G League Austin Spurs

San Antonio Spurs Top ESPN the Magazine's Ultimate Standings for Second Straight Year

Published on October 13, 2015 under NBA G League (G League)
Austin Spurs News Release


SAN ANTONIO (Oct. 13, 2015) - The San Antonio Spurs earned the No. 1 spot for a second consecutive year in ESPN The Magazine's 13th Annual Ultimate Standings, which rank in order all 122 teams from the NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB. This is the fourth time San Antonio has finished first and the Spurs are the only franchise to rank in the Top 10 every year since ESPN introduced its annual list in 2003. The Silver and Black also placed first in the 2004, 2006, and 2014 rankings.

The Spurs ranked first overall in four categories that were part of the judging process to determine the best overall sports franchise: ownership (honesty and loyalty to core players and to the community), coaching (strength of on-field leadership), players (effort on the field, likability off it) and fan relations (courtesy of players, coaches and front offices toward fans and how well a team uses technology to reach them). San Antonio led in the same four categories in the 2014 standings.

ESPN The Magazine's Ultimate Standings rate all 122 teams from the NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB in order, based on a weighted average of scores in eight areas: fan relations (25%), title track (4.6%), players (14.6%), affordability (11.3%), ownership (13.1%), stadium experience (9.8%), "bang for the buck" (18.3%) and coaching (3.2%). The Spurs ranked in the top 10 in seven of the eight categories.

Working with consulting firm Maddock Douglas, opinion research firm NetReflector, and Oregon's Warsaw Sports Marketing Center, ESPN polled more than 100,000 fans to determine what they want most in return for the emotion, money and time invested in their teams. ESPN combined each team's score across all categories into a weighted score.

When the Ultimate Standings debuted in 2003, the Spurs ranked third overall with the Green Bay Packers placing first and the Arizona Diamondbacks second. In 2004, the Spurs garnered their first title ranking from ESPN, followed by the Dallas Mavericks in second. In 2005, the Spurs ranked second overall behind the Detroit Pistons. In 2006, a year after their third NBA Title, the Spurs were voted to the top of the list again, right in front of the Pistons. The Spurs finished second behind the Buffalo Sabres in 2007. The following year, the Spurs were ranked second overall behind the Indianapolis Colts. In 2009, San Antonio ranked ninth overall, then came in seventh overall in 2010. In 2011, the Silver and Black ranked fifth overall before placing third in 2012 and second in 2013.

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