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Sports Business Awards

Sports Team of the Year

Carolina Panthers
Why THEY could win:
  • Tremendous on-field performance led to an appearance in Super Bowl 50.
  • Ranked consistently by the NFL in the top quartile of teams on fan experience, fueled in part by a series of stadium upgrades.
  • Sellout streak at 137 consecutive games and counting.
Golden State Warriors
Why THEY could win:
  • 20-year naming-rights deal with JPMorgan Chase for the team’s privately financed, $1 billion arena planned to open in 2019.
  • Defending NBA champions set a team franchise record in ticket sales for the 2015-16 season with ticket revenue up 28 percent; sponsorship revenue ranks among the top three teams in the NBA.
  • For the first time, led the NBA in local television ratings, en route to an NBA regular-season winning record of 73-9.
Portland Timbers
Why THEY could win:
  • Winners of the 2015 MLS Cup, the club’s first title in its 40-year history of professional soccer.
  • Have sold out every match at Providence Park since joining MLS in 2011, creating one of the best stadium atmospheres in the league.
  • Sold the first training jersey sponsorship in MLS.
Kansas City Royals
Why THEY could win:
  • World Series title, the franchise’s first in 30 years and built substantially on homegrown talent.
  • Franchise record attendance of 2.7 million and baseball’s largest increase at the gate, with a yearly bump of more than 750,000.
  • Local TV ratings that not only led all of MLB, but were the sport’s highest in 13 years.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Why it could win:
  • Stanley Cup runner-up had 17 percent year-over-year ticket sales revenue growth, fourth in the NHL; added 3,500 season-ticket equivalents, bringing the total to more than 13,000.
  • Continued community and charitable efforts under owner Jeff Vinik, including a pledge of an additional $10 million in donations to local nonprofits over the next five years.
  • Double-digit growth in partnership development, television and radio ratings, and merchandise sales; continued improvements to Amalie Arena.

ADDITIONAL SECTIONS
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