The Queen City is home to the MLBs Cincinnati Reds, NFLs Cincinnati Bengals and MLS FC Cincinnati (debuting this season) and was once home to the NBAs Cincinnati Royals (now Sacramento Kings) and the World Hockey Associations Cincinnati Stingers. It is also possible that the NHL championship drought will extend to Los Angeles. The Kansas City Royals have a chance to end a 29-year wait for a second world title. The Longest NFL Championship Droughts The wait can be miserable. In the world of major professional sports, some cities are known as consistent winners, while others have a long history of hard luck in the search for a sports championship. Here are the teams with the longest-running droughts in the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and WNBA: Twelve NFL teams have never won a Super Bowl, but no team has gone longer without a championship than the Arizona Cardinals. Full List Of Super Bowl Champions Longest Super Bowl Droughts Longest NFL Playoff Droughts Longest NFL Playoff Win Droughts All Time Best NFL Regular Seasons All Time Worst NFL Regular Seasons Most Consecutive NFL Seasons With Winning Records Most Consecutive NFL Seasons With Losing Records Most Consecutive NFL Seasons Making The Playoffs . Colorado has yet to capture an NL West division title. We have seen one of the longest Stanley Cup droughts end in recent years. The Arizona Cardinals have the longest championship drought in the NFL, with their last title coming in 1947 as the Chicago Cardinals. Brewers/Pilots: 54 seasons (No titles)After one season in Seattle, the franchise moved to Milwaukee in 1970. The organization's last championship came in 1951, when the team was the Rochester Royals. The longest drought since a championship of any kind is that of the Cardinals, at 75 seasons. The Predators, after missing the playoffs their first five seasons, have made the playoffs 12 of the 15 seasons since then. Listed here are both appearance droughts and winning droughts in almost every level of the NFL playoff system. Longest playoff drought - New York Jets: With the Browns and Bucs both having made the playoffs in 2020, the Jets now own the longest drought, not having appeared in a postseason contest since the 2010 AFC Championship Game. The T-Wolves fell 4-2 to the defending champions Los Angeles Lakers. After snapping one of the longest playoff droughts in MLB, the Phillies made it back to the World Series for the first time since 2009. Around a quarter (25.5%) have never won a championship. But if youre not going to count those as championships then you have to start counting years with the start of Super Bowls. With spring training having begun in baseball and basketball and hockey seasons ramping up towards the playoffs towards, hope springs eternal for dedicated fans. The closest the Kings have come to an NBA title, however, was in 2002 when Kings played in their only Conference Finals since moving from Kansas City. The last championship in San Diego was the 1963 AFL Championship where the Chargers beat the Boston Patriots 51-10. The Bucs only three postseason appearances since then (2013-15) all fell short of the NLCS. Since 1984, a drought has existed in the United States. Updated with completion of NFL season ending in 2023. Ironically, the 2016 World Series loss to the Chicago Cubs snapped the longest championship drought ever, with the Cubs going 107 years without a title. They lost the championship the following season and did not reach the championship game for 60 years before falling to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl LIII. Its par for the course from a team that has battled to even reach mediocrity during its best seasons in the last two decades. San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA. Note that for continuity purposes, the Cleveland Browns are officially considered to have suspended operations for the 1996, 1997, and 1998 seasons. Very little work got done in 2008. LEARN MORESports fans will be glad to know that Hulu + Live TV streamers can also select their favorite teams to watch live from six different sports leagues across five different sports. Tom Brady, however, drove the Patriots 37 yards to set up the game-winning Adam Vinatieri 41 yard field goal. Researchers at HotDog.com ranked U.S. and Canadian metropolitan areas according to active professional sports championship droughts, including the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, and MLS. In the event of a tie, the location with fewer total professional championships was ranked higher. Twins: 31 seasons (Last title in 1991)The days of Jack Morris, Kirby Puckett and the "Homer Hanky" are growing further and further into the rearview mirror for the Twins. Since then they have had only 7 winning seasons and 4 playoff appearances, never getting past the second round (most recently in 2017-18 when they lost 34-14 to the defending champion New England Patriots). Last Title: 1948 (74-year drought) The Guardians have been the kings of the MLB twice in their 122 seasons of play. For these teams, its practically impossible. The team lost the World Series four times over the last 73 seasons, most recently in 2016 when the Cubs snapped their unprecedented 108-year skid. The Hornets/Bobcats have made