Columbus has only one active team, the, There have been no championships in Memphis history. Among teams that have never won a title, the Phoenix Suns have the longest drought at 54 seasons. Which teams have the longest championship droughts, US Sports In the 67 years since their last title, the . Theyve made it twice total since last winning in 1984. 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. Its made just one Fall Classic, in '82, when the Brew Crew was unable to finish off a 3-2 lead against the Cardinals. It is the largest city on the list and the only one with teams in all major leagues. The NBA returned to Charlotte in 2004 with the expansion Bobcats who reclaimed the Hornets name in 2014. 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. However, their drought pales in comparison to ones endured by other franchises. Active droughts are listed in bold type The Arizona Cardinals have the longest championship drought in the NFL, with their last title coming in 1947 as the Chicago Cardinals. It is the longest playoff drought in NBA history, surpassing the Los Angeles Clippers (15, 1977-19992) and Minnesota Timberwolves (13, 2005-18). Which teams have the longest championship droughts? Answer (1 of 3): Counting AFL championships and defunct teams, the longest current droughts for an entire city winning any major sports championship are: 1. 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. drought started in 1966 and has been ongoing for The Sacramento Kings have the longest championship drought in the NBA and one of the longest playoff droughts in American sports. In 1991, the Minnesota Twins went from finishing in last place the year before to winning the World Series in a dramatic Game 7. Sadly for hockey fans in Philly, the Philadelphia Flyers arent far behind. A look at the five longest active NFC and AFC Championship Game droughts List of Major League Baseball franchise postseason droughts The Twins win came months after the Minnesota North Stars lost in the Stanley Cup Finals. Note that the NFL did not institute a permanent playoff tournament until 1967 and that the NFL Championship Game and any impromptu one-game playoffs (played only in the event of a tie atop the division standings) were the only postseason matchups in this era. A championship appearance is listed as appearing in an NFL Championship (19321969), AFL Championship (19601969), or Super Bowl Championship (1966present). New York then lost in the Finals three times from 1999 to 2002. The Bert Bell Benefit Bowl (aka the Playoff Bowl; 19601969) is considered an exhibition game for the purpose of this list. Things looked promising for the Magic when they landed Shaquille ONeal with the #1 pick in the 1992 NBA Draft. Only one team can win the World Series every year, but some fanbases have been waiting a long time to see their team raise the Commissioners Trophy. For these teams, its practically impossible. Sign up to receive our daily Morning Lineup to stay in the know about the latest trending topics around Major League Baseball. Tennessee also stands out for its pro sports struggles. Longest NFL Championship Droughts By Team (2022) - YouTube But the Red Sox swept the Rockies that year in the franchises closest title attempt. Jim Hart is the only QB in team history that fits the bill. Your email address will not be published. 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. Basketball fans must go all the way back to the 1051 NBA to find the last Kings championship. The first time was in 1920 behind the guise and bat of player/manager Tris Speaker. Neither team has been crowned the NHLs champions since entering the league in 1970. Listed here are both appearance droughts and winning droughts in almost every level of the NFL playoff system. They are one of 11 teams without an NBA championship. It has been an essential part of our streaming toolkit for years. 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. With the Mariners getting the monkey off their back, here are the 12 active longest postseason droughts between the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL . This New York lost in the midst of long title drought So Which Pro Sports Teams Have The Longest Title Droughts Now? - Forbes Around a quarter (25.5%) have never won a championship. Seattle made it as far as the American League Championship Series in 1995, 2000 and 01, when it won 116 regular-season games. At the metro level, one city currently stands out for the length of time without a professional sports title. If the Titans had completed the comeback, it would have . Over the last 25 years, 62.7% of cities have won a championship in either the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, or MLS. Even with four total franchises between Nashville and Memphis, the state has never won a professional sports title in 25 years. 