The Golden State Warriors were named “Sports Team of the Year” by the Sports Business Journal/Daily at the seventh annual Sports Business Awards at the New York Marriott Marquis in Times Square tonight. Additional finalists in the Sports Team of the Year category included the Boston Red Sox, Chicago Blackhawks, Portland Timbers, Seattle Seahawks and the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association. Eight members of the Warriors executive staff were on-hand, including President and Chief Operating Officer Rick Welts, to accept the award.

“Being named ‘Sports Team of the Year’ and recognized for all of the hard work our organization has done this past year is a great honor,” said Welts. “We have an incredible group of talented and committed employees and are looking forward to continuing to grow as an organization as one of the top franchises in all of sports.”

This past year, in addition to qualifying for the First Round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs, the Warriors accomplished the following:

Won a league-high seven (7) awards at the 2014 NBA Sales & Marketing meetings this January.

Capped season tickets at a franchise-record 14,500 and currently have a Season Ticket Holder Priority Wait List of over 5,000 members.

Sold out all 44 home games during the 2013-14 season (including playoffs) and currently have an 82-game sellout streak at Oracle Arena.

Generated a 30% increase in revenue with corporate partners year-over-year and added 30 new partners between the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons.

Generated a collective growth of more than 300% in the last 12 months on various Warriors social media platforms and now have over 3.2 million combined followers.

Saw more traffic on Warriors.com in 2013 than any year in history with a 40% year-over-year growth.

Purchased land in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood, where the team intends to build a new state-of-the-art 12-acre in-land sports and entertainment center.

Received the 2013-14 Brian McIntyre Award, which is presented each season to an NBA public relations staff that exemplifies the standards of professionalism and excellence worthy of acclaim.

The Sports Business Awards consisted of 15 categories with 80 nominees. The 2014 nominees and winners were recognized for excellence and outstanding achievement in the business of sports for the period from March 1, 2013, to Feb. 28, 2014.

A panel of sports business executives studied the nominations and served as category judges. Those executives and members representing SportsBusiness Journal/Daily evaluated the nominees and determined the winners in 13 of the 15 categories by private vote. The other two categories, Sports Executive of the Year and Athletic Director of the Year, were judged solely by the editorial staff of SportsBusiness Journal/Daily.