The
Scripps National Spelling Bee is a highly competitive annual
spelling bee in the
United States, with participants from
Canada,
Mexico,
Jamaica,
New Zealand,
Ghana, and the
Bahamas. State winners must be regional spelling-bee winners as well. It is run on a
not-for-profit basis by
The E. W. Scripps Company and is held at a
convention center, currently the
Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center hotel in
Oxon Hill, Maryland, in the
Washington, D.C. area during the week following
Memorial Day weekend. Historically, the competition has been open to, and remains open to, the winners of sponsored regional spelling bees in the United States. Participants from countries other than the United States must be regional spelling-bee winners as well. Since 1994,
ESPN has televised the later rounds of the bee; since 2006, earlier rounds have aired on the cable channel during the day, and the Championship Finals have aired in the evening on ESPN. Anyone who is in 8th grade or below and is under 16 years old is eligible for this contest.