We created the Ultimate Standings in four steps:
First, Markitecture, an independent Norwalk, Conn., research firm, conducted a national poll to determine what sports fans most care about "getting back" from the teams they root for. Phone calls to 1,000 American and Canadian sports fans yielded 21 significant items, from "players who always give their best effort" to "frequency of fan promotions, contests and giveaways."
Second, through ESPN.com, we asked fans of every team to rate their club in these 21 areas. Each user was allowed to rate only one team per sport, and we gathered more than 31,000 responses.
Third, we aggregated the ratings for the 21 items into eight broad categories.
For seven of these categories, we used the data collected from fans: Affordability; Players (quality and appeal); Coaching; Owner; Championships (past and potential); Fan Relations; and Stadium (or arena) Experience.
BNG (Bang for the Buck): 15.8%
Revenues directly from fans divided by wins in the past three years
FRL (Fan Relations): 16.2%
Ease of access to players, coaches and management
OWN (Ownership): 15.5%
Honesty; loyalty to players and city
AFF (Affordability): 10.5%
Price of tickets, parking and concessions
STD (Stadium Experience): 12.7%
Friendliness of environment; quality of game-day promotions
PLA (Players): 13.0%
Effort on the field; likability off it
CCH (Coach/Manager): 8.6%
Strong on-field leadership
CHA (Championships): 7.7%
Titles already won or expected -- soon
Therefore, we found the overall rating using this formula:
Overall = (BNG x .158) + (FRL x .162) + (OWN x .155) + (AFF x .105) + (STD x .127) + (PLA x .130) + (CCH x .086) + (CHA x .077)
