Business Week published a ranking of the 122 teams in the four major pro sports and analyzed how wisely the teams spent their money.The study was inclusive of the last five seasons and measured the following:
Our ranking of all 122 franchises in the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB rates teams based on how much they spent in player payroll for every win during the last five seasons. Each team is compared against the average price per win in its league to produce a score we call the efficiency index. The less a team spends compared with its peers, the lower its score. Playoff victories and championships get extra weight. Payroll data come from the best available published sources.*
Our beloved Phils ranked 84th out of 122, which is actually quite surprising when you consider that the criteria includes division titles and playoff wins and the Phillies won three division titles, won three playoff series, and won three division titles in the last five years. This was sort of a “just for fun” type analysis but this is definitely the tip of the iceberg in a greater issue: the Phillies have had a huge payroll in the last five seasons, have a pennant and three division titles to show for it, but still spend more per win than 20 other Major League teams.
Of note: two World Series-winning teams of the last five years were actually less efficient than the Phillies (the Yankees and Red Sox) while the 2010 and 2012 World Series-winning Giants ranked third in baseball and ninth overall and the 2011 World Series-winning Cardinals ranked first in baseball and second in pro sports. The top 5 “smart spending” MLB teams have all made the playoffs within the last five years.
For Philly fans, the Flyers were the most efficient team, ranking 39th out of 122, 9th in hockey, the Eagles were 61st, 17th in football, and the 76ers were 65th, 17th in basketball.
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