February 6, 2004 - Today's Other News Items

Warsaw Center Helps Magazine Rank Teams

According to the second annual ESPN The Magazine "Ultimate Standings," the San Antonio Spurs are the best franchise in professional sports and the Chicago Blackhawks are the worst overall.

The results also show that the Edmonton Oilers give fans the most "Bang for the Buck"--meaning that, based on exclusive original analysis by ESPN The Magazine, the University of Oregon's Warsaw Sports Marketing Center and Connecticut marketing firm Markitecture, the Canadian team provides the most return on the dollars invested by fans.

Available in the Feb. 16 issue of ESPN The Magazine (currently at newsstands) and on ESPN.com, the "Ultimate Standings" took four months to compile and are the only comprehensive rankings of all 121 major North American professional sports franchises. The rankings aim to quantify the unique relationship between fans and their favorite teams by determining which Major League Baseball (MLB), National Basketball Association (NBA), National Football League (NFL) and National Hockey League (NHL) franchises establish and maintain the most overall reward for their fans.

"We're very pleased with the results of this partnership with ESPN," says Warsaw Center Managing Director Paul Swangard. "It is a perfect showcase for our sports business expertise and provides students and faculty a great experiential learning opportunity with a leading sports company."

Led by faculty adviser Dennis Howard, a team of four Master of Business Administration (MBA) students developed a methodology to determine a fan's "Bang for the Buck" for each major professional franchise. Researching everything from average season ticket prices, parking fees and concession prices to local taxes for stadium construction, the UO team graded each franchise for the return on that fan investment.

The Warsaw Center provided a similar analysis last year when the "Ultimate Standings" debuted with the Green Bay Packers, ranked third this year, as the top franchise.

Founded in 1994, the Warsaw Center--part of the University of Oregon's Charles H. Lundquist College of Business--is considered the leading sports business program in the nation. As the first program that is part of a college of business, it provides opportunities for students at the undergraduate, graduate and Ph.D. levels. In addition, the center works with the sports business sector through consulting and other education initiatives and has become an important resource for media organizations covering this multi-billion dollar industry.

THE 2004 'ULTIMATE STANDINGS': THE TOP AND BOTTOM*
THE TOP SIX OVERALL FRANCHISES:	THE BOTTOM SIX OVERALL FRANCHISES:
1. San Antonio Spurs	115. Portland Trailblazers
2. Dallas Mavericks	116. New York Knicks
3. Green Bay Packers	117. Atlanta Hawks
4. Detroit Pistons	118. San Diego Chargers
5. Kansas City Chiefs	119. Arizona Cardinals
6. Anaheim Angels	120. Chicago Blackhawks

* Note: The Houston Texans are not ranked in the "Bang for the Buck" category or in the overall standings because they have not been in existence for three full years. They are ranked, however, in the other seven categories.