Performance Against Pure Parity
Opportunity-adjusted franchise rankings for the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL.
Pure parity is the idea that, over time, in leagues with drafts designed to help weaker teams, a well-run franchise should find success at a normative rate.
Franchise rankings
Rankings by PAPP score
Franchise comparison
Compare PAPP scores and four performance components.
Pure Parity and PAPP
Pure parity starts from a simple long-run premise: in a league that redistributes access to talent—most notably through a draft that gives priority to teams that finish worse—a competently run franchise should, over time, achieve success at a normative rate. PAPP measures whether a franchise has exceeded or fallen short of that opportunity-adjusted expectation.
Pure parity is a benchmark, not a prediction for a single season.
Teams are not equally strong every year, and PAPP does not assume they are. The point is that leagues with reverse-order drafts and other balancing mechanisms create recurring opportunities for struggling teams to improve. Over long stretches, that should produce a baseline level of success for well-run organizations. PAPP compares a franchise's actual results with that mathematically grounded baseline.
The parity line
A PAPP score of 100 means performance matched opportunity. A score of 200 means twice the expected composite performance—not necessarily twice as many wins. Scores can be zero and can exceed 100.
Four weighted outcomes
Each outcome index = 100 × actual result ÷ expected result. Each index is capped at 300 only when computing the final weighted score.
Equal opportunity isn't the same every year.
A postseason berth in a small playoff field isn't worth the same amount of expected opportunity as one in a large field. PAPP calculates each team's expected opportunities season by season, accounting for league size, postseason formats, divisions and franchise participation.
Historical windows and source notes
Original workbook source references
- NFL season reconstruction: nflverse data and original internal NFL workbook
- NBA: Basketball Reference and FiveThirtyEight NBA data
- MLB: original internal MLB workbook and Lahman Teams dataset
- NHL: Hockey Databank and Hockey Reference
Links and source methodology were copied from the supplied workbook; they have not been independently re-audited for this website.
Download PAPP data
All rankings and component values on this site come from the supplied PAPP workbook, without invented franchise scores. Download the full dataset or just the league and era you're viewing.
The complete PAPP dataset
Every historical window, all franchise records, actual and expected outcomes, component indices, rankings and composite scores.
Download complete CSV ↗Just the rankings you need
About this release
This is a static site. It needs no database and doesn't send visitor searches or comparisons to a server. It does not automatically update after a season ends; refresh the underlying files to publish a new dataset.
Legal
This page identifies the creator of PAPP and explains attribution, copyright, and use of the website's original content.
PAPP creator
Originator and developer of the Performance Against Pure Parity sports analytics framework.
The PAPP methodology compares observed franchise achievements with expected outcomes under equal-opportunity conditions, accounting for changing league structures and competition formats. Its original analysis and presentation are published here for fans, researchers, and journalists to explore.
Original work and proper credit.
Performance Against Pure Parity (PAPP) is an original sports analytics framework conceived and developed by its creator.
The original written analysis, commentary, site design, and qualifying original visualizations on this website are protected by applicable intellectual property laws. All rights reserved to the extent permitted by law.
Underlying sports facts, historical statistics, and mathematical methods are not claimed as exclusive copyright property. Source materials are identified in the methodology and sources section. The mere publication of a methodology does not make the underlying idea or formula copyright-protected.
When discussing or reproducing PAPP research, please credit the PAPP creator as the creator of PAPP and cite this website. Reuse of protected site content or visualizations beyond applicable legal exceptions requires permission from the rights holder.
Research transparency
PAPP uses historical league statistics and a documented opportunity-adjusted scoring methodology. Publication dates and research files can help establish a dated record of authorship, but a website notice alone does not register copyright or a trademark.
This site uses the PAPP name as the identity of the research project. Any ™ designation denotes an unregistered brand claim, not a federally registered trademark.