duncan228
12-04-2009, 01:04 PM
The Best (And Worst) Teams of the Decade (http://www.forbes.com/2009/12/04/best-teams-of-the-decade-business-sports-decade-teams.html)
Tom Van Riper
On and off the court, the San Antonio Spurs stand out as the most dominant franchise of the '00s.
If sports has become known for anything over the past decade, it's transience. Players come and go, coaches and general managers are hired and fired like movie extras. It's all part of the "win now" pressure in the age of sports as big business.
The most dominant sports team of the closing decade, the San Antonio Spurs, is an exception. General manager R.C. Buford has been with the club since 1988, working his way from assistant coach to GM by 2002. Head coach Gregg Popovich, Buford's predecessor as GM, has been manning the bench since 1996, an eternity by modern standards.
Throw in a dash of luck--winning the 1997 NBA draft lottery to land future Hall of Fame big man Tim Duncan--and their consistent approach has resulted in a modern dynasty. After a 1999 NBA championship, San Antonio has gone on to win more than 70% of its games since 2000, while capturing three more titles. Financially, the club's value has grown 146% since then to $415 million, helped along by a move into the lucrative AT&T Center in 2002.
The Spurs' performance on the court combined with their performance in the revenue column is what has given them the edge over the NHL's Detroit Red Wings and their in-state NBA rival Dallas Mavericks. The Red Wings have averaged 114 points per season and won two Stanley Cups since 2000 and the Mavs have seen their value more than triple while winning 69% of their games on top of making the playoffs every year.
Inside Our Ranking
Our ranking is about more than just the usual wins and losses. Teams were measured by equal parts on-field performance and financial valuation growth since 2000. Performance factors were overall winning percentage, playoff appearances and championships.
To play fair across the four leagues, we refrained from directly comparing percentages among teams in different sports, concentrating instead on the degree to which a team stood out within its own league. Winning percentages in the NFL, with its paucity of games, vary much more widely than those in other leagues.
Example: The New England Patriots' 14-2 mark in 2004 translates to a 0.875 winning percentage, virtually impossible to duplicate in Major League Baseball. So we compared the Pats' mark to the NFL's 0.19 standard deviation that year (meaning a "standard" team swung anywhere between 0.692 and 0.308). Baseball's winning percentage leader in 2004, the St. Louis Cardinals (105-57; 0.648), played in a league where a "standard" team swung only between 0.583 and 0.416. Both teams rated as nearly twice as good as a standard team in its respective league, and so were scored similarly.
On the financial side, teams were rated based on the percentage difference between its valuation growth and that of an average team in its league. With team values much higher in the NFL than in the NHL, for example, comparing teams' growth rates within their respective leagues provides a more accurate measurement than comparing team values and growth rates across the four leagues.
The result is a list with some predictable winners--The New England Patriots, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Lakers--and some surprises--The Philadelphia Eagles and New Jersey Devils. The Eagles have only played in one Super Bowl during the decade (losing to New England in 2005), but they've made the playoffs seven times while going 99-55. The team's valuation has more than tripled, thanks to a rabid fan base that's been renewing season tickets at six-year-old Lincoln Financial Field at close to a 100% pace each year.
The Devils, too, are a quiet model of consistency: The club is on pace for its 18th straight winning season this year, while the 2007 opening of Newark's Prudential Center has pushed the club's valuation up 50% in two years, making life in the shadow of the New York Rangers more tolerable.
The Worst Teams
Which sports team rates as the decade's worst? That would be the NFL's Detroit Lions, on their way to a ninth consecutive losing season. The Lions are 42-113 this decade, with a valuation growth rate that trails the NFL average by nine percentage points.
Close behind are the Houston Texans, who have gone 45-78 since their inaugural 2002 season. Despite a sweet stadium deal that values the Texans as the NFL's sixth-richest franchise, their financial growth over the past seven years is less than half the league average.
Rounding out the bottom five are baseball's Baltimore Orioles (0.431 winning percentage; just 15% valuation growth over ten years), hockey's Columbus Blue Jackets (65 points a season vs. a league average of 80; miniscule financial growth while the league has averaged 50% per team), and baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates, who have averaged a 68-94 record since 2000, while searching for their first postseason berth since 1992.
