longest championship drought city

. In 2001, the NBAs Vancouver Grizzlies moved to Memphis after six seasons and a dismal 101-359 (.219) record. 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. Neither team has been crowned the NHLs champions since entering the league in 1970. Discovery Company. Despite owning a dominant team, the Lakers have yet to win an NBA championship since 1988. At the metro level, one city currently stands out for the length of time without a professional sports title. The Bengals have been 1-8 in eight post-season appearances and have not played in a title game since losing Super Bowl XXIII in 1988-89. Buffalos drought tops the next-highest city by nine years, and only two other cities besides Buffalo have championship droughts longer than 50 years. Rocky Widner / NBA. 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. The Original Ottawa Senators last won the Stanley Cup in 1927. Since then the Wild has only had eight playoff appearance and won only two playoff series. 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. The Cleveland Browns are tied for the second-longest conference championship game drought at 29 years. The organization's last championship came in 1951, when the team was the Rochester Royals. Only locations with at least one currently active professional sports team were considered in the analysis. Detroit Tigers - 7 years. Seattle made it as far as the American League Championship Series in 1995, 2000 and 01, when it won 116 regular-season games. , 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 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. The . From 1917-67, Toronto won the Stanley Cup finals 13 times, they still have the second-most Stanley Cup wins in NHL history. 3) PHILADELPHIA EAGLES - Last NFL Title: 1960. The Sacramento Kings have a historic playoff drought to go along with their historic championship drought. Tennessee also stands out for its pro sports struggles. Further ties were broken by the team with the most active professional sports franchises. The longest currently active championship drought belongs to the city of After the Kings, the Atlanta Hawks hold the next-longest championship drought, which extends back to 1958. The City of Minneapolis (1991-Present): No Minneapolis franchise has claimed a championship in 25 years, excluding three, maybe four WNBA titles . . The last Buffalo championship was in 1965 when the Bills won their second consecutive AFL title with a 23-0 win over the San Diego Chargers led by quarterback Jack Kemp (who would go on to be a New York Congressman). Only streaks with consecutive years of professional sports operating within a location were considered. Buffalos drought tops the next-highest city by nine years, and only two other cities besides Buffalo have championship droughts longer than 50 years. The team moved to Los Angeles in 2017 after 56 years in San Diego. Keep in mind, that this happened when this franchise played in Rochester, New York as the Rochester Royals. 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. One of the NHLs Original Six organizations has gone over five decades without lifting the Cup. . When the Mariners host the Houston Astros in Game 3 of the American League Division series, it will be Seattles first MLB playoff game since Oct. 18, 2001. The Buffalo Bills won AFL championships in 1964 and 1965 prior to Super Bowls between the two football leagues. Charlotte is the 22nd largest metropolitan area and has a 2017 population of 2,525,305. Total professional sports championships: 18. Milwaukee is the 39th largest metropolitan area with a 2017 population of 1,576,236. 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 NBA returned to Charlotte in 2004 with the expansion Bobcats who reclaimed the Hornets name in 2014. The Cleveland Guardians have the longest active championship drought in MLB, with their last World Series title coming in 1948. In 1990, the Cincinnati Reds swept the favored Oakland As for their 5th World Series Championship. After Kareems Sky Hook gave the Bucks a dramatic overtime win in Boston in Game 6 sending the series back to Milwaukee, a second title seemed assured. Basketball fans must go all the way back to the 1051 NBA to find the last Kings championship. Between the NHLs Sabres (established 1970) and the NFLs Bills (established 1960), Buffalo has never experienced a sports championship in 62 years of having teams. Here are the longest title droughts among the remaining NBA playoff teams, starting with the longest. The Cardinals' 70-year championship drought is one year longer than the team the Cubs beat Wednesday. Over the last 25 years, 62.7% of cities have won a championship in either the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, or MLS. The data was sourced from pro-football-reference.com, basketball-reference.com, baseball-reference.com, hockey-reference.com, and fbref.com. Even with four total franchises between Nashville and Memphis, the state has never won a professional sports title in 25 years. 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. They have not made the playoffs since then. The Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks are the other NHL teams to go 50-plus years without winning the Stanley Cup. This list only shows droughts of 30 or more seasons for teams. For some fans, however, hope all is all they have had for too long. Sadly for hockey fans in Philly, the Philadelphia Flyers arent far behind. 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. 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. 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. Researchers at HotDog.com ranked US and Canadian metropolitan areas according to active professional sports championship droughts. Pottsville won the game 21-7, a win that should have secured the 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. By ending the 2021-22 season with a 30-52 record, the Kings have failed to reach the postseason for. 