Bloomberg Business has released its rankings of the smartest spenders in the sports world–or at least the National Football League, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, and Major League Baseball, for 2014.
The outlet bases its calculation on cost per wins, playoff wins, and championships. Championships, in Bloomberg’s estimation, are worth 50% of any given season; playoff wins are worth 10% of a season; wild card wins are worth 5%.
The top five teams by this calculation are, in order, the Chicago Blackhawks, St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Bruins, New England Patriots, and Tampa Bay Rays. The Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks rank 19th; the iconic New York Yankees rank a shocking 92nd; the Los Angeles Lakers clock in at 18th, just behind the San Diego Padres. Legacy teams do not benefit by this metric.
In large part, the metric is a measurement of general management lack of skill–or of a temporary downturn in a team’s fortunes. The lowest-ranking team, as always, is the Chicago Cubs, followed by the Edmonton Oilers, the Washington Wizards, the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the New York Mets. My beloved Chicago White Sox are near the bottom of the list as well–but, as always, they finish ahead of the Cubs.
None of this reflects actual profit margin of particular teams, of course; the Tampa Bay Rays struggle to draw a crowd despite their excellent management. Therein lies the conflict for major sports leagues: pick the wrong market, and your success or failure may not matter. But for the moment, New England should be overjoyed, and Chicago, Washington, and New York should feel just a bit down in the mouth.
Ben Shapiro is Senior Editor-At-Large of Breitbart News and author of the New York Times bestseller “Bullies: How the Left’s Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences America” (Threshold Editions, January 8, 2013). He is also Editor-in-Chief of TruthRevolt.org. Follow Ben Shapiro on Twitter @benshapiro.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.