Longtime sports broadcaster Chris Berman has been named a 2026 Disney Legend, one of 13 honorees receiving The Walt Disney Company's highest honor at this year's D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, according to the company. The Disney Legends Award ceremony, hosted by Ryan Seacrest, will close out the multi-day fan gathering presented by Visa, which the company describes as a showcase of creative storytelling and innovation across its entertainment, television and theme park divisions.
Berman, a familiar voice to generations of ESPN viewers, is being recognized alongside a broad mix of performers, executives, animators and business leaders. The full 2026 class includes Berman, film and television producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Broadway actress Susan Egan, animator Eric Goldberg, actress Anne Hathaway, former and current Disney chief executive Bob Iger, Imagineer Kim Irvine, actor and producer Dwayne Johnson, pop group the Jonas Brothers, composer and performer Lin-Manuel Miranda, and actor Alan Tudyk, the company said in materials tied to the D23 event.
The Disney Legends Award was created to celebrate individuals whose work has left a lasting imprint on the company, spanning categories from animation and live-action film to music, television and theme park design. Berman's inclusion underscores the honor's reach beyond traditional Disney storytelling into the sports broadcasting empire built around ESPN, which Disney has owned a majority stake in since the 1990s. Berman spent decades as one of ESPN's signature on-air personalities, known for his work on SportsCenter and NFL coverage, making him a recognizable face of the network's identity long before this recognition.
While Disney's own materials frame the 13 honorees as a single class being celebrated together at D23, the individual honorees represent distinctly different corners of the company's history. Susan Egan, for instance, is being honored for her stage and voice work, having originated the role of Belle in the Broadway production of Disney's Beauty and the Beast and voiced Meg in the 1997 animated feature Hercules, according to Spectrum News NY1. The outlet noted that Egan's recognition arrives alongside a broader wave of attention to her career, including a recent on-stage interview about her Disney legacy conducted by NY1's Frank DiLella, who also spoke with New York native Rosie O'Donnell about her new off-Broadway show, Common Knowledge.
The Jonas Brothers, meanwhile, are being recognized in the Television and Music category, according to Disney, reflecting their two-decade relationship with the company that began with their signing to Hollywood Records in 2007. In an exclusive Q&A released by Disney, all three brothers described the honor as a career milestone rooted in childhood. Nick Jonas called the recognition surreal, tracing the group's history with Disney back to the early 2000s and crediting the company's belief in the band as a driving force behind their rise. Joe Jonas recalled singing the Beauty and the Beast song Gaston as one of his first words, while Kevin Jonas said the family was drawn into the Disney orbit early, from the band's Disney Channel series JONAS through the Camp Rock films.
The brothers also detailed how quickly their career trajectory changed once Disney began promoting their music. Nick Jonas said their crowds went from a few hundred people to thousands almost overnight after Disney Channel started airing the video for their song Year 3000, following an earlier album that had not found an audience on a previous label. Joe Jonas credited the partnership with giving the band creative freedom to make music they were proud of, working with producer John Fields on songs blending emo, pop and rock influences aimed at a teen audience. Kevin Jonas pointed to the band's work re-recording songs from Disney films as an early connection point with fans, before their own singles like Hold On began playing between Disney Channel programs.
The trio also reflected on their roles as the fictional band Connect 3 in the Camp Rock franchise. Nick Jonas said the audition call originally went out only for Joe Jonas to play the character Shane Gray, with no other band members written into the script, until their father suggested the production include all three brothers since they were already touring together. By the sequel, Camp Rock 2, the characters had been built out more fully within an expanded fictional universe. Kevin Jonas, who played the character Jason, described the Camp Rock films as an early example of the band playing exaggerated versions of themselves, a formula he said has recurred throughout their Disney-affiliated projects, including their Christmas film.
Disney has not detailed the specific presentation order or additional programming planned for the Legends ceremony beyond confirming Ryan Seacrest as host and the event's placement as the closing moment of D23. The company describes the fan event broadly as spotlighting storytelling and innovation across its portfolio, with the Legends Award serving as its capstone tribute to figures the company says have made a lasting impact across entertainment, storytelling and its parks and experiences division.
For Berman, the honor marks a rare instance of a sports broadcaster receiving Disney's top individual accolade, placing him in the same class as a former chief executive, an Oscar-nominated actress, a global wrestling-star-turned-producer and one of Broadway's most recognized voice actresses. Disney has not released additional biographical detail specific to Berman's selection beyond confirming his inclusion in the 2026 class, leaving open how the company plans to frame his contribution during the ceremony itself.
