Neither the Reds nor the Bengals have played in a Championship Game since then. It is also possible that the NHL championship drought will extend to Los Angeles. The city of Los Angeles has the longest championship drought of any NBA city. 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. 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. He specializes in technology, business, and film/television. Since then, the team has used four different names and reached just two conference finals, losing both. 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. The first time was in 1920 behind the guise and bat of player/manager Tris Speaker. Three more MLB teams have World Series droughts that extend 50-plus years: the. To make matters worse, a team with 17 championships in its history has just one (2008) in nearly 40 years. Its been just as long since the team even reached the Stanley Cup Final, losing in five conference finals over that stretch. All 32 active NFL teams have qualified for and won a game in the playoffs. The Brewers had a 3-2 series lead over the St. Louis Cardinals, as the series moved back to St. Louis. For current droughts, Minnesota leads all states in the U.S. for the longest championship drought. Led by quarterback Stan Humphries, the Chargers came back from a 13-3 deficit to win 17-13. The Royals beat the New York Knicks in seven games to win the 1951 NBA Finals. Charlotte is the 22nd largest metropolitan area and has a 2017 population of 2,525,305. A championship is listed as winning an NFL Championship (19201969), AFL Championship (19601969), and Super Bowl Championship (1966present). 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. Even with four total franchises between Nashville and Memphis, the state has never won a professional sports title in 25 years. A championship appearance is listed as appearing in an NFL Championship (19321969), AFL Championship (19601969), or Super Bowl Championship (1966present). Longest championship drought, by sport. A Warner Bros. After the Cav's NBA championship last night, the city that's endured the most seasons without a major sport championship is San Diego. Longest Championship Droughts By City - Champs or Chumps In the NBA Finals, the Magic faced Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers who beat them 4-1. Which NFL team has the longest Super Bowl drought? The team would move to Dallas in 1993, with the Minnesota Wild debuting in 2000. The sport was also just two years removed from Wayne Gretzky retiring. The organizations last title came in 1947, when there were only 10 teams in the NFL and the Cardinals were playing in. Jim Hart is the only QB in team history that fits the bill. 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 . The Longest NFL Championship Droughts The wait can be miserable. How to Stream Without Cable, Why Sports Matter to Cable Subscribers: One-Third May Cancel If NFL is Postponed. Cleveland last won a championship 69 years ago, in 1948. Boston went 21 years without winning the NBA Finals from 1986-2007. This drought started in 1966 and has been ongoing for 57 years. Current NFL cities/regions only. (See The Vikings: Tale of Glory and Doom.). The . While they have had some success in Memphis, they have only reached the conference finals once in 2013 where they were swept by the San Antonio Spurs. The Bucks lost in seven games to the Allen Iverson-led Philadelphia 76ers in a series that some believe was rigged in Philadelphias favor. 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. Each of the traditional Big Four sports leagues expanded into new markets throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, while Major League Soccer has only existed since 1996. 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 longest active playoff droughts in the NFL entering the 2022 season. Within two years, the Magic had the best record in the Eastern Conference and reached the 1994-95 NBA Finals. The team was an original WNBA team as the Utah Starzz starting in 1997 before turning into the San Antonio Silver Stars in 2003 and the Aces in 2018. 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. Of course, the Cardinals arent the only franchise with a championship drought beyond 50 years. Mike Bibbys game-winning shot in Game 5 put them up 3-2 over the Los Angeles Lakers. Paul) owns the longest championship drought of all American cities that have teams in the four major sports. The 10 longest championship droughts in professional sports. A good VPN provides extra security and unequalled privacy for everything you do online. The Mariners ended their 21-year postseason drought in 2022 before losing to the division-rival Astros in the ALDS. Only locations with at least one currently active professional sports team were considered in the analysis. The longest drought since a championship of any kind is that of the Cardinals, at 75 seasons. Who are the teams with the longest championship drought? The team moved to Los Angeles in 2017 after 56 years in San Diego. 