The Esports Awards 2026 presented by Thunderpick returns to the United States on Nov. 17, this time in sunny Miami. As a headline partner, we’re bringing the industry’s most distinguished players, teams, creators, and leaders together for an unforgettable evening celebrating and recognizing excellence.
This year’s finalists give us plenty to talk about, from ZywOo’s mechanical brilliance in Counter-Strike 2 to Caedrel’s detailed League of Legends analysis. Check out our Esports Awards 2026 betting predictions across every category to see who we think will take home the silverware.
You can lock in your predictions for Esports Awards 2026 now.
Important: All odds and statistics are accurate as of Nov. 11, 2026. This analysis should not be interpreted as betting advice. Past performance does not guarantee future outcomes. Always gamble responsibly.
Esports Awards 2026 Overview
Esports Awards 2026 Schedule & Voting Rules
The Esports Awards 2026 will celebrate its 11th anniversary on Nov. 17 at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County in Miami, Florida. The broadcast is set to go live at 1 p.m. PT | 4 p.m. ET | 9 p.m. GMT.
In addition to the ceremony, the in-person program includes the Esports Awards Invitational, Lifetime Achievement Mixer, and PWR UP B2B Conference.
An expert panel and the public will decide most award winners, weighted by a 75%/25% split. The community votes on the Streamer, Personality, Content Creator, Content Group, and Play of the Year awards, while the judges will determine the Panel’s Choice winner.
How to Watch the Esports Awards 2026
You can watch the Esports Awards 2026 for free on Twitch, YouTube, X, Rumble, and SOOP, with additional broadcasts syndicated across multiple television partners and official co-streams.
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Our Predictions for Esports Awards 2026
Our Esports Awards 2026 predictions cover the following four main groups:
Entertainment (games, streamers, creators, and personalities), Industry (tournament organizers, commercial partners, and supporting services), Pro (players, coaches, teams, and organizations), and On-Air Talent (hosts, analysts, and casters). At the end, we’ll also share our pick for the Esports Play of the Year (the most impressive highlight).
Esports Tournament Organizer of the Year
BLAST takes our vote after organizing some of the year’s highest-profile events.
The scale of their operation is hard to argue with. This year alone, BLAST ran 119 tournaments across six major esports titles, peaking at 1.01 million viewers and paying out roughly $23.2 million in combined prize money.
BLAST are favorites to win, with outright odds of 1.72 implying a 58.14% chance of winning.
Nominees:
- ESL FACEIT Group (EFG)
- Riot Games
- BLAST
- EVO
- Esports Foundation
- Hero Esports
- MOONTON Games
- Activision Blizzard
- TiMi Studio Group
Esports Analyst of the Year
Emily Rand is our pick, having built a reputation beyond just flashy hot takes.
Emily draws on her background as an award-winning esports journalist, bringing real analytical rigor to the League pro scene. She also has a penchant for simplifying complex macro plays, without watering down any details.
Nominees:
- TBates
- NAMELESS
- Quinn
- Mauisnake
- kaquka
- Jhawk
- Alphama
- Emily Rand
- Pimp
- Ephey
- Raz
Esports Host of the Year
Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere earns our pick as a longstanding face of the LEC and one of the most influential women in esports.
Her trophy cabinet speaks for itself. She won three straight Best Esports Host awards at The Game Awards (2018–2020), plus last year’s Esports On-Air Talent of the Decade award. Need we say more?
Nominees:
- Iain Chambers
- SirActionSlacks
- Sjokz
- GlitterXplosion
- Barney Banks
- Freya Spiers
- Raynday
- Soe
- Stax
- Puckett
Esports Color Caster of the Year
Chad “SPUNJ” Burchill takes our vote as the year’s best color caster, building on his strong track record of talent and broadcast awards.
A former pro, SPUNJ has been a familiar voice at major Counter-Strike tournaments, delivering insane tactical insight and insider knowledge with incredible authenticity. He has set the gold standard behind the mic, balancing the emotion of a clutch with expert commentary.
Nominees:
- Gaskin
- Sideshow
- Fogged
- SPUNJ
- Jamesbot
- Chance
- launders
- CJCJ
- Pengu
- Azael
- GottMoxi
Esports Play-by-Play Caster of the Year
Owen “ODPixel” Davies gets our vote for turning chaotic Dota 2 teamfights into pure broadcast gold.
His rapid delivery and memorable chatlines have long captured hearts, but his ability to make sense of the mayhem at The International 2026 is unmatched. Beyond that, the “Rap God” of Dota has exceptional chemistry, pairing explosive play-by-play with Fogged’s high-level reads.
