<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Timberwolves Rise to #14 in ESPN The Magazine?s 2005 Ultimate Standings Rankings of Sports Franchises Wolves the Highest Rated Minnesota Franchise Minneapolis/St. Paul - The Minnesota Timberwolves have ascended to the #14 overall sports franchise (NBA, NFL, MLB) in ESPN The Magazine?s annual Ultimate Standings Rankings for 2005. The Timberwolves, who climbed 15 spots (#29) from last year?s rankings, are the highest-rated Twin Cities sports franchise. The 2005 edition of the ESPN Ultimate Standings, which hit newsstands this morning, includes the rankings of 92 teams. NHL teams were not included in the rankings due to the suspended 2004-05 season. In 2005, the Timberwolves ranked the fifth-best overall in the ?Bang for the Buck? category, and the team also received top-25 rankings in Ownership, Affordability and Coach/Manager categories. The Wolves? #14 ranking also made the organization the fifth-highest rated NBA team. ?We are extremely proud of our place and dramatic improvement in this year?s ESPN rankings,? said Timberwolves President Chris Wright. ?This survey speaks volumes since it comes directly from our fans. We want to thank them for their continued support of our franchise, and let them know that our goal is to continue to provide them with the best experience possible.? Over 40,000 fans from around the country ranked teams, via voting on ESPN.com, based on seven specific criteria: Affordability (price of tickets, parking, concessions), Ownership (honesty, loyalty to players and city), Fan Relations (Ease of access to players, coaches, management), Stadium Experience (friendliness of environment, quality of game-day promotions), Players (effort on the field, likeability off it), Coach/Manager (Strong on-field leadership), Championships (titles already won or expected - soon). The eighth ranking category, ?Bang for the Buck,? which examined wins in the past three years divided by revenues received directly from fans, was calculated by Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon. The overall ranking was derived from a formula combining the eight categories. The Timberwolves? complete rankings follow: Overall: 14 Bang for the Buck: 5 Fan Relations: 48 Ownership: 14 Affordability: 23 Stadium Experience: 59 Players: 33 Coach: 24 Championships: 33 Full list: http://proxy.espn.go.com/espn/sportsnation/franchiseRanks</div> <div align="center">Source </div>
Timberwolves may be the best sports franchise of all MN sports teams according to ESPN the Magazine, but in my opinion, the Twins are the best sports franchise in Minnesota. The Twins always make great decisions in developing baseball players and making smart trades. They are run by the one of the best GMs in baseball in Terry Ryan while the Wolves are run by a GM who quite frankly is not that great when you look at his track record. Twins are fun to watch and tickets at the Metrodome is affordable which is why I am amazed no one go to the games at the Dome and that includes the playoffs in which the Twins did not sellout in the playoffs the last two years against the Yankees. Twins players are great with interacting with the fans. With the Timberwolves, they got one of the best players in the league, a great owner, and the gameday experience at Target Center is pretty good, but outside of that, they don't compare with the Twins. Still, the Wolves made a very good leap from what they were ranked last year. Here is how I ranked MN sports teams in terms of success, fan relations, value, and ticket affordability: 1) Twins 2) Wild 3) Timberwolves 4) Vikings
