Between 1993 and 2004, the award voting panel comprised variously fans; sportswriters and broadcasters, sports executives, and retired sportspersons, termed collectively experts; and ESPN personalities, but balloting thereafter has been exclusively by fans over the Internet from amongst choices selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee.
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 June and reflect performance from the June previous.
Roger Federer is the only male player to win the award eight and nine times.
Pete Sampras, Federer, and Novak Djokovic are the only players to have won the award in consecutive seasons.
Federer and Sampras have won the award six consecutive times, a record.