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. Active droughts are listed in bold type. Milwaukee since has made two National League Championship Series appearances. The team came close to winning the inaugural WNBA championship in 1997 but fell to the Houston Comets. The NBA team with the longest championship drought is the sad-Sack-ramento Kings, who last won the league championship in 1951 as the (wait for it) Rochester Royals . After that, the T-Wolves proceeded to miss the playoffs for 13 straight seasons until last year. No city currently compares to Clevelands legendary sports curse, but many pro sports markets have nonetheless seen lengthy championship droughts in recent years. 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. The Hornets would move to New Orleans after the 2002 season. This is a list of current National Football League (NFL) franchise post-season and Super Bowl droughts (multiple consecutive seasons of not winning). The last championship in San Diego was the 1963 AFL Championship where the Chargers beat the Boston Patriots 51-10. (61), Milwaukee Brewers (53) and San Diego Padres (53). We have seen one of the longest Stanley Cup droughts end in recent years. 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. Then Hulu started and he was hooked. Contact Frank with thoughts, questions, and story ideas at [emailprotected]. A citys sports misfortunes can come in different forms. 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. Since then, the team has used four different names and reached just two conference finals . The Sabres made it to the Conference Finals in 2006 and 2007, but have not won a playoff series since then. Did you encounter any technical issues? Medvedev too hot to handle as he beats Rublev to win in Dubai | Arab News In our first installment, we covered franchise championship conference titles, conference finals, and playoff appearance droughts, with theArizona Cardinals (71 years), Cleveland Indians (70), Sacramento Kings (67), Toronto Maple Leafs and St. Louis Blues (50) having the longest droughts in their respective leagues. For more information, check out our comprehensive FuboTV review. Even with four total franchises between Nashville and Memphis, the state has never won a professional sports title in 25 years. The Kings lost Game 6 in Los Angeles 106-102 in a controversial game that many have claimed demonstrates that the league wanted to ensure that the marquee Lakers and not the small-market Kings reached the NBA Finals; as in the final minutes, all foul calls and non-calls went the Lakers way. For some fans, however, hope all is all they have had for too long. Around a quarter (25.5%) have never won a championship. (MEDIA GENERAL) After 108 years of waiting for another World Series ring, the Chicago Cubs ended the longest championship drought in major American professional sports history. Thats it youll save money, take back control, and enjoy TV more! While it certainly isnt one of the longest championship droughts in sports, the 14-year stretch is one of the longest in franchise history. 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. Over the last 25 years, 62.7% of cities have won a championship in either the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, or MLS. Cincinnati is the 29th largest metropolitan area with a 2017 population of 2,179,082. Cyber Monday is coming with lots of deals on the things cord-cutters want and need from top providers like Hulu, ExpressVPN and NordVPN. They were followed by the World Football Leagues Jacksonville Sharks/Express (defunct), the NASLs Jacksonville Tea Men (defunct), the United States Football Leagues Jacksonville Bulls (defunct) and them, finally, the NFLs Jacksonville Jaguars in 1995. Las Vegas has 2 active teams, the, The most recent championship for Los Angeles was the, The most recent championship for Oakland was the, The most recent championship for St. Louis was the, The most recent championship for Tampa was the, The most recent championship for Atlanta was the, The most recent championship for Milwaukee was the, The most recent championship for Kansas City was the, The most recent championship for Denver was the, The most recent championship for San Francisco was the, The most recent championship for Houston was the. 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 Sacramento skyline, as seen fromThe ZigguratinWest Sacramento, California. Updated The Buffalo Bills won AFL championships in 1964 and 1965 prior to Super Bowls between the two football leagues. 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. Seattle made it as far as the American League Championship Series in 1995, 2000 and 01, when it won 116 regular-season games. 