[Bette]

The top franchise in all of professional sports is … the Indianapolis Colts, according to the current issue of ESPN The Magazine.

In "The Ultimate Standings'' -- the Colts rank as the best franchise among the 122 professional teams in the NFL, NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball. They were No. 4 a year ago.

This Colts-related assessment from Peter Keating, the article's writer: "No team gives back to fans (more) for the emotion, money and time they invest as Jim Irsay's club does."

The standings don't reflect just cold, hard stats, although it doesn't hurt the Colts that in 2007 they became the first team in NFL history to win at least 12 games in five consecutive seasons. They also won the Super Bowl after the '06 season.

A marketing firm polled 1,000 fans to help determine emotional and financial investment. Also, ESPN.com polled more than 60,000 fans of the four pro leagues on 21 areas of performance.

Colts ranked as top sports franchise | The Star Press - www.thestarpress.com - Muncie, IN

Any disagreements with this?

[theduck]

If I was asked this question with no prior knowledge of espn the magazines ranking, I would have said the Boston Red Sox. And I agree with my opinion. Everywhere the Sox go is a home game for them.