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. semi-final defeat to a Manchester City side headed . , 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. After losing Game 6, the Brewers jumped to a 3-1 lead in Game 7 and were 9 our away from a World Series title, but the Cardinals came back to win 6-3. The Celtic defense, however, shut the Bucks down in the fourth quarter of Game 7 as they cruised to a 102-87 win. The second came in 1948 with manager Lou Boudreau calling the shots and Bob Lemon and Bob Feller manning the mound. In 2015, the MLS added Orlando FC, which has yet to qualify for the playoffs. The Toronto Maple Leafs have the longest championship drought in the NHL, a massive fall for a dynasty. 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. Tennessee Titans. Cincinnati is the 29th largest metropolitan area with a 2017 population of 2,179,082. The Longest NFL Championship Droughts | Stadium Talk Once again, it would come down to a decisive Game 6 in Buffalo and a controversial moment between the Stars Hall of Fame winger Brett Hull and the Sabres Hall of Fame goalie Dominik Hasek in triple overtime, as Hull scored the clinching goal with his skate in the crease. Of the 12 teams that have never won the Super Bowl, four are expansion franchises younger than the Super Bowl itself (the Bengals, Panthers, Jaguars, and Texans), while the Falcons began playing during the season in which the Super Bowl was first played. Last Title: 1948 (74-year drought) The Guardians have been the kings of the MLB twice in their 122 seasons of play. Only locations with at least one currently active professional sports team were considered in the analysis. 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. 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. 1. . and, in a few cases, century-long curses. To make matters worse, this team isnt even coming close to the Stanley Cup finals. Throughout the history of Major League Baseball (MLB), franchises have had various postseason and World Series droughts.. All 16 of the original Major League franchises (i.e., those in place when the first World Series was played in 1903) have won the World Series, with the longest wait for a franchise's first championship being for the Phillies (77 seasons, ending in 1980). The organizations last championship came in 1951, when the team was the Rochester Royals. The city of Los Angeles has the longest championship drought of any NBA city. (SeeThrowback Thursday: Bucks wintitle.). Minnesota (Minneapolis/St. San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA. But their quest to give the city of San Diego its first World Series crown ended when the Phillies beat them in five games. Others, meanwhile, are annually telling themselves Maybe next year just to repeat the cycle. All 32 active NFL teams have qualified for and won a game in the playoffs. In 1995, Charlotte became home to the NFL Panthers who have had much greater success, including making it to the NFC Championship game in their second year. 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 . The Toronto Maple Leafs have played 54 seasons since winning their last championship in the 1966-67 season. 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. Orlando has not won a title since becoming a pro-city in 1989 when the Orlando Magic joined the NBA. 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. Cities with the longest active championship droughts - Omaha World-Herald Last championship in the city: New York Giants (2012), or for Brooklyn specifically, the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers. The longest currently active championship drought belongs to the city of Each sports season is referred to by the year that the season started. There are long-suffering franchises and fan bases across American sports. College football's longest conference title droughts, by conference The 10 longest championship droughts in professional sports. Current NFL cities/regions only. 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. To make matters worse in Sacramento, the Kings set an NBA record for the longest playoff drought in league history. The data was sourced from pro-football-reference.com, basketball-reference.com, baseball-reference.com, hockey-reference.com, and fbref.com. 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. Teams that have never made it beyond each successive milestone are listed under the year in which they began NFL play. Researchers at HotDog.com ranked U.S. and Canadian metropolitan areas according to active professional sports championship droughts. Longest championship droughts and playoff droughts in NFL, NBA, MLB and While it was a finalist in MLBs 1993 and 1998 expansion, it got overlooked in favor of Miami and Tampa Bay. Following the 2021-22 NBA season, Sacramento has missed the playoff in 16 consecutive seasons. The Cleveland Browns are tied for the second-longest conference championship game drought at 29 years. Reds: 32 seasons (Last title in 1990)The 1970s were dominated by the Big Red Machine, but aside from Cincinnatis most recent title in 1990, its been a different story since in the Queen City. The Indians now have the longest World Series drought of any baseball team, as well as the . Rangers/Senators: 62 seasons (No titles)The franchise didnt make the postseason in its first 35 seasons (the first 11 in Washington) after arriving as an expansion team in 1961. The Panthers have reached the Super Bowl twice. 2023 Cable News Network. Which city has the longest sports championship drought?