Now that Drake has been "officially official" confirmed to host this year's ESPY Awards, the question begs itself: who are the nominees this year?

Well, first off, the official ESPY event isn't until July 16, where it will be held at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. The voting, too, for the event begins on June 25... so as of right now, we don't know who the nominees are, or who are some early favorites to win! But stay tuned to this space for more details.

An ESPY Award (short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award) is an accolade presented by the American cable television network ESPN to recognize individual and team athletic achievement and other sports-related performance during the calendar year preceding a given annual ceremony. The first ESPYs were awarded in 1993. Because of the ceremony's rescheduling prior to the 2002 iteration thereof, awards presented in 2002 were for achievement and performances during the 17-plus months previous. As the similarly styled Grammy (for music), Emmy (for television), Academy Award (for film), and Tony (for theatre), the ESPYs are hosted by a contemporary celebrity; the style, though, is more relaxed, light, and self-referential than that of many other awards shows, with comedic sketches usually included.

From their inception to 2004, ESPY Award winners were chosen only through voting by fans. Since 2004, sportswriters, broadcasters, sports executives, and sportspersons, collectively experts; or ESPN personalities also vote. Award winners have been selected thereafter exclusively through online fan balloting conducted from amongst candidates selected by the ESPY Select Nominating Committee.

The ceremonies have been hosted variously by comedians, television and film actors, and sportspeople. American film actor Samuel L. Jackson is the only individual to have hosted four times (in 1999, 2001, 2002, and 2009); American comedian Dennis Miller, American film actor and singer Jamie Foxx, and actor and comedian Seth Meyers are the only others to have hosted the awards ceremonies more than once.