CAPITALS SCORE HIGH IN GIVING BACK TO THEIR FANS

The Washington Capitals – gaining attention as a force to be reckoned with on the ice – are also getting recognized off the ice as a team with an incredibly high level of interest, appreciation and concern for their fans.

The Capitals soared into sixth place in the recently released ESPN The Magazine’s 2009 Ultimate Standings that compared "how much MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL franchises give back to their fans in exchange for all of the time, money and emotion the fans invest in them." In total 122 individual sports teams were evaluated -- and the Capitals' high sixth place ranking is a 39 position leap over last year.

And no doubt a particular source of pride to the Capitals is their top Number One ranking in responsiveness to fan feedback – which probably also helped toward its 11th place finish in the fans relations category.

“It is great to be recognized by ESPN The Magazine,” said Capitals owner Ted Leonsis. “I am proud that our organization continues to deliver great value to our fans. Our fan base is one of the most passionate in all of sports. We had a great season, and we shared it with great fans. The Verizon Center was electric and promises to be in the future as Caps fans continue to rock the red.”

The Capitals escalated 54 spots to rank 11th in “bang for the buck” and improved in all categories. Their other rankings were fifth in ownership (honesty and loyalty to core players and local community), 10th in coaching (strength of on-field leadership), 12th in players (effort on the field and likability off it) and 15th in stadium experience (quality of arena and game-day promotions, as well as friendliness of environment).

The analysis was completed by ESPN The Magazine and the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center – and centered highly on about 50,000 fan responses collected by consulting firm Maddock Douglas, ESPN.com and GMI NetReflector.

ESPN The Magazine in total rated 122 Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, National Football League and National Hockey League franchises.

The Washington team enjoyed a club-record 29 sellouts in the regular season, sold out every playoff game at Verizon Center and the average attendance was 99 percent of capacity. And the team sold out season tickets for the coming 2009-10 hockey season. Sphere: Related Content