Ohio Online Voting Contests

Akron-Area High School Athlete of the Week

Akron · Akron Beacon Journal / USA TODAY Network

The Akron Beacon Journal fan vote covering Summit, Stark, Portage, and Medina county high school athletes across all sports — boys and girls chosen separately each week, closed Friday at 5 p.m., with the winner announced Saturday morning. No account required.

Cincinnati Enquirer Athlete of the Week

Cincinnati · Cincinnati Enquirer (Gannett / USA TODAY Network)

Weekly fan poll at cincinnati.com, presented by Beacon Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine, covering Greater Cincinnati and Southwest Ohio prep athletes across all three OHSAA seasons. One vote per hour per device, no account required. Closes Thursday or Friday afternoon — the exact time shifts week to week, so check the widget before your final push.

Columbus Dispatch Athlete of the Week

Columbus · The Columbus Dispatch (Gannett / USA TODAY Network)

Weekly fan vote at dispatch.com, presented by Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, recognizing Central Ohio prep athletes across separate Boys and Girls ballots each week. One vote per device per hour, no account required. Organized by The Columbus Dispatch (Gannett / USA TODAY Network).

Dayton Daily News High School Athlete of the Week

Dayton · Dayton Daily News / Cox Media Group

The Dayton Daily News / Cox Media Group multi-sport weekly fan vote for the best high school athletic performance across greater SW Ohio. Opens noon Monday, closes Wednesday end of day; covers football, soccer, volleyball, tennis, golf, basketball, track, and more — boys and girls in a single weekly field. One win per athlete per season.

Dayton High School Football Player of the Week

Dayton · Dayton Daily News / Cox Media Group

Weekly SW Ohio football fan-vote from Dayton Daily News / Cox Media Group, covering the Greater Dayton metro and surrounding counties; voting opens noon Monday, closes Wednesday end of day, with the winner announced Friday morning.

Fox 8 FNTD Player of the Year Vote

The Friday Night Touchdown Player of the Year fan vote from WJW Fox 8 Cleveland, an annual, end-of-season ballot among FNTD standout nominees where the public vote counts for one-third of the final decision, voting closes in early November.

MaxPreps Ohio Athlete of the Week

The MaxPreps statewide fan vote for Ohio's top weekly high school performance, a separate platform from the SBLive / High School on SI Ohio ballot, drawing multi-sport finalists from stats submitted directly to MaxPreps. Finalists post Tuesday, voting closes noon Monday, and the winner joins a season-long recap of every weekly Ohio champion.

Northeast Ohio High School Football Player of the Week

Cleveland · NEO Sports Insiders (NEOSI)

Weekly NE Ohio football fan-vote run by NEO Sports Insiders (NEOSI), covering Cleveland, Akron, Canton, and surrounding counties, capped at 1 vote per person per day via EasyPolls, closing Thursday noon with the winner announced the same afternoon.

Ohio Football Defensive Player of the Week

Statewide Ohio · High School on SI / SBLive Ohio (Sports Illustrated)

SI's SBLive Ohio desk runs a football-only defensive Player of the Week fan vote at si.com/high-school/ohio, separate from its offensive and combined statewide ballots, weekly from September through November. The split mirrors the offense/defense model already running on SBLive's Wisconsin franchise. Free, no account, real human votes uncapped.

Ohio High School Athlete of the Week

The SBLive Ohio / High School on SI statewide fan vote covering every OHSAA sport — football, soccer, cross country, volleyball, golf, basketball — run year-round. Editors at [email protected] set the field from any sport, anyone can vote with no account, and the poll closes Sunday 11:59 p.m. ET.

Ohio High School Baseball Player of the Year

Statewide Ohio · Gannett / Advance Local Ohio (cleveland.com, Akron Beacon Journal, Columbus Dispatch)

Annual spring-season fan-vote award recognising Ohio's top prep baseball player, run by the Gannett / Advance Local Ohio network — cleveland.com, Akron Beacon Journal, and Columbus Dispatch. Free to vote, no account required, statewide OHSAA eligibility.

Ohio High School Football Player of the Week

The High School on SI / SBLive Ohio statewide football fan vote — open to all OHSAA divisions, closing Sunday at 11:59 PM ET with no per-voter limit. Kirtland's John Silvestro ran for 255 yards and 4 touchdowns in the December 2025 championship-week ballot that drew nominees from Division I through Division VII.

