Best MLS Player ESPY Award
{{Use American English|date=January 2018}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2018}}
{{Infobox award
| name = Best MLS Player ESPY Award
| awarded_for = best MLS player
| presenter = ESPN
| country =United States
| year = 2006
| year2 =
| holder = Carlos Vela (MEX)
| website = {{URL|www.espn.co.uk/espys/}}
|most_awards=Landon Donovan (5 times)}}
The Best MLS Player ESPY Award is an annual award honoring the achievements of an individual from the world of Major League Soccer (MLS).{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tfTXAQAAQBAJ&q=ESPY|title=American Sports: A History of Icons, Idols and Ideas|author-link=Murry R. Nelson|last=Nelson|first=Murry R.|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2013|isbn=978-0-313-39753-0|location=Santa Barbara, California|pages=399–401|access-date=June 24, 2015|url-status=live|df=mdy-all|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180123190837/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=tfTXAQAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=American+Sports:+A+History+of+Icons,+Idols+and+Ideas&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi1jbbW4-3YAhWkK8AKHWosCrIQ6AEIJzAA#v=onepage&q=ESPY&f=false|archive-date=January 23, 2018|via=Google Books}} It was first awarded as part of the ESPY Awards in 2006. The Best MLS Player ESPY Award trophy, designed by sculptor Lawrence Nowlan,{{cite news|url=http://www.timesargus.com/article/20130802/NEWS03/708029923/0/FEATURES10|title=Sculptor commissioned to complete Joe Frazier statue has died|last=Avard|first=Christian|date=August 2, 2013|work=Barre Montpelier Times Argus|access-date=January 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221231935/http://www.timesargus.com/article/20130802/NEWS03/708029923/0/FEATURES10|archive-date=February 21, 2014|url-status=dead}} is presented to the MLS player adjudged to be the best in a given calendar year at the annual ESPY Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. Balloting for the award is undertaken by fans over the Internet from between three and five nominees selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee, which is composed by a panel of experts. It is conferred in July to reflect performance and achievement over the preceding twelve months, which generally includes a portion of each of two MLS seasons.{{cite press release|title=New categories unveiled for The 2002 ESPY Awards|date=2002|publisher=ESPN|url=http://www.espn.com/espy2002/s/awardcategories.html|access-date=December 20, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222052554/http://www.espn.com/espy2002/s/awardcategories.html|archive-date=December 22, 2017|df=mdy-all}}
The inaugural winner of the Best MLS Player ESPY Award was LA Galaxy forward Landon Donovan in 2006. He is one of two people to have been presented with the award more than once in its history, winning it a further four times in 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011; he also earned a nomination in 2008. English right midfielder David Beckham, also for LA Galaxy, has been the second most successful player, winning twice in 2008 and 2012. American players have been the most successful with five wins and twenty-eight nominations, while those who play in the position of a forward have been recognized on fourteen occasions, and those who have played for LA Galaxy have won a total of nine awards. It was not awarded in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.{{Cite news|last=Messer|first=Lesley|date=June 19, 2020|title=7 ways the 2020 ESPYS will be different amid the pandemic|publisher=Good Morning America|url=https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/ways-2020-espys-amid-pandemic-71286965|url-status=live|access-date=August 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200620003348/https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/ways-2020-espys-amid-pandemic-71286965|archive-date=June 20, 2020}} The most recent winner of the award was Carlos Vela of Los Angeles FC in 2022.
