longest championship drought city longest championship drought city

Los Angeles Clippers - 52 years. A good VPN provides extra security and unequalled privacy for everything you do online. With spring training having begun in baseball and basketball and hockey seasons ramping up towards the playoffs towards, hope springs eternal for dedicated fans. Orlando has not won a title since becoming a pro-city in 1989 when the Orlando Magic joined the NBA. The Cardinals have the longest active title drought in the NFL (last title: 1947) and one of the longest droughts without a franchise QB. Sacramento Kings 16 seasons (last playoff . Here are the U.S. and Canadian metros with the longest active championship droughts. Within two years, the Magic had the best record in the Eastern Conference and reached the 1994-95 NBA Finals. Then in the Super Bowl, they almost pulled off another miracle, as Kevin Dyson (who scored the Music City Miracle) was stopped a foot shy of a game-tying touchdown on the final play of the game. Longest championship title droughts in NBA history. The defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins won the series 4-2. Credit: Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports. Required fields are marked *. Since then, the team has used four different names and reached just two conference finals . The Kansas City Royals have a chance to end a 29-year wait for a second world title. In their second season in Nashville, the Titans reached the Super Bowl for the only time in an amazing season that included surviving a near upset in the Wild Card game thanks to the infamous Music City Miracle 75-yard kick off return. Sacramento Kings - 1951. The Titans came just a yard short of having a chance to send Super Bowl XXXIV to overtime against the St. Louis Rams. In 2015-16, Cam Newton would lead the Panthers to a 15-1 season that was capped off with a 49-15 rout of the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC Championship Game. Contact Frank with thoughts, questions, and story ideas at [emailprotected]. While the Seattle Mariners are far behind some others in the length of their title drought, they are in MLB history for another unfortunate reason. Charlotte has been a professional city since 1988 when the NBA expanded with the Charlotte Hornets. New Orleans Saints (1967-2010): . New York then lost in the Finals three times from 1999 to 2002. Related: MLB power rankings 2022 Houston Astros, New York Yankees battle for No.1 spot. 57 years. 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. Required fields are marked *. With the Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs breaking their respective curses this century, the longest World Series drought now belongs to the Cleveland Guardians. Despite owning a dominant team, the Lakers have yet to win an NBA championship since 1988. The Toronto Maple Leafs have the longest championship drought in the NHL, a massive fall for a dynasty. The Predators, after missing the playoffs their first five seasons, have made the playoffs 12 of the 15 seasons since then. Back in 1925, the Cardinals faced the Pottsville Maroons in the 1925 NFL Championship game. Each season begins with optimism across the 30 MLB fanbases, and each one ends with some level of disappointment for 29 of them. The Hornets would move to New Orleans after the 2002 season. The Bills lost all four Super Bowls, with the closest one being in the 1990-91 season when Scott Norwoods potential game-winning 47-yard field goal attempt with 8-seconds remaining was wide by a foot. Total professional sports championships: 18. The franchises most recent Hall of Famer, Mike Piazza, was 18 years old when the Mets won it all in 86. Researchers at HotDog.com ranked US and Canadian metropolitan areas according to active professional sports championship droughts. Some believe a curse is a reason for this title drought. A handful of teams have finally gotten over the hump in recent years and ended. To make matters worse in Sacramento, the Kings set an NBA record for the longest playoff drought in league history. Your email address will not be published. Milwaukee is the 39th largest metropolitan area with a 2017 population of 1,576,236. But if youre not going to count those as championships then you have to start counting years with the start of Super Bowls. Buffalo is the nations 50th largest metropolitan area with a 2017 population of 1,136,856. While it was a finalist in MLBs 1993 and 1998 expansion, it got overlooked in favor of Miami and Tampa Bay. There were World Series chances in '84 and 98, but the Padres won just one Fall Classic game in those years against the Tigers and Yankees, respectively. The Cardinals' 70-year championship drought is one year longer than the team the Cubs beat Wednesday. Featured Photo Credit: Doug Lemke / Shutterstock. Longest championship drought, by city (with multiple teams in current pro leagues) City: Most recent title: Here are some of sports' longest-standing droughts for things other than championships. 