No ‘ESPYs’ invite for Aliyah Boston? ESPN explains why
——Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that the “ESPYs” show venue is the 3,400-seat Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.——
Twitter was set ablaze Sunday night when the internet discovered that South Carolina superstar Aliyah Boston hadn’t received an invitation to attend ESPN’s annual award show, “The ESPYs,” even though she was nominated for the award honoring the best women’s sports college athlete.
South Carolina head women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley led the charge on Boston’s behalf.
“Like really….who in the room from @espn @ESPYS decided it was a great idea not to invite @MarchMadnessWBB NPOY DPOY….not one person was able to see the uproar this would cause? There’s definitely something wrong with the make up of the room……the fight continue….#WBBSTANDUP,” Staley said in the Twitter post, which had more than 5,400 interactions as of Monday afternoon.
On Monday, ESPN told The State that a key reason Boston did not receive an invitation because the announcement for who wins the “Best College Athlete, Women’s Sports” award will not be televised during the “ESPYs” broadcast when it airs live at 8 p.m. Wednesday.
“We have the utmost respect for Aliyah Boston, Dawn Staley and the South Carolina Gamecocks,” ESPN said in a statement. “Due to both COVID restrictions and a new venue with much less seating capacity than previous shows, ‘The 2022 ESPYs’ prioritized athlete invitations to focus on specific awards that will be handed out during the broadcast.”
Several awards presentations won’t be televised during the Wednesday “ESPYs” broadcast. The men’s and women’s college athletes of the year awards, for example, will be announced a day earlier during the event’s 7 p.m. Tuesday “preview show” on ESPN.
Boston was a nominated for the individual women’s college sports award alongside Jaelin Howell (Florida State soccer), Jocelyn Alo (Oklahoma softball) and Charlotte North (Boston College lacrosse).
The 2022 “ESPYs” will take place at the 3,400-seat Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
Alo will be the only nominee in attendance because she was also nominated for the Best Team and Best Record-Breaking Performance awards. Both of the other awards are featured in Wednesday’s live broadcast.
This story was originally published July 18, 2022 at 5:14 PM.