Nominees:
- Machine
- VikkiKitty
- Scrawny
- ODPixel
- Brandon Smith
- Miles Ross
- Onset
- Tasty Steve
- Uber
- Jorby
- Achilios
- Atlus
Esports Coach of the Year
Rémy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam has earned our vote after leading the “Vitality” era early this year.
His trophy haul includes Kraków, Cluj-Napoca, Rotterdam, Rio, BLAST Rivals Season 1, StarSeries Fall, and EPL Season 24 – plus a second Intel Grand Slam! Even with a rockstar roster, you cannot deny that XTQZZZ brings out the best in his team.
Nominees:
- XTQZZZ
- Karma
- Miposhka
- Puppey
- cvMax
- Coldstar
- Homme
- RafadeLL
- sycrone
Esports Organization of the Year
All Gamers (AG.AL) takes our pick after winning the Esports World Cup (EWC 2026) Club Championship.
Their run included multiple podium finishes, finishing 1st in TEKKEN 8 and Trackmania, 2nd in Chess, Free Fire, and Honor of Kings, and 3rd in Teamfight Tactics. This success alone makes a compelling case for an award recognizing the organization as a whole.
Nominees:
- AG.AL
- Team Vitality
- Team Falcons
- Team Spirit
- Gentle Mates
- Karmine Corp
- T1
- G2 Esports
- NAVI
- Team Liquid
- Virtus.pro
- FaZe Clan
Esports Controller Player of the Year
Brandon “Dashy” Otell gets our vote after helping OpTic grow from strength to strength this year.
Even without the CDL 2026 Playoffs title, Dashy has demonstrated elite gun skill, finishing 2nd at CDL Majors 1–3, 1st at CDL Major 4, and defending his title at EWC 2026. His impact goes well beyond the kill feed, which is why this award feels especially deserved.
Nominees:
- M. Zubair
- MenaRD
- Dashy
- Simp
- Rw9
- Nass
- Vatira
- Arslan Ash
Esports PC Player of the Year
3x Major Champion and 3x Major MVP Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut takes our vote again.
Vitality’s star AWPer has collected six more HLTV MVP medals this year, taking his career total to 34. He leads with a 1.39 rating, averaging 86.7 ADR and 0.85 KPR across 140 maps. With that mix of hardware and numbers, it’s hard to argue against one of the best CS2 players.
Nominees:
- ZywOo
- Yatoro
- donk
- Peyz
- Bin
- Asuna
- vic0
- Blinkzr
- Cyber
- Terra
Esports Team of the Year
Team Vitality has shown an extraordinarily high level of play throughout the year.
Vitality’s seven victories and ESL Grand Slam support sustained success beyond a single championship run alone. Their wins at StarSeries Fall and EPL Season 24 also proved they could recover after a quieter summer.
Nominees:
- Team Vitality (Counter-Strike 2)
- OpTic Texas (Call of Duty)
- PARIVISION (Dota 2)
- Bilibili Gaming (League of Legends)
- Team Spirit (Counter-Strike 2)
- 100 Thieves (VALORANT)
- Team Spirit (Dota 2)
- Gentle Mates (Rocket League)
- FaZe Clan (Rainbow Six Siege)
- Team Falcons (Rocket League)
Esports Breakthrough Player of the Year
M. Zubair stole the show at EWC 2026 after producing one of the year’s biggest breakthrough stories.
The AG.AL player fought through the Last Chance Qualifier to lift the TEKKEN 8 trophy, sweeping former EVO champion Yoon “LowHigh” Sun-woong 5–0 in the final. He later received the Jafonso Award for that dominant run.
Nominees:
- Craime
- Neon
- kyousuke
- molodoy
- shxrk
- M. Zubair
- Nium
- not me
- Smash
- Sayonara
Esports Supporting Service of the Year
Liquipedia, aka the “Wikipedia of esports,” gets our vote as being one of the most complete and reliable esports resources out there. They’re also the heavy favorites, with an outright price of 1.50 giving them a 66.67% implied probability of taking the whole thing.
Nominees:
- ESG Law
- JAM Management
- Prodigy SEG
- The Story Mob
- Character Select Agency
- Esports Charts
- FACEIT
- Odin Law and Media
- Shikenso Analytics
- GRID Esports
- Liquipedia
Esports Commercial Partner of the Year
Red Bull has our vote, with odds of 2.00 giving them a 50.0% shot to win it all.
They’ve remained deeply involved in esports, investing heavily in athletes, tournaments, and teams. In June, G2 Esports unveiled its Berlin-based Performance Lab, backed by Red Bull to study and professionalize esports player development, giving even more reason to back them.
