The following are the results of the September SA Online Poll, in which 455 fans voted for the 1997 MLS MVP:
| Name (Team) | Votes |
| Preki (Kansas City) | 112 |
| Carlos Valderrama (Tampa Bay) | 58 |
| Marco Etcheverry (D.C. United) | 55 |
| Thomas Dooley (Columbus) | 29 |
| Walter Zenga (New England) | 29 |
| Jaime Moreno (D.C. United) | 24 |
| Roberto Donadoni (MetroStars) | 19 |
| Eddie Pope (D.C. United) | 16 |
| Cobi Jones (Los Angeles) | 15 |
| Raul Diaz Arce (D.C. United) | 14 |
| Alain Sutter (Dallas) | 12 |
| Mark Chung (Kansas City) | 10 |
| Brad Friedel (Columbus) | 10 |
| Ronald Cerritos (San Jose) | 9 |
| Tony Meola (MetroStars) | 7 |
| Marcelo Balboa (Colorado) | 6 |
| Jorge Campos (Los Angeles) | 6 |
| Gilmar (Tampa Bay) | 5 |
| Chris Henderson (Colorado) | 5 |
| Mauricio Cienfuegos (Los Angeles) | 5 |
| Damian Alvarez (Dallas) | 3 |
| Jeff Agoos (D.C. United) | 2 |
| John Harkes (D.C. United) | 1 |
| Giovanni Savarese (MetroStars) | 1 |