Monumental’s Youth Sports Initiative Up for ESPN Humanitarian Honor
Monumental Sports & Entertainment’s youth sports program “District of Play” earned a nomination for the 2025 ESPN Corporate Community Impact Award.
The award, part of ESPN’s annual Sports Humanitarian Awards during ESPYS week, recognizes corporations that use sports to advance social causes or support community organizations. District of Play represents a multiyear, multimillion-dollar investment aimed at expanding youth sports access and building stronger communities across the District.
Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin also received recognition as a finalist for the 2025 Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award for his cancer awareness initiative, THE GR8 CHASE for Victory Over Cancer. That award honors individual athletes who demonstrate sustained community leadership with measurable positive impact.
The Sports Humanitarian Awards ceremony takes place July 15 in Los Angeles, the night before the ESPY Awards. ESPN will broadcast the event, though broadcast time has not been determined. An independent panel of industry leaders selects winners.
Ted Leonsis, founder, chairman, managing partner and CEO of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, connected the nomination to his personal experience growing up in an underprivileged household.
“As a public-school kid from an underprivileged household, sports were my lifeline,” Leonsis said. “A Police Athletic League coach once gave me my first basketball, the first I could call my own. I played with it constantly, cleaned it, and even brought it to bed. That ball changed my life.”
Leonsis said District of Play operates on the same principle — that sports access and community can transform lives. The program provided basketballs to every D.C. public elementary student.
“This nomination honors every kid who’s found purpose through play, and the tremendous impact Monumental is building in the District,” Leonsis said.
Award winners will be featured in ESPN studio programming and during The 2025 ESPYS, which airs live July 16 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC from The Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
