2026 CELEBRITY GUEST An Evening with Tennis Legend Maria Sharapova

Maria_Sherapova_pic

Maria Sharapova is a world-class tennis champion, investor, and entrepreneur. Her passion for craftsmanship and detail is reflected in everything she does, both on and off the tennis court.

After moving to the United States from Russia at the age of six to pursue her tennis career, Maria turned professional at 14. She won Wimbledon at age 17, the first of her five career Grand Slam titles, and became just the seventh female player in the Open Era to complete the career Grand Slam.

Outside of tennis, Maria is an active founder, CEO, and business investor. She is an equity owner of Supergoop and a longtime ambassador for evian, and she continues to expand her business portfolio as an investor and strategic advisor to companies including Tonal, Therabody, Public.com, Bala, and Wolf & Shepherd. She also recently joined the board of public company Moncler.

Across all of her ventures, Maria works closely with her partners on areas including product development, creative branding, content strategy, growth, and expansion. In addition to her work as an athlete and entrepreneur, she is passionate about design and architecture and recently launched her first furniture collection in partnership with Rove Concepts. Whatever the project, Maria brings a creative and hands-on approach to everything she does.

Celebrity MC

James Duthie

James Duthie is the popular host of TSN’s extensive and award-winning hockey coverage. He also contributes to key CFL ON TSN events, including the playoffs and Grey Cup as well as The Masters and the Super Bowl.

Duthie’s entertaining and sharp-witted style continues to make him a fan favourite across Canada and one of the most-followed media personalities on Twitter.

His natural charisma and extensive history in sports broadcasting allow him to gain exclusive interviews with some of the biggest stars in sports and entertainment.

Duthie’s work has earned him multiple awards including three Geminis, a Canadian Screen Award, and the Excellence in Sports Broadcasting award from Sports Media Canada.

28 Years of the Ottawa Celebrity Sports Dinner

2025 – Brian Dawkins

2024 – Steve Nash

2023 – John McEnroe

2022 – Andre Reed, Bruce Smith, and Thurman Thomas

2021 – Jack Nicklaus

2019 – Barry Sanders

2018 – Jerome “the Bus” Bettis

2017 – Jerry Rice

2016 – Jim Kelly

2015 – Emmitt Smith

2014 – Mark Messier

2013 – Pete Rose

2012 – Bo Jackson

2011 – Joe Montana

2010 – Dan Marino

2009 – John Elway

2008  – A Tribute to Canadian Hockey Legends:

  • Wayne Cashman
  • Dale Hawerchuk
  • Glenn Anderson
  • Billy Smith
  • Paul Henderson
  • Darryl Sittler
  • Peter Mahovlich
  • Steve Shutt
  • Yvan Cournoyer
  • Brad Park

2007 – 15 Years of Ottawa Senators Hockey:

  • Jean Beliveau
  • Chris Nilan
  • Steve Shutt,
  • Rick Middleton
  • Terry O’Reilly
  • Bryan Trottier
  • Henri Richard
  • Rejean Houle
  • Billy Smith

2006 –  Legends of Hockey:

  • Guy Lafleur
  • Yvan Cournoyer
  • Brad Park
  • Dale Hawerchuk
  • Rejean Houle
  • Peter Mahovlich
  • Gerry Cheevers

2005 –  Bobby and Dennis Hull

2004 –  Marv Levy

2003 –  The Coaches Panel:

  • Jacques Martin
  • Brian Kilrea
  • Joe Paopao

2002 –  Roger Neilson

2001 –  Walter Gretzky

2000 –  Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter

1999 –  Dick Irvin

1998 –  Ron MacLean