The Landon Donovan MVP Award is an annual award for Major League Soccer players. It is voted on by media, MLS players, and club management and is given to the player deemed the most valuable player in the league each season.
From 1996 to 2007, the award was known as the Honda MLS Most Valuable Player, for commercial purposes. From 2007 to 2014, the award was titled the Volkswagen MLS Most Valuable Player.
Players for D.C. United have won the award a record four times, while Kansas City and Los Angeles Galaxy players have won a second best three times. Carlos Valderrama won the award for the inaugural 1996 season. Kansas City's Preki is the first player to ever win twice, in 1997 and 2003, while Lionel Messi is the only player to ever win twice consecutively, in 2024 and 2025.
On January 15, 2015, MLS renamed its MVP award in honor of Landon Donovan, who won the award in 2009 and retired as the all-time leader in goals and assists in the league's history.
Winners
SeasonPlayerClubOther Finalists1996 Carlos ValderramaTampa Bay MutinyRoy Lassiter, Preki1997 PrekiKansas City WizardsMarco Etcheverry, Carlos Valderrama1998 Marco EtcheverryD.C. UnitedCobi Jones, Peter Nowak1999 Jason KreisDallas BurnMarco Etcheverry, Jaime Moreno2000 Tony MeolaKansas City WizardsMamadou Diallo, Clint Mathis2001 Álex Pineda ChacónMiami FusionJeff Agoos, Diego Serna2002 Carlos RuízLos Angeles GalaxyMark Chung, Taylor Twellman2003 Preki (2)Kansas City WizardsAnte Razov, John Spencer2004 Amado GuevaraMetroStarsJoe Cannon, Jaime Moreno2005 Taylor TwellmanNew England RevolutionDwayne De Rosario, Jaime Moreno2006 Christian GómezD.C. UnitedJeff Cunningham, Dwayne De Rosario2007 Luciano EmílioD.C. UnitedJuan Pablo Ángel, Cuauhtémoc Blanco2008 Guillermo Barros SchelottoColumbus CrewLandon Donovan, Cuauhtémoc Blanco2009 Landon DonovanLos Angeles GalaxyShalrie Joseph, Jeff Cunningham2010 David FerreiraFC DallasEdson Buddle, Chris Wondolowski2011 Dwayne De RosarioD.C. UnitedBrad Davis, Brek Shea2012 Chris WondolowskiSan Jose EarthquakesThierry Henry, Graham Zusi2013 Mike MageeChicago FireRobbie Keane, Marco Di Vaio2014 Robbie KeaneLos Angeles GalaxyLee Nguyen, Obafemi Martins2015 Sebastian GiovincoToronto FCKei Kamara, Benny Feilhaber2016 David VillaNew York City FCBradley Wright-Phillips, Sacha Kljestan2017 Diego ValeriPortland TimbersDavid Villa, Nemanja Nikolić2018 Josef MartínezAtlanta United FCMiguel Almirón, Zlatan Ibrahimović2019 Carlos VelaLos Angeles FCZlatan Ibrahimović, Josef Martínez2020 Alejandro PozueloToronto FCAndre Blake, Nicolás Lodeiro, Jordan Morris, Diego Rossi2021 Carles GilNew England RevolutionHany Mukhtar, João Paulo, Dániel Sallói, Valentín Castellanos2022 Hany MukhtarNashville SCSebastián Driussi, Andre Blake2023 Luciano AcostaFC CincinnatiThiago Almada, Denis Bouanga 2024 Lionel Messi Inter Miami CF Cucho Hernández, Evander2025 Lionel Messi (2)Inter Miami CFAnders Dreyer, Denis Bouanga, Evander, Sam Surridge
Wins by team ClubWinsD.C. United4Kansas City Wizards/Sporting KC3LA Galaxy3Dallas Burn/FC Dallas2Inter Miami CF2New England Revolution2Toronto FC2Atlanta United FC1Chicago Fire1FC Cincinnati1Columbus Crew1Los Angeles FC1Miami Fusion1Nashville SC1New York City FC1NY/NJ MetroStars/New York Red Bulls1Portland Timbers1San Jose Earthquakes1Tampa Bay Mutiny1
Wins by nationality NationalityWins86322111111111
See also Best MLS Player ESPY Award
References