Nominees:
- Red Bull
- Razer
- Intel
- Logitech G
- Monster Energy
- Blacklyte
- Chipotle
- Coinbase
- iQOO
- Pulsar
- Sony INZONE
Esports Personality of the Year
Animesh “8Bit Thug” Agarwal is our narrow pick in a category that’s decided entirely by fans.
The S8UL co-founder won the award last year and returns after yet another year of massive global exposure. Beyond his role in transforming S8UL into a global powerhouse, Thug’s strong Indian fanbase gives him a realistic shot at winning the community vote again.
Nominees:
- Kameto
- Jynxzi
- Gotaga
- Caedrel
- Faker
- Ibai
- Clix
- Boaster
- Thug
- Shotzzy
- Magnus Carlsen
- Sjokz
Esports Mobile Game of the Year
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang gets our vote, with odds of 1.83 making it the clear favorite.
The M7 World Championship pulled in a record 5.7 million peak concurrent viewers, nearly double that of Worlds. Across 71 tournaments, almost $6.7 million was awarded, giving MLBB a strong case against defending champion PUBG Mobile.
Nominees:
- Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
- Honor of Kings
- PUBG Mobile
- Free Fire
- Brawl Stars
- Identity V
Esports Game of the Year
At outright odds of 1.95, League of Legends is our pick to win Esports Game of the Year, but the numbers only tell part of the story.
Worlds led viewership across PC esports tournaments, and the scale of its regional leagues makes it hard to leave out of the conversation. Its development pathways also continue to give emerging talent a shot at reaching the top, while regular balance changes support the evolving meta.
Nominees:
- Counter-Strike 2
- League of Legends
- VALORANT
- Fortnite
- Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
- Rocket League
- Honor of Kings
- Dota 2
- PUBG Mobile
- Call of Duty
- Apex Legends
- Rainbow Six Siege
Esports Content Creator of the Year
Marc “Caedrel” Lamont has our vote, mixing expert hot takes and entertainment.
With a Twitch peak of 420,319 viewers in 2026, Caedrel has the League audience to back his case. His Worlds 2026 Swiss Stage co-streams alone generated 12.65 million hours watched. That’s roughly four times runner-up Kameto’s total and almost 32% of all community-streamer watch hours combined.
At odds of 1.25 outright, Caedrel has been given an 80.0% chance of winning the award.
Nominees:
- Jynxzi
- Gotaga
- Caedrel
- ZooMaa
- FNS
- TacticalRab
- NiceWigg
- mixwell
- Hungrybox
- TenZ
- TheDonato
Esports Content Group of the Year
Although Karmine Corp lead outrights at 2.00, S8UL Esports is our pick, entering the running with four straight titles in this category.
The state-of-the-art S8UL Gaming House in Mumbai acts as a major content hub for over 25 of India’s top gaming creators, including Snax, Mortal, Scout, and more. Given their ability to reach a massive audience, S8UL is a strong favorite to win another community-voted award.
Nominees:
- Gentle Mates
- OpTic Gaming
- Rocket Baguette
- Team Spirit
- 100 Thieves
- G2 Esports
- Karmine Corp
- NRG
- S8UL Esports
- T1
- GodLike Esports
- Team Vitality
Streamer of the Year
iShowSpeed seems likely to defend his 2025 Streamer of the Year title.
As one of the most unscripted personalities, few streamers match Speed’s energy and entertainment value. He attracts some of the most viral clips, averaging a mind-blowing 12.8 million views daily on YouTube and 26,070 concurrent viewers on Twitch.
But don’t take our word for it. Outright odds of 1.15 give Speed an 86.96% implied probability of winning the award.
Nominees:
- Jynxzi
- Caedrel
- iShowSpeed
- TheBurntPeanut
- Kai Cenat
- ohnePixel
- CaseOh
- Coringa
- JasonTheWeen
- StableRonaldo
- Cinna
- Snax Gaming
Esports Play of the Year
Nikola “NiKo” Kovač’s clutch ace against Vitality at the BLAST Bounty Season 1 Finals is our pick.
The five-kill round finished with an insane 1v2 clutch on Inferno and helped Falcons take the series 2–1. That performance already won the Esports Play of the Month in January, and we’re backing it to go all the way again.
Nominees:
- “04”
- Xeriongdh
- Oski
- Spoit
- Jume
- NiKo
- Atow.
- Alluka
- ReeaL
The Stage Is Set for the Esports Awards 2026
From ZywOo and Team Vitality headlining the pro categories to Caedrel, iShowSpeed, and S8UL leading the fan-voted awards, the 11th anniversary of the Esports Awards in Miami brings every corner of the competitive gaming world under one roof.
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