### Winning %

"Win-loss record" redirects here. For the baseball statistic, see Win–loss record (pitching).

In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. It is defined as wins divided by wins plus losses (i.e. the total number of matches). Ties count as a ½ loss and a ½ win. Winning percentage is one way to compare the record of two teams; however, another standard method most frequently used in baseball and professional basketball standings is games behind.

For example, if a team's season record is 28–16–5 (i.e., it has won twenty-eight games, lost sixteen and tied five times), the team has participated in 49 matches. The five ties represent 2½ wins and 2½ losses, and so the team has an adjusted record of 30½ wins and 18½ losses, resulting in a .622 winning percentage.

In baseball, pitchers are assessed wins and losses as an individual statistic and thus have his or her own winning percentage, based on his or her win–loss record. A pitcher's winning percentage is commonly expressed to three digits.

The name "winning percentage" is actually a misnomer, since a winning percentage, such as .536, is commonly not expressed as a percentage. The same value expressed as a percentage would be 53.6%. In leagues in which points are awarded for ties and overtime losses, it is possible for a team to have a winning percentage above 0.500 (50%) despite losing more than half of the games it has played.

## Statistics

### Major League Baseball

Win % Wins Losses Year Team Comment
.798 67 17 1880 Chicago Cubs best pre-modern season
.763 116 36 1906 Chicago Cubs best National League 154-game season
.721 111 43 1954 Cleveland Indians best American League 154-game season
.716 116 46 2001 Seattle Mariners best 162-game season
.265 43 119 2003 Detroit Tigers worst 162-game season
.248 38 115 1935 Boston Braves worst modern National League season
.235 36 117 1916 Philadelphia Athletics worst American League season
.130 20 134 1899 Cleveland Spiders worst pre-modern season

Win % Wins Losses Season Team Comment
.878 72 10 1995–96 Chicago Bulls best 82-game season
.106 7 59 2011–12 Charlotte Bobcats worst season statistically

### National Hockey League

In ice hockey, standings are determined by points, not wins, changing the nature of this statistic. In the National Hockey League, teams are awarded two points for a win, and one point for either a tie (a discontinued statistic) or an overtime loss. Since this calculation is not based solely on wins, the statistic is called points percentage.[1][2] It can be calculated as follows:

$\mathrm\left\{Points\right\}\ \mathrm\left\{percentage\right\} = \frac\left\{\mathrm\left\{Points\right\}\right\}\left\{\mathrm\left\{Total \ possible \ points\right\}\right\}$

= \frac{ \mathrm{Overtime \ Losses + (2 \times Wins)}}{\mathrm{ 2 \times Games \ Played }}

Points % Wins Losses Ties Points Season Team Comments
.825 60 8 12 132 1976–77 Montreal Canadiens best points % in post-expansion NHL
.131 8 67 5 21 1974–75 Washington Capitals worst points % in post-expansion NHL