Ohio High School Player of the Year

Statewide Ohio · High School on SI (Sports Illustrated / SBLive)

Sport-specific, season-end fan-vote recognition published by High School on SI (Sports Illustrated / SBLive) at si.com/high-school/ohio, covering all OHSAA-member schools statewide. Fans vote with no per-vote cap until the stated deadline; a separate post-season "top performance" poll follows each OHSAA state championship weekend.

Ohio High School Softball Player of the Year

Statewide Ohio · High School on SI (Sports Illustrated / SBLive) and Columbus Dispatch (Gannett)

Annual spring-season fan-vote award recognising Ohio's top prep softball player, run by High School on SI (Sports Illustrated / SBLive) at si.com/high-school/ohio and the Columbus Dispatch (Gannett). Free to vote, no account required, all OHSAA divisions eligible across 820+ statewide member schools.

SBLive Ohio Athlete of the Week

Statewide Ohio · SBLive Sports / High School on SI (Sports Illustrated)

Sports Illustrated's SBLive Ohio franchise runs this statewide Athlete of the Week fan vote at si.com/high-school/ohio, one of several weekly high-school polls active across Ohio alongside regional papers in Akron and Cincinnati. Unlike those two, SBLive Ohio places no ceiling on how many times a single fan can vote before the Monday winner announcement.

SBLive Ohio Football Offensive Player of the Week

Statewide Ohio · High School on SI / SBLive Ohio (Sports Illustrated)

SI's SBLive Ohio desk runs a football-only offensive Player of the Week fan vote at si.com/high-school/ohio, separate from its combined statewide ballot, weekly from September through November. The split mirrors the offense/defense model already running on SBLive's Wisconsin franchise. Free, no account, real human votes uncapped.

SBLive Ohio Football State Championship Performance Vote

Canton, Ohio (state championship site) · Sports Illustrated / SBLive Ohio (High School on SI)

Sports Illustrated's SBLive Ohio desk runs an annual December fan vote for the single best individual performance across that year's seven OHSAA football state championship games, all played the same weekend at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton. One performance represents each division, and the poll on si.com/high-school/ohio requires no account.

Akron Community's Choice Awards

The Akron Beacon Journal's readers-choice business awards, run on the YourChoiceAwards platform (Gannett): nominations April 9-30, a top-5 finalist cutoff per category, then public voting June 16-30 across 130+ local business categories.

Cincinnati CommunityVotes

Annual CommunityVotes readers-choice business awards spanning Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana communities around Cincinnati, with open nominations, a public ballot, and category-based local business voting.

Cincinnati's Best Community's Choice Awards

YourChoiceAwards (Gannett) readers-choice business ballot for Cincinnati, run separately from Cincinnati CommunityVotes: open nominations across 70+ categories, then a public vote on the finalist field each annual cycle.

Cleveland Magazine Best of Cleveland Readers' Poll

Cleveland Magazine's readers' companion to its own editorial Best of Cleveland list, run separately from that annual staff-picked award. Rather than a single citywide ballot, the readers' program splits into two regional votes, Best of the East and Best of the West, covering opposite sides of the region.

Cleveland Magazine Best of the East

Cleveland Magazine's Best of the East is the eastern half of its readers' poll, a companion vote to the magazine's own editorial Best of Cleveland list. The 2026 edition is confirmed running, with readers choosing standout East Side establishments and individuals separate from the West ballot.

Cleveland Magazine Best of the West

Cleveland Magazine's Best of the West is the western half of its readers' poll, a companion vote to the magazine's own editorial Best of Cleveland list. Readers choose the standout West Side establishments and individuals, run separately from the East ballot, with categories and dates confirmed only at clevelandmagazine.com each cycle.

Cleveland Scene Best of Cleveland

Cleveland Scene's annual Best of Cleveland readers' poll at clevescene.com/best-of, run as a nomination round feeding a finalist ballot across 250+ categories, with winners named in the December issue. Confirmed live for the 2025 and 2026 cycles.

Stark County Community's Choice Awards

The Canton Repository's readers-choice business awards, run on the YourChoiceAwards platform (Gannett): nominations April 9-30, a top-5 finalist cutoff per category, then public voting June 16-30 across 130+ Stark County business categories.