The award-winning ESPN “My Wish” series returns for its 18th season on Sunday, July 13, and will feature NFL, boxing, and baseball stars. Since its beginning in 2006, the series has worked with Make-A-Wish to fulfill 88 sports-themed wishes for children with critical illnesses.
This year’s series of wishes will feature Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson, Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud, boxing champion Canelo Alvarez and the beloved Savannah Bananas.
Working together with Make-A-Wish, ESPN produces feature segments on each wish to air on SportsCenter with the first wish of this year’s series debuting in the 7 a.m. ET hour on Sunday, July 13. A new feature will debut in the 7 a.m. edition of SportsCenter on Monday through Thursday, July 14-16, with a Best of My Wish Recap Feature airing on July 17 to wrap up this season’s series. All features will re-air multiple times in various editions of SportsCenter and will be available on ESPN.com/mywish. The Jefferson and Stroud features will also air on NFL Live during the week.
This year, the “My Wish” series will feature an updated version of the classic song, “My Wish,” sung by Grammy Award-winning artists Rascal Flatts. The song, which has been used since the series’ inception, will now include a collaboration with Grammy Award-winning country artist, Carly Pearce.
Chris Connelly has hosted the ESPN “My Wish” series since its start and returns this season to tell these stories. “Nearly 20 years after I started hosting My Wish, I am just as inspired by these children and their families as I was in 2006,” said Connelly. “I’m honored that I can play even a small part in making these well-deserving kids’ dreams come true.”
The 2025 ESPN “My Wish” series on SportsCenter segments include:
- Sunday July 13 – Justin Jefferson/Minnesota Vikings: Fourteen-year-old Aiden and his 17-year-old brother Ryan have a special bond. The two natives of Minnesota, love football, and as Aiden battled leukemia last year, Ryan matched as his bone-marrow donor. So, when Aiden chose to spend time with the Minnesota Vikings and star wide receiver Justin Jefferson for his wish, he insisted that his big brother be at his side to enjoy the day too.
- Monday July 14 – The Savannah Bananas: Whether it’s playing flag football or baseball, Barrett “Bear” of Virginia, looks like the typical, sports-crazy 11-year-old, and he stays active despite his genetic condition. His wish was to be a Savannah Banana for a day, where the team required him to have “the most fun of your life.”
- Tuesday July 15th – C.J. Stroud/Houston Texans: John would often look out of his hospital window in Houston and see the stadium where the Texans played. Even though he’s a Dallas native, he’d hoped to see his favorite team sometime as he recovered from a series of open-heart surgeries that began when he was just a few days old. For his wish, John asked to meet Texans star quarterback C.J. Stroud, where the two connected on the field and at a spiritual level.
- Wednesday July 16th – Canelo Alvarez: Inside an Arizona boxing gym, a heavy bag snaps as 14-year-old Alejandro crushes it with his left hook as he chases his dream of becoming a boxer one day. Along with sparring and shadow boxing, his routine also includes breathing treatments to manage his cystic fibrosis. Alejandro’s wish was to meet his boxing idol, two-time undisputed super-middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez.
- Thursday July 17 – Best Of My Wish Recap Feature: Connelly looks back at each of our wish kids’ courageous journeys and recaps the best moments of each story.
Versions of the wish videos will be shared on ESPN social media platforms.
About The Walt Disney Company and Make-A-Wish®
The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, including ESPN, is committed to delivering happiness and comfort to children facing serious illnesses.
This includes Disney’s efforts with Make-A-Wish. Disney and Make-A-Wish have worked together to grant more than 165,000 life-changing wishes since the first wish was granted nearly 45 years ago at Disneyland Resort. Wishes range from theme park visits to movie premieres, character meet-and-greets and sports events.
Disney is the world’s largest wish granter for Make-A-Wish, granting a wish every hour of every day. To learn more about Disney and ESPN’s wish-granting efforts to deliver happiness and joy when its needed most, visit wish.org/MyWish.
About Make-A-Wish®
Make-A-Wish creates life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses. Founded in Phoenix, Arizona, Make-A-Wish is the #1 most trusted nonprofit operating locally in all 50 states throughout the U.S. Together with generous donors, supporters, staff and more than 20,000 volunteers across the country, Make-A-Wish delivers hope and joy to children and their families when they need it most. Make-A-Wish aims to bring the power of wishing to every child with a critical illness because wish experiences can help improve emotional and physical health. Since 1980, Make-A-Wish has granted more than 615,000 wishes worldwide; more than 390,000 wishes in the U.S. and its territories alone. For more information about Make-A-Wish America, visit wish.org.
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Media Contact:
ESPN:
Beatrix.Panitz@espn.com
Andy.Hall@espn.com
Make-A-Wish:
jsandys@wish.org
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