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. The Lakers went on to win Game 7 at Sacramento in overtime 112-106. In fact, the last time Toronto hosted an Eastern Conference finals game came in 2002. Atlanta Hawks - 63 years. But their quest to give the city of San Diego its first World Series crown ended when the Phillies beat them in five games. The organizations last championship came in 1951, when the team was the Rochester Royals. Whether curses are to blame or just bad management and worse luck, fans put up with a lot. The Titans came just a yard short of having a chance to send Super Bowl XXXIV to overtime against the St. Louis Rams. Longest Active Championship Droughts | The Poolside Post The Cleveland Guardians have the longest active championship drought in MLB, with their last World Series title coming in 1948. 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. Since then, the Os have fallen in the ALCS in 1996, 97 and 2014. The Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, Tennessee Titans. The Chargers traveled to Pittsburgh where, unlike the Freezer Bowl in Cincinnati, it was a balmy 59 degrees. The Cardinals' 70-year championship drought is one year longer than the team the Cubs beat Wednesday. Orlando has not won a title since becoming a pro-city in 1989 when the Orlando Magic joined the NBA. The last time the Lions won a championship came in 1957, when they defeated the Cleveland Browns in the NFL Championship Game. After the Kings, the Atlanta Hawks hold the next-longest championship drought, which extends back to 1958. Further ties were broken by the team with the most active professional sports franchises. Five Pro Sports Cities in a Championship Drought That Deserve a Ring Despite having a team in each of the five major sports, it has been more than three decades since . **Does not include the three seasons (19961998) during which the franchise suspended operations. After consecutive first-round losses in 2005 and 2006, the Kings fired Adelman despite a .633 win percentage over 8 years. Cleveland Guardians (MLB) - 73 years. 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. appreciated. 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. Among teams that have never won a title, the Phoenix Suns have the longest drought at 54 seasons. Your email address will not be published. Top 10 Longest Championship Droughts in North American Pro Sports 57 years. In that span since the 1984 title, theyve also found themselves on the precipice of the World Series three additional times -- losing the ALCS in 2013, 2011 and 1987. And some of these droughts are especially surprising. 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). Now that Cleveland has won a championship, which city has the longest The Hornets/Bobcats have made only 10 playoff appearances and have never advanced beyond the second round. Winnipeg has only one active team, the, There have been no championships in Jacksonville history. Meanwhile, the Denver Broncos playoff drought extended to seven seasons. Theyve made it twice total since last winning in 1984. 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. Oklahoma City has only one active team, the, The most recent championship for Green Bay was the, The most recent championship for Washington DC was the, The most recent championship for Toronto was the, The most recent championship for San Antonio was the, There have been no championships in Las Vegas history. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much After losing to Detroit (4-1) in the 1984 World Series, the Padres won the pennant again in 1998 (in only their second playoff appearance since 1984). Sacramento has quite a playoff drought going, as it last reached . What are the worst droughts in modern sports history? - Deadspin One of two teams from Cleveland on the list, the Guardians not only hold the longest drought, but also have the most championship appearances of any team on this list with . The Maple Leafs have now gone 55 years without being crowned NHL champions. A handful of teams have finally gotten over the hump in recent years and ended decade-long and, in a few cases, century-long curses. The City of Minneapolis (1991-Present): No Minneapolis franchise has claimed a championship in 25 years, excluding three, maybe four WNBA titles . 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). Today, he streams pretty much everything while his library of thousands of Blu-rays and DVDs collects dust. Charlotte has 2 active teams, the, There have been no championships in Vancouver history. The Magic came back and won 60 games, but could not get past the 72-win Chicago Bulls who swept the Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals. 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. Finally, the city of Cincinnati had be flummoxed. The Yankees swept the Padres, clinching Game 4 at Qualcomm Stadium. The 7 Cities With the Longest Sports Championship Droughts - Portable Press Locations were attributed wins for championships won by teams that were branded to be from the location at the time it took place. Athletics: 33 seasons (Last title in 1989)The As have enjoyed as many dynastic runs as any team outside the Yankees over the breadth of Major League history, but the last three decades have been a dry period in Oakland.