2023 Cable News Network. 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. For current droughts, Minnesota leads all states in the US for the longest championship drought. Additionally, each location must have had at least one professional sports team operating in all years of its championship drought for that losing streak to count. . A season-ending Game 5 loss at Yankee Stadium in the 2022 AL Division Series extended the Guardians' MLB-record streak of elimination-game losses to 11. 1. The Sacramento Kings have a historic playoff drought to go along with their historic championship drought. The Mariners last made the playoffs in 2001, an unforgettable season for the team. Updated with completion of NFL season ending in 2023. One of the NHLs Original Six organizations has gone over five decades without lifting the Cup. 3) PHILADELPHIA EAGLES - Last NFL Title: 1960. The team has two WNBA Finals appearances in its history: 2008 and 2020. The Yankees swept the Padres, clinching Game 4 at Qualcomm Stadium. Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) celebrates leading the Bucks to the NBA championship Tuesday night. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Ten Major Cities With Longest Championship Droughts. The Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks are the other NHL teams to go 50-plus years without winning the Stanley Cup. Minneapolis-St. Paul is the nations 16th largest metropolitan area with a 2017 population of 3,600,618. All Rights Reserved. The Twins havent advanced past the LDS round since 02. The NFL then gave the title to the Cardinals. Thanks to the Capitals, Detroit has now moved up the list of cities with the longest-running title droughts. How else could he watch one to two films every day? (61), Milwaukee Brewers (53) and San Diego Padres (53). Only streaks with consecutive years of professional sports operating within a location were considered. The franchise is 0-4 in potential championship clinchers over its past two trips to the Series, having squandered a 3-1 advantage to the Cubs in 2016. Over the last 25 years, 62.7% of cities have won a championship in either the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, or MLS. It snaps a decade-long absence from October baseball, a step in the right direction for the franchise. (See Unfilled Dynasties: The Bucks Stop Here.). Last championship in the city: New York Giants (2012), or for Brooklyn specifically, the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers. Shoutout to the city of Winnipeg, where there's never been a division title in the NHL, but the . It is also possible that the NHL championship drought will extend to Los Angeles. The Detroit Red Wings brought the last major championship home to the Motor City ten . Not included are some long-suffering cities whose prayers were recently answered such as Atlanta (Atlanta United), Cleveland (Cavaliers), Houston (Astros), Kansas City (Royals), Portland (Timbers) and Washington (Capitals). All 32 active NFL teams have qualified for and won a game in the playoffs. Of active NFL teams 20 have won the Super Bowl, Of active NFL teams 7 have won AFL or NFL championship pre-merger Of active NFL teams 5 have not won any championship or Super Bowl. An early exit extended Torontos futility with one of the longest championship droughts in sports. Of course, the NHL playoffs werent as kind to others. Nashville became a major league city in 1998 when the NFLs Tennessee Oilers moved from Memphis (they became the Titans the following season) and the Nashville Predators debuted as an NHL expansion team. Longest NFL / AFL / Super Bowl championship appearance droughts through history. The Bert Bell Benefit Bowl (aka the Playoff Bowl; 19601969) is considered an exhibition game for the purpose of this list. appreciated. If the Titans had completed the comeback, it would have . 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. The Wild has reached the Conference Finals only once getting swept by the Anaheim Ducks in 2003. It could be tantalizingly close misses, like the Buffalo Bills run of four straight Super Bowl losses in the 1990s. 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. Columbus has only one active team, the, There have been no championships in Memphis history. They are one of 11 teams without an NBA championship. Having played more seasons naturally makes it more likely that a team would win a championship at some point. 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. 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. 