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Auburn Tigers Butler Bulldogs' upset against Pittsburgh Panthers Oklahoma City edges Memphis in the NBA Playoffs | [34] [35] | |||||||||
| 2012 | 2012 NFC Divisional Playoffs | January 14, 2012 | National Football League | American football | San Francisco 49ers | New Orleans Saints | 36–32 | align=left | [36] [37] | ||||||||||
| 2013 | 2013 NBA Finals, game six | June 18, 2013 | National Basketball Association | Basketball | Miami Heat | San Antonio Spurs | 103–100 | align=left | 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs – Boston Bruins vs Toronto Maple Leafs Mile High Miracle – Baltimore Ravens vs. Denver Broncos | [38] [39] [40] | |||||||||
| 2013 Iron Bowl | November 30, 2013 | NCAA Division I FBS | American football | Auburn Tigers | Alabama Crimson Tide | 34–28 | align=left | 2014 Stanley Cup Finals, game five – New York Rangers vs. Los Angeles Kings 2014 AFC Wild Card Game – Indianapolis Colts vs. Kansas City Chiefs | [41] [42] [43] | ||||||||||
| Super Bowl XLIX | February 1, 2015 | National Football League | American football | New England Patriots | Seattle Seahawks | 28–24 | align=left | 2014 American League Wild Card Game – Oakland Athletics vs. Kansas City Royals 2015 NBA Western Conference Semifinals – San Antonio Spurs vs. Los Angeles Clippers | [44] [45] [46] | ||||||||||
| 2016 | 2016 NBA Finals, game seven | June 19, 2016 | National Basketball Association | Basketball | Cleveland Cavaliers | Golden State Warriors | 93–89 | align=left | 2015 NFL Playoffs – Arizona Cardinals vs. Green Bay Packers 2016 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament – Villanova Wildcats vs. North Carolina Tar Heels | [47] [48] | |||||||||
| 2017 | Super Bowl LI | February 5, 2017 | National Football League | Atlanta Falcons | 34–28 (overtime) | align=left | 2016 World Series, game seven – Chicago Cubs vs. Cleveland Indians 2017 Australian Open – Men's singles final: Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal | [49] [50] [51] | |||||||||||
| 2018 | 2018 Winter Olympics women's ice hockey gold medal game | February 23, 2018 | International Olympic Committee | Canada women's national ice hockey team | 3–2 (Shootout) | align=left | 2017 World Series, game five – Houston Astros vs. Los Angeles Dodgers 2018 Rose Bowl between the Georgia Bulldogs and Oklahoma Sooners | [52] [53] | |||||||||||
| 2019 | 2018 Kansas City Chiefs–Los Angeles Rams game | November 19, 2018 | National Football League | American Football | Los Angeles Rams | Kansas City Chiefs | 54–51 | align=left | 2018 game between the Texas A&M Aggies and LSU Tigers and the 2019 Women's Final Four game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Connecticut Huskies. | ||||||||||
| 2020 | Not awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | 2021 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament | April 3, 2021 | NCAA | College basketball | Gonzaga | UCLA | 93–90 (overtime) | align=left | 2021 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament national championship game between Stanford and Arizona, the 2020 NFL game between the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns and Game 4 of the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs between the Winnipeg Jets and the Edmonton Oilers. | ||||||||||
| 2022 | 2022 NFL playoffs AFC Divisional Game | January 23, 2022 | National Football League | American football | Buffalo Bills | 42–36 (overtime) | align=left | 2022 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament game between UConn and NC State, the 2022 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game between the North Carolina Tar Heels and Kansas Jayhawks and the November 21, 2021 Iron Bowl game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Auburn Tigers. | |||||||||||
| 2023 | Not awarded | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | Not awarded | ||||||||||||||||||
. American Sports: A History of Icons, Idols and Ideas. Murry R. Nelson. ABC-CLIO. 2013. 978-0-313-39753-0. Santa Barbara, California. 399–401. June 24, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20180123190837/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=tfTXAQAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=American+Sports:+A+History+of+Icons,+Idols+and+Ideas&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi1jbbW4-3YAhWkK8AKHWosCrIQ6AEIJzAA#v=onepage&q=ESPY&f=false. January 23, 2018. live. mdy-all.