The Green Bay Packers aren’t just the best team in the NFL. They’re the best franchise in all of North American professional sports.
At least, they are according to ESPN the Magazine, which put the Packers atop the annual “Best Franchises In Sports” rankings, in this week’s issue.
ESPN ranks franchises based on things like their performance on the field, how efficiently they spend money compared to how much they charge for tickets, and how fans feel about the team.
The Packers got particularly high scores for their “stadium experience” -- ESPN says there’s no better place to see a game than Lambeau Field -- and for ESPN’s estimate of how many championships fans can expect to see the team win in their lifetimes.
Out of 122 teams in four sports leagues, the bottom two were also from the NFL, with the Redskins at No. 121 and the Bengals at No. 122.