In Depth: The Best Teams of the Decade
Despite the recent slowdown, the '00s brought a whirlwind of growth to sports. The value of the average NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL club has roughly doubled during the decade. In rating both valuation growth and success on the field, ice, or hardwood, these ten franchises outdid the others.
Note: NBA and NHL teams, which play over two calendar years, were evaluated from the 2000-01 season through the present 2009 early season.
No. 1: San Antonio Spurs
NBA
Decade winning pct.: .707
Playoff appearances: 9
Titles: 3
Valuation growth: 146%
NBA Avg.: 109%
A model of consistency on the court, the Spurs' revenue growth took off after the team moved into the new AT&T Center in 2002.
No. 2: Detroit Red Wings
NHL
Decade total points: 940 (avg. team=741)
Playoff appearances: 9
Titles: 2
Valuation growth: 55%
NHL Avg.: 50%
Detroit may not be the Motor City any more, but it's still Hockeytown USA. The Wings have rung up over 100 points every year this decade; a lucrative cable deal signed last year ensures continued flow of cash.
No. 3 Dallas Mavericks
NBA
Decade winning pct.: .689
Playoff appearances: 9
Titles: 0
Valuation growth: 230%
NBA Avg.: 109%
Their title quest has come up short, but the Mavericks are one of only two NBA teams, along with the Spurs, to register a winning record in every season this decade.
No. 4 Indianapolis Colts
NFL
Decade winning pct.: .723
Playoff appearances: 9
Titles: 1
Valuation growth: 209%
NFL Avg.: 140%
The Colts have been a machine during much of the Peyton Manning era, averaging almost 13 wins a year since 2003. The team's lease with Indiana's Capital Improvement Board calls for it to pay just $250,000 a year in rent for two-year-old Lucas Oil Stadium.
No. 5 New England Patriots
NFL
Decade winning pct.: .703
Playoff appearances: 6
Titles: 3
Valuation growth: 193%
NFL Avg.: 140%
A franchise with an up and down history has become a juggernaut under owner Robert Kraft, coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady.
No. 6 New York Yankees
MLB
Decade winning pct.: .597
Playoff appearances: 9
Titles: 2
Valuation growth: 174%
MLB Avg.: 100%
The Bronx Bombers were mocked when many of the $2,500 Legends Suites sat empty after the unveiling of their $1.6 billion palace this season. But a world championship gave them the last laugh.
No. 7 Los Angeles Lakers
NBA
Decade winning pct.: .627
Playoff appearances: 8
Titles: 3
Valuation growth: 107%
NBA Avg.: 109%
A glamour team featuring one of the league's most marketable players, Kobe Bryant, the Lakers regularly win and sell out arenas--both at home and on the road.
No. 8 New Jersey Devils
NHL
Decade total points: 862 (avg. team=741)
Playoff appearances: 9
Titles: 1
Valuation growth: 37%
NHL Avg.: 50%
One of the most consistent franchises in sports, the Devils haven't had a losing season since 1990-91. Valuation growth has begun catching up with their success on the ice since moving into the Prudential Center in 2007 (up 50% after steady declines from 2000 to 2006).
No. 9 Philadelphia Eagles
NFL
Decade Winning Pct.: .643
Playoff appearances: 7
Titles: 0
Valuation growth: 241%
NFL Avg.: 140%
With no championships and only one Super Bowl appearance this decade, the Eagles have flown a bit below the radar. But they've made the playoffs seven times, and their financial fortunes shot up after moving into state-of-the-art Lincoln Field in 2003, where season ticket renewal rates have been close to 100% annually.
No. 10 Boston Red Sox
MLB
Decade Winning Pct.: .568
Playoff appearances: 6
Titles: 2
Valuation growth: 193%
MLB Avg.: 100%
The '00s will not only go down as the decade in which the Red Sox broke their championship curse, it's also been a period of unprecedented financial growth under owners Tom Werner and John Henry, who took over in 2002. The Sox routinely sell out Fenway Park despite charging the highest ticket prices in the league.