only 10 playoff appearances and have never advanced beyond the second round. This For example, Canada the birthplace of hockey is home to seven cities with NHL franchises, but none of them have brought home a Stanley Cup in the last 30 years. You can see his writing on low-budget and weird film at, Cities With the Longest Active Championship Droughts, Metros With the Longest Active Championship Droughts, Cities With the Most Professional Sports Championships, Cities With the Longest NBA Championship Droughts of All Time. Sacramento has only one active team, the, The most recent championship for Miami was the, The most recent championship for Ottawa was the, There have been no championships in Orlando history. The Bucks have not won a series since then, although this year certainly looks promising. This is also a list of the last time a particular club won a divisional playoff game. No city currently compares to Clevelands legendary sports curse, but many pro sports markets have nonetheless seen lengthy championship droughts in recent years. Guardians: 74 seasons (Last title in 1948) Cleveland has had its chances during this time, but it lost World Series in 1954, '95, '97 and 2016 -- four of the club's 12 postseason appearances since beating the Boston Braves in the 1948 Fall . The Celtic defense, however, shut the Bucks down in the fourth quarter of Game 7 as they cruised to a 102-87 win. The Original Ottawa Senators last won the Stanley Cup in 1927. The data was sourced from pro-football-reference.com, basketball-reference.com, baseball-reference.com, hockey-reference.com, and fbref.com. Buffalo's drought tops the next-highest city by nine years, and only two other cities besides Buffalo have championship droughts longer than 50 years. New York went from 1906-1920 without a championship, and that dry spell was bookended by World . Tigers: 38 seasons (Last title in 1984)Detroits last trip to the World Series came in 2012, when the Tigers were swept at the hands of the Giants. Los Angeles Clippers - 52 years. Though no other American sports franchise has reached the century mark for years without a title, there . Sadly for hockey fans in Philly, the Philadelphia Flyers arent far behind. The Reds have been 2-11 in its four post-season appearances since then and has finished in last or next to last 11 times including the last five seasons. Far more importantly, New York is in the playoffs for the first time since Ben McAdoo was the head coach, bringing an end to the Giants five-year playoff drought. Only streaks with consecutive years of professional sports operating within a location were considered. Once part of the NFL, the Chargers made it to the AFC Championship Game four times: (i) losing to the Oakland Raiders 34-27 in 1980-81; (ii) losing 27-7 to Cincinnati in the famous Freezer Bowl in 1981-82; (iii)losing to the undefeated Patriots 21-12 in 2007-08; and (iv) then there was the 1994-95 season. By ending the 2021-22 season with a 30-52 record, the Kings have failed to reach the postseason for. This list only shows droughts of 30 or more seasons for teams. Neither team has been crowned the NHLs champions since entering the league in 1970. . Having played more seasons naturally makes it more likely that a team would win a championship at some point. For some fans, however, hope all is all they have had for too long. 10 of those cities have seen at least 2 teams total (in 2 different sports) win a championship ; 10 have seen at least 1 championship since 2010; 11 have seen at least 1 team win a championship since 2000 The Game 1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals also represented the Phillies first playoff victory since Game 3 in the 2011 NLDS on Oct. 4, 2011. 8 Philadelphia 76ers: 38 . Still, 15 of the 30 teams have gone at least the past 25 seasons -- since MLB's most recent expansion in 1998 -- without winning the World Series. Here is a look at the longest active championship droughts, all of which go back to at least 1998. Tennessee Titans. The Buffalo Bills won AFL championships in 1964 and 1965 prior to Super Bowls between the two football leagues. Mets: 36 seasons (Last title in 1986)It took a series of miracles for the Mets to come back in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series before eventually prevailing in Game 7. It could be tantalizingly close misses, like the Buffalo Bills run of four straight Super Bowl losses in the 1990s. Despite fielding nine teams, the most of any city in the country, New York has not won a title in nearly nine years, almost 3,200 days. It would take the Sabres 24 years to return to the Stanley Cup Finals where they faced the Dallas Stars in 1999. Researchers at HotDog.com ranked US and Canadian metropolitan areas according to active professional sports championship droughts, including the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, and MLS. Buffalos drought tops the next-highest city by nine years, and only two other cities besides Buffalo have championship droughts longer than 50 years. And here are the 10 longest World Series title droughts in MLB history that are no longer active (going back to the inaugural World Series in 1903): Cubs: 107 years (1909-2016)White Sox: 87 years (1918-2005)Red Sox: 85 years (1919-2004)Phillies: 77 years (1903-80)Orioles/Browns: 63 years (1903-66)Twins/Senators: 62 years (1925-87)Astros: 55 years (1962-2017)Giants: 55 years (1955-2010)Dodgers: 52 years (1903-55)Nationals/Expos: 50 years (1969-2019), MLB-record streak of elimination-game losses. Columbus has only one active team, the, There have been no championships in Memphis history. The Rochester Royals, now known as the Sacramento Kings, won the NBA Finals in 1951. It could be tantalizingly close misses, like the Buffalo Bills run of four straight Super Bowl losses in the 1990s. While there are great dynasties throughout sports history, plenty of NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB teams have gone decades without being on top of the world. The City of Minneapolis (1991-Present): No Minneapolis franchise has claimed a championship in 25 years, excluding three, maybe four WNBA titles . Charlotte has been a professional city since 1988 when the NBA expanded with the Charlotte Hornets. Of course, some have it worse than others. This drought started in 1966 and has been ongoing for 57 years. With C-Town now anointed NBA champions, let's . Since then the Twins have only advanced as far as the ALCS once (2002). Listed according to seasons waited. are the only original WNBA team with its original name that has never won a title, giving them a drought of 25 seasons. However, their drought pales in comparison to ones endured by other franchises. The team would move to Dallas in 1993, with the Minnesota Wild debuting in 2000. 57 years. 11/4/2016. Minnesota's dry spell extends nearly 25 years, all the way back to . The Sacramento Kings have a historic playoff drought to go along with their historic championship drought. 2023 Cable News Network. Since then, the team has used four different names and reached just two conference finals, losing both. But the tide turned with a name change and new colors in 2008, when the franchise enjoyed a 31-win turnaround and claimed its first pennant before losing to the Phillies in five games in the World Series. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. For current droughts, Minnesota leads all states in the US for the longest championship drought. All Rights Reserved. Which MLB team has the longest World Series drought? In 2008-2009, the Arizona Cardinals came back from a 20-7 fourth quarter deficit to go ahead 23-20 with only 2:47 remaining in Super Bowl XLIII but Santonio Holmes amazing end zone catch gave the Pittsburgh Steeles the 27-23 win. Among teams that have never won a title, the Phoenix Suns have the longest drought at 54 seasons. Since then, the team has used four different names and reached just two conference finals . After taking down the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Final, Colorado is back on top of the NHL world. The Mariners last made the playoffs in 2001, an unforgettable season for the team. Of those 12, they have the longest championship victory or appearance drought. Winning a championship, regardless of league, is no easy feat. 9. Pottsville won the game 21-7, a win that should have secured the championship. Contact Frank with thoughts, questions, and story ideas at [emailprotected]. Tennessee also stands out for its pro sports struggles. They returned to the AFC Championship in 2002-03, losing to the Oakland Raiders 41-24. After losing in the NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics have now gone 14 years without winning a title. Time flies by and those same fans are capturing their children and even grandchildren in that same feeling. They are one of 11 teams without an NBA championship. Kansas City's last three playoff losses have come by a total of nine points a freak 18-16 loss to Pittsburgh in a divisional game after the 2016 season, a 22-21 loss to the Tennessee Titans after the 2017 season and a 37-31 overtime loss to the New England Patriots in the . After being eliminated from postseason contention in Week 18, the New York Jets have the longest active NFL playoff drought at 12 seasons. and, in a few cases, century-long curses. In the NBA Finals, the Magic faced Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers who beat them 4-1. Pirates: 43 seasons (Last title in 1979)Only six franchises have won more championships than Pittsburgh (five), but its been a rough road for the franchise since Barry Bonds departure following a heartbreaking loss in Game 7 of the 1992 NLCS. The Panthers have reached the Super Bowl twice. The Blue Jays fell in back-to-back ALCS in 2015-16, representing their closest recent attempts. Minnesota United has yet to make the playoffs in two seasons of play in the MLS. The modern Ottawa Senators did not begin. Most cities, however, have tasted recent success in a major sport in one form or another. . In 1990, the Cincinnati Reds swept the favored Oakland As for their 5th World Series Championship. The other seven clubs (Cardinals, Lions, Oilers/Titans, Chargers, Browns, Bills, and Vikings) all won an NFL or AFL championship prior to the AFLNFL merger; in the case of the Vikings, however, the Super Bowl existed at the time they won their only league title (in 1969), leaving them and the Falcons as the only two teams to have never won the highest championship available to them.