Winners and nominees
| class="wikitable"
|+ Key | width="40" align="center" style=background:#cfecec| {{asterisk}} | Player's team won the MLS Cup |
| width="40" align="center" style=background:#ffbbbb| {{dagger}}
| Player's team lost the MLS Cup |
| width="40" align="center" | {{double-dagger}} |
Statistics
{{col-begin}}
{{col-3}}
| class="sortable wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+ Multiple winners and nominees |
| scope=col | Name
! scope=col data-sort-type="number" | Wins ! scope=col data-sort-type="number" | Nominations |
|---|
| scope="row" | {{sort name|Landon|Donovan}}
| 5 | 6 |
| scope="row" | {{sort name|David|Beckham}}
| 2 | 2 |
| scope="row" | {{sort name|Robbie|Keane}}
| 1 | 2 |
| scope="row" | {{sort name|Chris|Wondolowski}}
| 0 | 3 |
| scope="row" | {{sort name|Juan|Pablo Ángel}}
| 0 | 2 |
| scope="row" | {{sort name|Andre|Blake}}
| 0 | 2 |
| scope="row" | {{sort name|Jeff|Cunningham}}
| 0 | 2 |
| scope="row" | {{sort name|Dwayne|De Rosario}}
| 0 | 2 |
| scope="row" | {{sort name|Bradley|Wright-Phillips}}
| 0 | 2 |
{{col-3}}
| class="sortable wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+ Winners by team represented |
| scope=col | Team
! scope=col data-sort-type="number" | Wins ! scope=col data-sort-type="number" | Nominations |
|---|
| scope="row" | LA Galaxy
| 9 | 12 |
| scope="row" | New York Red Bulls
| 2 | 8 |
| scope="row" | Chicago Fire
| 1 | 4 |
| scope="row" | Toronto FC
| 1 | 3 |
| scope="row" | New York City FC
| 1 | 2 |
| scope="row" | Los Angeles FC
| 2 | 2 |
| scope="row" | New England Revolution
| 0 | 6 |
| scope="row" | D.C. United
| 0 | 5 |
| scope="row" | FC Dallas
| 0 | 5 |
| scope="row" | San Jose Earthquakes
| 0 | 4 |
| scope="row" | Seattle Sounders FC
| 0 | 3 |
| scope="row" | Sporting Kansas City
| 0 | 3 |
| scope="row" | Columbus Crew
| 0 | 2 |
| scope="row" | Montreal Impact
| 0 | 2 |
| scope="row" | Philadelphia Union
| 0 | 2 |
| scope="row" | Atlanta United FC
| 0 | 1 |
| scope="row" | Colorado Rapids
| 0 | 1 |
| scope="row" | Houston Dynamo
| 0 | 1 |
| scope="row" | Portland Timbers
| 0 | 1 |
{{col-3}}
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="text-align: center"
|+Winners by nation represented |
| scope="col" |Country
!scope="col" |Winners !scope="col" |Nominations |
|---|
| scope="row"| {{flag|USA}}
| 5 | 28 |
| scope="row" | {{flag|ENG}}
| 2 | 5 |
| scope="row" | {{flag|ESP}}
| 1 | 3 |
| scope="row" | {{flag|IRL}}
| 1 | 2 |
| scope="row" | {{flag|ITA}}
| 1 | 2 |
| scope="row" | {{flag|MEX}}
| 1 | 2 |
| scope="row" | {{flag|AUS}}
| 1 | 1 |
| scope="row" | {{flag|HUN}}
| 1 | 1 |
| scope="row" | {{flag|SWE}}
| 1 | 1 |
| scope="row" | {{flag|URU}}
| 1 | 1 |
| scope="row" | {{flag|ARG}}
| 0 | 4 |
| scope="row" | {{flag|COL}}
| 0 | 3 |
| scope="row" | {{flag|CAN}}
| 0 | 2 |
| scope="row" | {{flag|JAM}}
| 0 | 2 |
| scope="row" | {{flag|ARM}}
| 0 | 1 |
| scope="row" | {{flag|BEL}}
| 0 | 1 |
| scope="row" | {{flag|BOL}}
| 0 | 1 |
| scope="row" | {{flag|BRA}}
| 0 | 1 |
| scope="row" | {{flag|GRD}}
| 0 | 1 |
| scope="row" | {{flag|NGA}}
| 0 | 1 |
| scope="row" | {{flag|SLE}}
| 0 | 1 |
| scope="row" | {{flag|SUI}}
| 0 | 1 |
| scope="row" | {{flag|VEN}}
| 0 | 1 |
{{col-3}}
{{col-end}}
See also
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{Official website|http://www.espn.com.au/espys/}}
{{ESPY Best MLS Player}}
{{ESPYs}}
{{featured list}}
Category:Major League Soccer trophies and awards