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. Whether curses are to blame or just bad management and worse luck, fans put up with a lot. For more information, check out our comprehensive FuboTV review. However, they were stripped of the title and the Maroons were suspended by the NFL for playing an exhibition game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Since then the Twins have only advanced as far as the ALCS once (2002). Only metros with at least one active NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, or MLS team were considered. 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. But cities that have been awarded franchises recently have an additional disadvantage, because there are now more teams to compete against than in earlier years. In 2016-17 they claimed the final playoff spot in the Western Conference and then swept the top-seeded Chicago Blackhawks and then beat the St. Louis Blues (4-2) and Anaheim Ducks (4-2) to reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time. The Cleveland Guardians have the longest active championship drought in MLB, with their last World Series title coming in 1948. 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. New York went from 1906-1920 without a championship, and that dry spell was bookended by World . Orlando has only one active team, the, The most recent championship for Calgary was the, The most recent championship for Indianapolis was the, The most recent championship for Edmonton was the, There have been no championships in San Jose history. The Minnesota Timberwolves reached the conference finals only once in 2004 when league MVP Kevin Garnett led them to a conference-best record of 58-24. NFL. The longest currently active championship drought belongs to the city of The organizations last title came in 1947, when there were only 10 teams in the NFL and the Cardinals were playing in Chicago. The Blue Jays' drought continued to grow in 2022 after they lost in the Wild Card Series to the Mariners. The Mariners have gone 20 years without reaching the MLB playoffs, it is the longest active postseason drought in the top four American mens sports. Only metros with at least one active NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, or MLS team were considered. Here is a look at the longest active championship droughts, all of which go back to at least 1998. , Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills are the other franchises that were in existence before the Super Bowl era that have yet to take home the Lombardi Trophy. The 2007-08 Celtics rolled to a stop-the-insanity 131-92 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6 of the NBA Finals on June 17, 2008, after which no Boston team would win a championship until . To make matters worse in Sacramento, the Kings set an NBA record for the longest playoff drought in league history. Listed here are both appearance droughts and winning droughts in almost every level of the NFL playoff system. Cleveland Guardians (MLB) - 73 years. Here are the longest championship droughts in the four major American professional sports. 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. Which teams have the longest championship droughts? A puck that rebounds off the goalie, the goal post or an opposing player is not deemed to be a change of possession, and therefore Hull would be deemed to be in possession or control of the puck, allowed to shoot and score a goal even though the one foot would be in the crease in advance of the puck. In 1990, the Cincinnati Reds swept the favored Oakland As for their 5th World Series Championship. The franchise will hope to find a new quarterback in 2023, someone who can finally take this team back to the playoffs. The Buffalo Sabres made it to the Stanley Cup Finals in only their 5th season in 1974-75, led by Hall of Fame Center Gilbert Perreault They lost to the defending champion Philadelphia Flyers 4-2, who clinched Game 6 in Buffalo with a 2-0 win. Locations were attributed championships for championships won by teams that were branded to be from the location at the time that they won the championship. At the metro level, one city currently stands out for the length of time without a professional sports title. The Cleveland Cavaliers snapped a 52-year championship drought June 19, 2016, when they toppled the Golden State Warriors in a best-of-seven series. Milwaukee has been home to MLBs Milwaukee Braves (now Atlanta Braves), the Milwaukee Brewers, the NBAs Milwaukee Hawks (now Atlanta Hawks) and Milwaukee Bucks, the NFLs Milwaukee Badgers and the Green Bay Packers which played some games in Milwaukee from 1933-1994 (Green Bay is not part of the Milwaukee metro area). Seattle tied the record for the most wins in an MLB season (116), but lost in the American League Championship Series to the New York Yankees. The longest currently active championship drought belongs to the city of Buffalo, who has gone 116 seasons without winning a championship. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); HotDog is the internet's oldest guide to cordcutting, replacing expensive cable or satellite TV with cheaper or free live stream and OTA options. The Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, Tennessee Titans, Los Angeles Chargers, Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills are the other franchises that were in existence before the Super Bowl era that have yet to take home the Lombardi Trophy. In 2003-04, the Panthers battled the Patriots in a shootout, with a Jake Delhomme touchdown pass evening the score at 29 with 1:08 to go. After their initial season, the Jaguars went 45-19 over the next four seasons, making the playoffs each year and the AFC Championship twice (losing to the Patriots 20-6 in 1996-97 and the Titans 33-14 in 1999-2000). 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 . They have not won a playoff series since then. They have not made the playoffs since then. We have seen one of the longest Stanley Cup droughts end in recent years. Sadly for hockey fans in Philly, the Philadelphia Flyers arent far behind. 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. Nashville has 2 active teams, the, The most recent championship for Portland was the, The most recent championship for Dallas was the, There have been no championships in Salt Lake City history. With C-Town now anointed NBA champions, let's look at the cities with two or more "Big Four" sports teams (meaning from the NFL, NBA, MLB or NHL sorry, MLS and college sports) that have gone the longest without a title. A citys sports misfortunes can come in different forms. Even with four total franchises between Nashville and Memphis, the state has never won a professional sports title in 25 years. For some fans, however, hope all is all they have had for too long. General manager Billy Beanes innovative roster strategies have kept the As competitive on small-market budgets, particularly during the clubs Moneyball period in the early 2000s, but the franchise has reached just two ALCS since last winning the World Series in 1989. Each sports season is referred to by the year that the season started. That 10-year drought is twice as long as anyone else in the NFL, as the Cardinals, Bengals and Broncos have all most . The second came in 1948 with manager Lou Boudreau calling the shots and Bob Lemon and Bob Feller manning the mound. The Lakers went on to win Game 7 at Sacramento in overtime 112-106. Despite having a team in each of the five major sports, it has been more than three decades since Minnesota last saw a title, when the MLBs Twins won in 1991. Padres fans can take comfort in the fact that the Yankees were simply that good, as they began a 10-game World Series winning streak as the Yankees also swept the Atlanta Braves in 1999 and beat the New York Mets (4-1) in 2000. No city currently compares to Clevelands legendary sports curse, but many pro sports markets have nonetheless seen lengthy championship droughts in recent years. Abdul-Jabbar led the Bucks back to the NBA Finals in 1974 against the Boston Celtics. 2023 ChampsOrChumps.us Terms Privacy Policy, The most recent championship for Minneapolis was the, The most recent championship for New York was the, The most recent championship for Phoenix was the, The most recent championship for Cincinnati was the, There have been no championships in Charlotte history. Further ties were broken by the team with the most active professional sports franchises. The team moved to Los Angeles in 2017 after 56 years in San Diego. Longest Drought: N.C. State Wolfpack (Last title: 1979) Upon leaving the Southern Conference to become a charter member of the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1953, NC State was not always an . 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. Ten teams have multiple losing streaks where they lost an equal number of post season games before breaking the drought. This is a sortable table of all 32 current NFL teams. Current NFL cities/regions only. The Sacramento Kings have a historic playoff drought to go along with their historic championship drought. Orlando is the 23rd largest metropolitan area with a 2017 population of 2,509,831. Buffalo Last Title: Never The Braves had been one of those teams entering the 2021 season, but they became the latest team to end a lengthy drought by clinching their first title since 1995 by beating the Astros to take home the 2021 World Series trophy that fall. They also won the pennant in 2006, when they lost in five games to the 83-win Cardinals. 