Tom Van Riper
On and off the court, the San Antonio Spurs stand out as the most dominant franchise of the '00s.
If sports has become known for anything over the past decade, it's transience. Players come and go, coaches and general managers are hired and fired like movie extras. It's all part of the "win now" pressure in the age of sports as big business.
The most dominant sports team of the closing decade, the San Antonio Spurs, is an exception. General manager R.C. Buford has been with the club since 1988, working his way from assistant coach to GM by 2002. Head coach Gregg Popovich, Buford's predecessor as GM, has been manning the bench since 1996, an eternity by modern standards.
Throw in a dash of luck--winning the 1997 NBA draft lottery to land future Hall of Fame big man Tim Duncan--and their consistent approach has resulted in a modern dynasty. After a 1999 NBA championship, San Antonio has gone on to win more than 70% of its games since 2000, while capturing three more titles. Financially, the club's value has grown 146% since then to $415 million, helped along by a move into the lucrative AT&T Center in 2002.
The Spurs' performance on the court combined with their performance in the revenue column is what has given them the edge over the NHL's Detroit Red Wings and their in-state NBA rival Dallas Mavericks. The Red Wings have averaged 114 points per season and won two Stanley Cups since 2000 and the Mavs have seen their value more than triple while winning 69% of their games on top of making the playoffs every year.
Inside Our Ranking
Our ranking is about more than just the usual wins and losses. Teams were measured by equal parts on-field performance and financial valuation growth since 2000. Performance factors were overall winning percentage, playoff appearances and championships.
To play fair across the four leagues, we refrained from directly comparing percentages among teams in different sports, concentrating instead on the degree to which a team stood out within its own league. Winning percentages in the NFL, with its paucity of games, vary much more widely than those in other leagues.
Example: The New England Patriots' 14-2 mark in 2004 translates to a 0.875 winning percentage, virtually impossible to duplicate in Major League Baseball. So we compared the Pats' mark to the NFL's 0.19 standard deviation that year (meaning a "standard" team swung anywhere between 0.692 and 0.308). Baseball's winning percentage leader in 2004, the St. Louis Cardinals (105-57; 0.648), played in a league where a "standard" team swung only between 0.583 and 0.416. Both teams rated as nearly twice as good as a standard team in its respective league, and so were scored similarly.
On the financial side, teams were rated based on the percentage difference between its valuation growth and that of an average team in its league. With team values much higher in the NFL than in the NHL, for example, comparing teams' growth rates within their respective leagues provides a more accurate measurement than comparing team values and growth rates across the four leagues.
The result is a list with some predictable winners--The New England Patriots, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Lakers--and some surprises--The Philadelphia Eagles and New Jersey Devils. The Eagles have only played in one Super Bowl during the decade (losing to New England in 2005), but they've made the playoffs seven times while going 99-55. The team's valuation has more than tripled, thanks to a rabid fan base that's been renewing season tickets at six-year-old Lincoln Financial Field at close to a 100% pace each year.
The Devils, too, are a quiet model of consistency: The club is on pace for its 18th straight winning season this year, while the 2007 opening of Newark's Prudential Center has pushed the club's valuation up 50% in two years, making life in the shadow of the New York Rangers more tolerable.
The Worst Teams
Which sports team rates as the decade's worst? That would be the NFL's Detroit Lions, on their way to a ninth consecutive losing season. The Lions are 42-113 this decade, with a valuation growth rate that trails the NFL average by nine percentage points.
Close behind are the Houston Texans, who have gone 45-78 since their inaugural 2002 season. Despite a sweet stadium deal that values the Texans as the NFL's sixth-richest franchise, their financial growth over the past seven years is less than half the league average.
Rounding out the bottom five are baseball's Baltimore Orioles (0.431 winning percentage; just 15% valuation growth over ten years), hockey's Columbus Blue Jackets (65 points a season vs. a league average of 80; miniscule financial growth while the league has averaged 50% per team), and baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates, who have averaged a 68-94 record since 2000, while searching for their first postseason berth since 1992.
