Sports awards and ranked choice voting
Ever wonder how the winners of most major sports awards are chosen – from the Heisman Trophy to the Cy Young to the NFL and NBA MVPs? A form of ranked choice voting!
Voters rank players in order of preference: their 1st choice, 2nd choice, 3rd choice, and so on. Most sports awards use a points system – for example, each 1st choice is assigned five points, each 2nd choice is assigned four points, and so on. Then you add up all the points. The player with the most points wins (Impress your friends with the official academic name for this voting system, “Borda count.”)
It’s different from the “instant runoff” form of RCV used in public elections across the U.S. The points system places a lot more weight on voters’ backup choices; in other words, those 2nd and 3rd choices make a really big difference in sports awards voting.
But the basics are the same – voters get to rank candidates, and the winning candidate is decided based on those rankings! Here’s an ongoing list of sports awards that use ranked choice voting, along with a few explanations (If we’re missing any, please email us at [email protected]):
National Basketball Association (NBA)
All major NBA awards use ranked choice voting, including:
- NBA Most Valuable Player
- Rookie of the Year (Wilt Chamberlain Trophy)
- Defensive Player of the Year (Hakeem Olajuwon Trophy)
- Sixth Man of the Year (John Havlicek Trophy)
- Most Improved Player (George Mikan Trophy)
- Clutch Player of the Year
- All-NBA Teams
Example:
In May 2024, Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey won the league’s Most Improved Player award. Voters got to rank three choices, and each ranking was assigned a point value. Check the math yourself:
| Player | 1st (5 points) | 2nd (3 points) | 3rd (1 point) | Total |
| T. Maxey | 51 | 18 | 10 | 319 |
| C. White | 32 | 43 | 16 | 305 |
| A. Sengun | 6 | 14 | 20 | 92 |
| Jal. Williams | 5 | 11 | 21 | 79 |
| J. Brunson | 3 | 1 | 7 | 25 |
| D. Avdija | 1 | 5 | 4 | 24 |
| C. Thomas | 0 | 2 | 10 | 16 |
| J. Suggs | 0 | 2 | 5 | 11 |
National Football League (NFL)
Starting for the 2022 season, all of the Associated Press NFL Awards use ranked choice voting, including:
- Most Valuable Player
- Defensive Player of the Year
- Offensive Player of the Year
- Defensive Rookie of the Year
- Offensive Rookie of the Year
- Comeback Player of the Year
- Assistant Coach of the Year
- Coach of the Year
Voters rank their top five choices for Most Valuable Player and top three choices for other awards. Candidates receive more points the higher voters rank them, and the candidate with the most points (not necessarily the most first-choice support) wins.
Example:
In February 2023, New York Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson received the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year Award. Of the 50 voters, 18 ranked Wilson first, while 19 ranked Seattle Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III first.
Walker had the slimmest possible lead among voters’ first choices, and a significant majority ranked someone else first on their ballot. Wilson won because he had far broader support – he had roughly the same number of first-choice rankings as Walker, but 19 voters ranked Wilson second, more than twice as many as the eight who put Walker second.
Under 5 points for first place, 3 points for second, and 1 point for third place, Wilson finished with 156 points compared to Walker III’s 129.
| Player | 1st (5 points) | 2nd (3 points) | 3rd (1 point) | Total |
| Garrett Wilson | 18 | 19 | 9 | 156 |
| Kenneth Walker III | 19 | 8 | 10 | 129 |
| Brock Purdy | 6 | 12 | 12 | 78 |
| Chris Olave | 5 | 6 | 7 | 50 |
| Tyler Allgeier | 1 | 1 | 4 | 12 |
| Kenny Pickett | 0 | 2 | 5 | 11 |
| Christian Watson | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| Tyler Linderbaum | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Dameon Pierce | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Isiah Pacheco | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Major League Baseball (MLB)
The MLB uses ranked choice voting for all its major awards, including:
- Most Valuable Player
- Cy Young, awarded to the best pitcher
- Manager of the Year
- Rookie of the Year
Each award is given for both of the MLB’s two leagues: the American League and the National League.
For the MVP award, for example, 30 members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America rank 10 candidates from each league, who are awarded points according to the following scale:
| Ranking: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Points: | 14 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
National Hockey League (NHL)
The NHL uses ranked choice voting for its major awards, including the Hart Memorial Trophy, effectively the league’s MVP. The Hart Trophy winner awards point values of 10, 7, 5, 3, and 1 for voters’ top five candidates.
Other NHL awards determined by ranked choice voting include:
- Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, for the player who “exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability”
- Vezina Trophy, for the best goalie
- Calder Memorial Trophy, for the rookie of the year
- James Norris Memorial Trophy, for the best defenseman
- Frank J. Selke Trophy, for the best defensive forward
Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA)
The WNBA uses ranked choice voting for its Most Valuable Player award, and to elect members of the All-WNBA First Team.
College football awards
College football uses ranked choice voting to elect the Heisman Trophy winner, which recognizes the most outstanding player in college football. Voters’ top-three choices are awarded 3, 2, and 1 point(s) respectively.
Example:
In 2023, Louisiana State University quarterback Jayden Daniels won the Heisman Trophy with an overwhelming advantage among voters’ first-choices.
| Player | 1st (3 points) | 2nd (2 points) | 3rd (1 point) | Total |
| Jayden Daniels | 503 | 217 | 86 | 2029 |
| Michael Penix Jr. | 292 | 341 | 143 | 1701 |
| Bo Nix | 51 | 205 | 322 | 885 |
| Marvin Harrison Jr. | 20 | 78 | 136 | 352 |
| Jordan Travis | 8 | 19 | 23 | 85 |
| Jalen Milroe | 4 | 8 | 45 | 73 |
| Ollie Gordon II | 1 | 2 | 24 | 31 |
| Cody Schrader | 1 | 2 | 22 | 29 |
| Blake Corum | 3 | 2 | 15 | 28 |
| J.J. McCarthy | 1 | 7 | 4 | 21 |
College football also uses ranked voting in its Top 25 poll to determine rankings of teams around the country each week, and to determine the four teams advancing to the CFP playoff.
Each of the 61 voting sportswriters and broadcasters ranks their top 25 teams, and teams are given points on a scale: No. 1 gets you 25, No. 2 gets you 24, etc. The point values are added up to identify the overall AP Top 25.
World soccer
It’s not just American leagues that use RCV. The most prestigious individual award in world soccer, the Ballon d’Or, also uses ranked choice voting!
Voters rank their top five players, with 6 points for a first-choice ranking, 4 points for a second-choice ranking, 3 points for a third-choice ranking, 2 points for a fourth-choice ranking, and 1 point for a fifth-choice ranking.
The Oscars and other non-sports awards
And it’s not just sports – ranked choice voting is used by a wide range of well-known private organizations, and for arts awards like the Oscars. Proportional RCV is used for almost all Oscar nominations, and the “instant runoff” form of RCV is used to select Best Picture.
Check out FairVote’s 2024 discussion with Tom Oyer, the former Vice President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences – the organization that runs the Oscars. Or watch FairVote staff explain just how Best Picture voting works (and pick our own Best Picture for 2024).
