The Tampa Bay Lightning ranked the #1 franchise in all sports.

[Pukboy5kroner]

It's very, very easy to see who didn't read one bit of this article before just fainting with the back of their hand over their forehead.

This a ranking of the best franchise from THE POINT OF A FAN.

Good ownership, low ticket prices, good fanbase and a good, competitive product. There is literally nothing to NOT like in TB from a FAN PERSPECTIVE.

It's also super funny to see people brag about paying double for a mediocre product, as if that's a reason to be happy?

Putting the comments together with the ranking, I was a bit perplexed by fans who prefer bad teams who they can't afford to buy a ticket for. Unfortunately, the thread title didn't help clarify the confusion.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Cool

 

[ScaredStreit]

Doesn't Tampa go as far as banning Red Wing jerseys from being worn by fans in the arena?

Playoffs and ONLY in the club level seats. I wore my Islanders jersey twice last year at playoff games and never heard a peep from a single employee. One of the games I was in the 100s, other game nosebleeds.

 

[1865]

Tampa?? What have they done since winning in 2004?? Are they just trying to reword what defines a classy organization is? So I guess Detroit was nowhere to be found? If any team should at the top it's Detroit. Biggest fanbase in hockey and the loyalty knows no bounds both ways. And we had Lidstrom on the team for 20 yrs for christ sakes. The classiest most respected guy ever to play hockey. They call him the "The Perfect Human" even. This is why I hate ESPN. Yeah when they get it right( nominating a hockey team) they get it wrong.

Who do you support?....ah.

The Lightning have been brilliant. Great renovations to the arena, building a team through the draft with value players who care for the club and it's just a great club to go watch. Their future is bright, they'll certainly get a cup in the next 4/5 years.

 

[NotABadPeriod]

And yet more people are willing to shell out the $300 to watch the weaker team... What does that say?

It says there are tons of rich hockey fans in Toronto who can afford to pay higher prices. Which given the size of the GTA makes a ton of sense: it's easier to find 20,000 rich people in a bigger city than a smaller one.

But they're not ranking how affluent and big the cities are.