In Depth: The Best Teams of the Decade
Despite the recent slowdown, the '00s brought a whirlwind of growth to sports. The value of the average NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL club has roughly doubled during the decade. In rating both valuation growth and success on the field, ice, or hardwood, these ten franchises outdid the others.
Note: NBA and NHL teams, which play over two calendar years, were evaluated from the 2000-01 season through the present 2009 early season.
No. 1: San Antonio Spurs
NBA
Decade winning pct.: .707
Playoff appearances: 9
Titles: 3
Valuation growth: 146%
NBA Avg.: 109%
A model of consistency on the court, the Spurs' revenue growth took off after the team moved into the new AT&T Center in 2002.
No. 2: Detroit Red Wings
NHL
Decade total points: 940 (avg. team=741)
Playoff appearances: 9
Titles: 2
Valuation growth: 55%
NHL Avg.: 50%
Detroit may not be the Motor City any more, but it's still Hockeytown USA. The Wings have rung up over 100 points every year this decade; a lucrative cable deal signed last year ensures continued flow of cash.
No. 3 Dallas Mavericks
NBA
Decade winning pct.: .689
Playoff appearances: 9
Titles: 0
Valuation growth: 230%
NBA Avg.: 109%
Their title quest has come up short, but the Mavericks are one of only two NBA teams, along with the Spurs, to register a winning record in every season this decade.
No. 4 Indianapolis Colts
NFL
Decade winning pct.: .723
Playoff appearances: 9
Titles: 1
Valuation growth: 209%
NFL Avg.: 140%
The Colts have been a machine during much of the Peyton Manning era, averaging almost 13 wins a year since 2003. The team's lease with Indiana's Capital Improvement Board calls for it to pay just $250,000 a year in rent for two-year-old Lucas Oil Stadium.
No. 5 New England Patriots
NFL
Decade winning pct.: .703
Playoff appearances: 6
Titles: 3
Valuation growth: 193%
NFL Avg.: 140%
A franchise with an up and down history has become a juggernaut under owner Robert Kraft, coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady.
No. 6 New York Yankees
MLB
Decade winning pct.: .597
Playoff appearances: 9
Titles: 2
Valuation growth: 174%
MLB Avg.: 100%
The Bronx Bombers were mocked when many of the $2,500 Legends Suites sat empty after the unveiling of their $1.6 billion palace this season. But a world championship gave them the last laugh.
No. 7 Los Angeles Lakers
NBA
Decade winning pct.: .627
Playoff appearances: 8
Titles: 3
Valuation growth: 107%
NBA Avg.: 109%
A glamour team featuring one of the league's most marketable players, Kobe Bryant, the Lakers regularly win and sell out arenas--both at home and on the road.
No. 8 New Jersey Devils
NHL
Decade total points: 862 (avg. team=741)
Playoff appearances: 9
Titles: 1
Valuation growth: 37%
NHL Avg.: 50%
One of the most consistent franchises in sports, the Devils haven't had a losing season since 1990-91. Valuation growth has begun catching up with their success on the ice since moving into the Prudential Center in 2007 (up 50% after steady declines from 2000 to 2006).
No. 9 Philadelphia Eagles
NFL
Decade Winning Pct.: .643
Playoff appearances: 7
Titles: 0
Valuation growth: 241%
NFL Avg.: 140%
With no championships and only one Super Bowl appearance this decade, the Eagles have flown a bit below the radar. But they've made the playoffs seven times, and their financial fortunes shot up after moving into state-of-the-art Lincoln Field in 2003, where season ticket renewal rates have been close to 100% annually.
No. 10 Boston Red Sox
MLB
Decade Winning Pct.: .568
Playoff appearances: 6
Titles: 2
Valuation growth: 193%
MLB Avg.: 100%
The '00s will not only go down as the decade in which the Red Sox broke their championship curse, it's also been a period of unprecedented financial growth under owners Tom Werner and John Henry, who took over in 2002. The Sox routinely sell out Fenway Park despite charging the highest ticket prices in the league.