In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction

Fraction

In common usage a fraction is any part of a unit.Fraction may also mean:*Fraction , one of more equal parts of something, eg...

 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

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 and professional basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 standings is games behind

Games behind

In sports, the phrase games behind or games back , is a common way to reflect the gap between a leading team and another team in a sports league, conference, or division...

.

For example, if a team's season record is 28–16–5, 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 winning percentage.

In baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

, pitcher

Pitcher

In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...

s are assessed wins and losses as an individual statistic

Statistic

A statistic is a single measure of some attribute of a sample . It is calculated by applying a function to the values of the items comprising the sample which are known together as a set of data.More formally, statistical theory defines a statistic as a function of a sample where the function...

 and thus have their own winning percentage, based on their 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

Percentage

In mathematics, a percentage is a way of expressing a number as a fraction of 100 . It is often denoted using the percent sign, “%”, or the abbreviation “pct”. For example, 45% is equal to 45/100, or 0.45.Percentages are used to express how large/small one quantity is, relative to another quantity...

. The same value expressed as a percentage would be 53.6%. In leagues in which points are awarded for ties and overtime losses, it's possible for a team to have a winning percentage above 0.500 (50%) despite losing more than half of the games it has played.

Major League Baseball

Win %	Wins	Losses	Year	Team	Comment
	67	17	1880	Chicago Cubs Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...	best pre-modern season
	116	36	1906	Chicago Cubs Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...	best National League 154-game season
	111	43	1954	Cleveland Indians Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...	best American League 154-game season
	116	46	2001	Seattle Mariners Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are a professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington. Enfranchised in , the Mariners are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Safeco Field has been the Mariners' home ballpark since July...	best American League 162-game season
	40	120	1962	New York Mets New York Mets The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...	worst 162-game season
	38	115	1935	Boston Braves Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....	worst National League season
	36	117	1916	Philadelphia Athletics	worst American League season
	20	134	1899	Cleveland Spiders Cleveland Spiders The Cleveland Spiders were a Major League Baseball team which played between 1887 and 1899 in Cleveland, Ohio. The team played at National League Park from 1889 to 1890 and at League Park from 1891 to 1899.- 1887-1891 :...	worst pre-modern season

National Basketball Association

Win %	Wins	Losses	Season	Team	Comment
	72	10	1995–96 1995–96 Chicago Bulls season In the 1995–96 season, the Chicago Bulls set an NBA record by becoming the first team to win 70 regular season games. They finished the season with a record of 72–10 and would go on to defeat the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1996 NBA Finals.-Offseason:...	Chicago Bulls Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...	best 82-game season
	9	73	1972–73 1972–73 Philadelphia 76ers season In the 1972–73 Philadelphia 76ers season, the 76ers lost their first 15 games of the season, and a few months later set a then-record 20 game losing streak in a single season. Their record following the 20 game losing streak was 4–58, and the team at that point had just lost 34 of 35 games...	Philadelphia 76ers Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers are a professional basketball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . Originally known as the Syracuse Nationals, they are one of the oldest franchises in the NBA...	worst 82-game season

National Hockey League

In ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

, standings are determined by points, not wins, changing the nature of this statistic. In the National Hockey League

National Hockey League

The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

, 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. It can be calculated as follows:

Points %	Wins	Losses	Ties	Points	Season	Team	Comments
	60	8	12	132	1976–77 1976–77 Montreal Canadiens season The 1976–77 Montreal Canadiens season was the Canadiens' 68th season. The Canadiens won their 20th Stanley Cup in 1976–77, taking the NHL championship. They set an NHL record for most points in a season by a team with 132 points...	Montreal Canadiens Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...	best points % in post-expansion 1967 NHL expansion The National Hockey League undertook a major expansion for the 1967–68 season, adding six new franchises to double the size of the league. This marked the first change in the composition of the league since 1942, when the Brooklyn Americans folded. Thus, the expansion ended the era of the Original...  NHL
	8	67	5	21	1974–75 1974–75 Washington Capitals season The 1974–75 Washington Capitals season was the first in Capitals history. Along with the Kansas City Scouts, the Capitals joined the National Hockey League as an expansion team for the 1974–75 season. The team was owned by Abe Pollin, owner of the NBA's Washington Bullets...	Washington Capitals Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Since their founding in 1974, "The Caps" have won one conference championship to reach the 1998 Stanley Cup...	worst points % in post-expansion NHL