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New Orleans Saints
Overall: 33
Title track: T15
Ownership: 44
Coaching: T12
Players: 51
Fan relations: 30
Affordability: 34
Stadium experience: 41
Bang for the buck: 62
Change from last year: -19
The Saints have built up a deep reserve of good will in New Orleans, so their place in the top half of these rankings seems secure enough. But compound the seemingly now-standard dysfunction with more losing, and all of a sudden fans might not feel quite so forgiving.
What's good
Even after hitting their lowest point in the Sean Payton-Drew Brees era after a wholly dissatisfying 7-9 season, the Saints still rank 10th overall among all NFL teams. Payton, Brees and even owner Tom Benson have earned that level of respect from the fans over the past decade -- Payton, in particular, since the Saints still rank tied for 12th among all sports teams in coaching. But if they suffer through another stinker of a season, the fall in next year's standings could be even steeper than the 19 spots they dropped this time around.
What's bad
It's pretty obvious what went wrong for the Saints in 2014: not enough winning. They rank 62nd in bang for the buck, which is based on straight math: wins per fan dollars spent. They simply didn't win enough (especially when you're slinging, ahem, $9 beers). There were problems off the field, too: As owner Tom Benson and his family have engaged in a nasty court fight over future control of the team, ownership dropped 20 spots. It's surprising by comparison that coaching only fell eight spots from last year's fourth-place finish.
What's new
It's pretty obvious what went wrong for the Saints in 2014: not enough winning. They rank 62nd in bang for the buck, which is based on straight math: wins per fan dollars spent. They simply didn't win enough (especially when you're slinging, ahem, $9 beers). There were problems off the field, too: As owner Tom Benson and his family have engaged in a nasty court fight over future control of the team, ownership dropped 20 spots. It's surprising by comparison that coaching only fell eight spots from last year's fourth-place finish.
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