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. Super Bowl odds: Every teams championship futures for 2023 NFL season, NFL teams that have never won a Super Bowl, MLB power rankings 2022 Houston Astros, New York Yankees battle for No.1 spot, MLB playoffs 2023: MLB postseason predictions, World Series and playoffs info, Who is the oldest NBA player? Others, meanwhile, are annually telling themselves Maybe next year just to repeat the cycle. Things looked promising for the Magic when they landed Shaquille ONeal with the #1 pick in the 1992 NBA Draft. Of course, some have it worse than others. Despite having a team in each of the five major sports, it has been more than three decades since . The Arizona Cardinals have the longest championship drought in the NFL, with their last title coming in 1947 as the Chicago Cardinals. It could be a decades-long, mythic streak of losing, like the 86- and 108-year World Series droughts of the Boston Red Sox (ended in 2004) and the Chicago Cubs (ended in 2016). It has been an essential part of our streaming toolkit for years. While it was a finalist in MLBs 1993 and 1998 expansion, it got overlooked in favor of Miami and Tampa Bay. They have two teams but took a World Series home in 1990. New York Knicks - 49 years. The Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, Tennessee Titans. If you value privacy, security, and access, you need a quality VPN. The Toronto Maple Leafs have played 54 seasons since winning their last championship in the 1966-67 season. The Hornets/Bobcats have made only 10 playoff appearances and have never advanced beyond the second round. Los Angeles Clippers - 52 years. Longest NFL / AFL / Super Bowl championship appearance droughts through history. Credit: Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports. The Kings haven't won a Stanley Cup . 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. 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). Since then, the team has used four different names and reached just two conference finals, losing both. Unfortunately for the Padres, they faced the New York Yankees, who at 114-48 had posted the second-best record in Major League history. New York then lost in the Finals three times from 1999 to 2002. The Kansas City Royals have a chance to end a 29-year wait for a second world title. Buffalo, who has Longest championship drought, by sport. A Warner Bros. The Brewers have made it to the playoffs only three times since then. 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Sign up to receive our daily Morning Lineup to stay in the know about the latest trending topics around Major League Baseball. Minnesota's dry spell extends nearly 25 years, all the way back to . 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 current droughts, Minnesota leads all states in the US for the longest championship drought. New Orleans Saints (1967-2010): . Time flies by and those same fans are capturing their children and even grandchildren in that same feeling. 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. 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. After that promising start, they have had only four winning seasons and three playoff appearances since 1999. Then Hulu started and he was hooked. The Titans came just a yard short of having a chance to send Super Bowl XXXIV to overtime against the St. Louis Rams. The Sacramento skyline, as seen fromThe ZigguratinWest Sacramento, California. 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. The Bucks have not won a series since then, although this year certainly looks promising. Jacksonville is the nations 40th largest metropolitan area with a 2017 population of1,504,980. 2. Only metros with at least one active NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, or MLS team were considered. Check out our Cyber Monday Shoppers Guide! Winning a championship, regardless of league, is no easy feat. 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 is a look at the longest active championship droughts, all of which go back to at least 1998. Kansas City Royals - 6 years. 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. 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. Within two years, the Magic had the best record in the Eastern Conference and reached the 1994-95 NBA Finals. 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. After the Maple Leafs, the Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks share the second-longest Cup drought at 51 years. San Diego is the nations 17th largest metropolitan area with a 2017 population of 3,337,685. Buffalo has been home to the NFLs Buffalo Bills, the NHLs Buffalo Sabres and the NBAs Buffalo Bison (now Atlanta Hawks) and Buffalo Braves (now Los Angeles Clippers). After being eliminated from postseason contention in Week 18, the New York Jets have the longest active NFL playoff drought at 12 seasons. The Cubs last win came in 1945 against the . In the 1990s the Bills had a dynasty, winning four consecutive AFC Championships (a feat that has not been matched) from 1990-1993 with Hall of Famers Cornelius Bennett (LB), Jim Kelly (QB) James Lofton (WR), Andre Reed (WR), Bruce Smith (DE), Thurman Thomas (RB) and Coach Marvy Levy. Its par for the course from a team that has battled to even reach mediocrity during its best seasons in the last two decades. Even with four total franchises between Nashville and Memphis, the state has never won a professional sports title in 25 years. However, their drought pales in comparison to ones endured by other franchises. Unfortunately, the wheels have fallen off in recent decades. The NFL then gave the title to the Cardinals. To make matters worse in Sacramento, the Kings set an NBA record for the longest playoff drought in league history. To make matters worse, a team with 17 championships in its history has just one (2008) in nearly 40 years. All NFL championships since the NFL was founded in 1920 were included; all NBA championships since the NBA was founded in 1946 were included; all World Series were included, dating back to 1903; all NHL championships since the NHL was founded in 1917 were included; and all MLS championships since MLSs first season in 1996 were included. They are one of 11 teams without an NBA championship. All Rights Reserved. In the 67 years since their last title, the . 