How winning percentage is calculated
Winning percentage counts ties as half a win: win% = (wins + 0.5 × ties) ÷ total games, shown to three decimals. A 12-7-1 record is (12 + 0.5) ÷ 20 = .625. With no ties, it's simply wins ÷ games.
Ties count as half a win because a drawn game is, in effect, split between the two teams; the same convention gives each side .500 for a tie. Total games means wins plus losses plus ties, so make sure every played game is included and that postponed or forfeited fixtures are handled the way your league does.
Worked example: a 50-30-2 hockey record is (50 + 1) divided by 82 = .622, while a 95-67 baseball record with no ties is simply 95 divided by 162 = .586.
The same numbers feed straight into the points per game calculator.
How to use this calculator
Enter wins, losses and ties (use 0 for ties if the sport doesn't have them). The result is the win percentage as a decimal and a percent. For a plain share, see the percentage calculator.
Reading the number: .500 is exactly break-even, anything above it is a winning record, and in a 162-game baseball season each .006 is roughly one extra win. Because it is a rate rather than a total, win percentage is what lets you compare teams that have played a different number of games - the standard way standings are ordered mid-season.
Note the naming quirk: a win percentage of .625 is really a proportion, and is usually spoken as "six twenty-five" rather than as 62.5 percent, even though the two mean the same thing.
Once that is settled, the save percentage calculator takes care of the next part.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I calculate winning percentage?
- Add wins plus half the ties, then divide by total games. A 12-7-1 record is (12 + 0.5) ÷ 20 = .625.
- How are ties handled?
- Each tie counts as half a win in the standard formula.
- What does a .625 winning percentage mean?
- The team wins the equivalent of 62.5% of its games.
- What if there are no ties?
- Then it's just wins divided by total games played.
- How do overtime and shootout losses count?
- In the standard formula they are simply losses, since the game was not tied at the end. Some leagues, notably the NHL, instead rank teams by points percentage, which awards a point for an overtime loss - so a league table can differ from the plain win percentage.