9. But the magic hasnt been sufficient enough in the years since, though the Mets did enjoy plenty of memorable moments during their NL pennant runs in 2000 and 15. The Twins win came months after the Minnesota North Stars lost in the Stanley Cup Finals. Winning a championship, regardless of league, is no easy feat. By: Jill R. Dorson -. After the Cav's NBA championship last night, the city that's endured the most seasons without a major sport championship is San Diego. Neither team has been crowned the NHLs champions since entering the league in 1970. Last Title: 1948 (74-year drought) The Guardians have been the kings of the MLB twice in their 122 seasons of play. The Royals beat the New York Knicks in seven games to win the 1951 NBA Finals. The Chargers traveled to Pittsburgh where, unlike the Freezer Bowl in Cincinnati, it was a balmy 59 degrees. Which NHL team has the longest Stanley Cup drought? Which NFL team has the longest Super Bowl drought? In 2017-18, they returned to the AFC Championship and had a 20-10 lead early in the fourth quarter over the defending champion New England Patriots, but Tom Brady led the Patriots back to a 24-20 win. Here are the US and Canadian metros with the longest active championship droughts. The Bucks lost in seven games to the Allen Iverson-led Philadelphia 76ers in a series that some believe was rigged in Philadelphias favor. In 2015, the MLS added Orlando FC, which has yet to qualify for the playoffs. Phoenix Suns - 53 years. Neither the Reds nor the Bengals have played in a Championship Game since then. 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. The As most recent ALCS appearance resulted in a sweep by the Tigers in 06. 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 clubs 12 postseason appearances since beating the Boston Braves in the 1948 Fall Classic. This list only shows droughts of 30 or more seasons for teams. Blue Jays: 29 seasons (Last title in 1993)The road to the World Series title ran through Toronto at the beginning of the 1990s, but dynastic days north of the border subsided at the turn of the millennium. 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. After that promising start, they have had only four winning seasons and three playoff appearances since 1999. semi-final defeat to a Manchester City side headed . Three more MLB teams have World Series droughts that extend 50-plus years: the. By ending the 2021-22 season with a 30-52 record, the Kings have failed to reach the postseason for. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. The Magic faced the defending champion Houston Rockets who had struggled during the season, leading some to predict a Magic sweep. The Chargers were 19-point underdogs against Steve Young and San Francisco 49ers, who jumped to a 42-10 lead and coasted to a 49-26 win. 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. The Padres were the last San Diego team with a shot at 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. Which MLB team has the longest World Series drought? The New York Liberty are the only original WNBA team with its original name that has never won a title, giving them a drought of 25 seasons. Jabbar played only one more season with the Bucks, but the franchise found new life in the 1980s under Coach Don Nelson with 7-straight 50-win seasons and three trips to the Eastern Conference Finals only to face dynastic Philadelphia and Boston teams. To make matters worse, this team isnt even coming close to the Stanley Cup finals. Active droughts are listed in bold type Teams With Longest Championship and Playoff Droughts 2019 Edition Trophy Lives, Seattle Kraken Set NHL Record With 7-0 Road Trip, Dec-23-79: Bruins-Rangers Donnybrook at MSG, England France Meet in World Cup For Only Third Time, First Elimination Round Match. Detroit Tigers - 7 years. Of course, the Cardinals arent the only franchise with a championship drought beyond 50 years. AMAZON -- HotDog.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a way for websites to earn advertising revenues by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Last year they had the best record in the National League and were one game away from returning to the World Series, but lost Game 7 of the NLCS to the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1. Buffalos drought tops the next-highest city by nine years, and only two other cities besides Buffalo have championship droughts longer than 50 years. Entire US Womens Soccer Team Sues US Soccer for Gender Discrimination, we covered franchise championship conference titles, conference finals, and playoff appearance droughts, team moved to Los Angeles in 2017 after 56 years in San Diego. Minnesota (Minneapolis/St. No city currently compares to Clevelands legendary sports curse, but many pro sports markets have nonetheless seen lengthy championship droughts in recent years. Check out our Cyber Monday Shoppers Guide! The Bucks made it back to the conference finals in 2001 with a team led by Hall of Famer Ray Allen and Sam Cassell in the backcourt and power forward Glenn Big Dog Robinson. 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. It has been an essential part of our streaming toolkit for years. 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.