Mina Kimes to Host 2026 Scripps Spelling Bee

ESPN NFL analyst Mina Kimes will host the 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee, organizers announced Tuesday, marking the event's first celebrity host since LeVar Burton in 2022. The competition, set for May 26 to 28 at Constitution Hall in downtown Washington, will feature 247 spellers vying for a trophy and more than $50,000 in cash and prizes.

Kimes, a 40-year-old Yale graduate known for her data-driven breakdowns of football players and coaches, brings personal experience to the role. She won her elementary school spelling bees in second, third and fifth grades, though she never reached the national stage. Organizers hope her sports perspective will infuse the 101-year-old event with a "big-game feel."

"My goal in this is to give it the big-game feel," Kimes told the Associated Press. "Any event that requires skill and knowledge and preparation can have that feel if it's presented with enough care and pride on television."

The hiring is part of a broader broadcast overhaul by E.W. Scripps, which took over production from ESPN in 2022 and shifted airings to its networks ION and Bounce. Scripps has enlisted award-winning production company Embassy Row, led by executive producer...