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 . Required fields are marked *. Here is how they compare to those 12. This The data was sourced from pro-football-reference.com, basketball-reference.com, baseball-reference.com, hockey-reference.com, and fbref.com. June 20, 2016 2:16 pm. 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 franchise will hope to find a new quarterback in 2023, someone who can finally take this team back to the playoffs. The Padres were the last San Diego team with a shot at a title. Meanwhile, the New York Rangers are now at a 27-year championship drought. The Rays pushed the Dodgers one game further in '20, but still came up short in six games. The Padres have the distinction of holding the longest championship drought that no one gives a shit about. There are long-suffering franchises and fan bases across American sports. 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). (See Unfilled Dynasties: The Bucks Stop Here.). They returned to the AFC Championship in 2002-03, losing to the Oakland Raiders 41-24. Brewers/Pilots: 54 seasons (No titles)After one season in Seattle, the franchise moved to Milwaukee in 1970. The Magic faced the defending champion Houston Rockets who had struggled during the season, leading some to predict a Magic sweep. Since then, the franchise has endured six decades of losing seasons and the longest championship drought among active NFL franchises. The closest Milwaukee came to a title since 1971, however, was in 1982 when the Harvey Wallbanger Brewers won their only pennant in their 50-year history. 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. Teams that have never made it beyond each successive milestone are listed under the year in which they began NFL play. Memphis has only one active team, the, The most recent championship for Baltimore was the, The most recent championship for Philadelphia was the, The most recent championship for Seattle was the, The most recent championship for Cleveland was the, The most recent championship for Raleigh was the, The most recent championships for Boston were the, The most recent championship for Pittsburgh was the, There have been no championships in Oklahoma City history. Jim Hart is the only QB in team history that fits the bill. A championship is listed as winning an NFL Championship (19201969), AFL Championship (19601969), and Super Bowl Championship (1966present). How to Stream Without Cable, Why Sports Matter to Cable Subscribers: One-Third May Cancel If NFL is Postponed. 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. 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. A good VPN provides extra security and unequalled privacy for everything you do online. And in some cases, it could be all of a citys sports franchises struggling simultaneously, like in Cleveland, which experienced a 52-year championship drought from the Browns 1964 NFL title to the Cavaliers 2016 NBA championship. The team would move to Dallas in 1993, with the Minnesota Wild debuting in 2000. Cleveland reached the World Series multiple times (1954, 95, 97 and 2016). 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). It is the largest city on the list and the only one with teams in all major leagues. When the Cubs won the World Series in 2016, they ended a 108-year drought and broke one of baseball's most famous curses. City. drought started in 1966 and has been ongoing for 4:20 PM EDT, Sun October 23, 2016. The St. Louis Blues, founded in 1967, hoisted the Stanley Cup in 2019, their first championship in franchise history. 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 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. After losing in the NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics have now gone 14 years without winning a title. The Blue Jays fell in back-to-back ALCS in 2015-16, representing their closest recent attempts. 1. 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. 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. NBA championship drought: 39 seasons (1975-2013) Reason the drought ended: 2014 championship season (Warriors) Most recent championship season: 2017 season (Warriors) Total NBA championships: 4. In this installment, we cover the 10 cities who have not seen a championship in 20 years or more in any major sport San Diego, Buffalo, Milwaukee, Sacramento, Charlotte, Orlando, Cincinnati, the Twin Cities, Jacksonville, and Nashville. They have not won a playoff series since then. 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. The organizations last title came in 1947, when there were only 10 teams in the NFL and the Cardinals were playing in Chicago. Buffalo is the nations 50th largest metropolitan area with a 2017 population of 1,136,856. Ultimately, they were passed over for another city with a similar drought, only this city has four teams rather than two. List of NFL franchise post-season droughts, AFC/NFC Championship Game appearance droughts, Super Bowl or NFL championship appearance droughts, Super Bowl or NFL championship win droughts, Cities/regions awaiting first Super Bowl crown, Closest approaches without winning the Super Bowl, Longest NFL / AFL / Super Bowl championship droughts through history, Longest NFL / AFL / Super Bowl championship appearance droughts through history, Playoff droughts of at least five seasons, Most consecutive post-season losses in team history, Longest post-season droughts in team history, Last edited on 13 February 2023, at 03:43, claimed an unrecognized 1921 championship, Chicago/St. Mike Bibbys game-winning shot in Game 5 put them up 3-2 over the Los Angeles Lakers. The Seattle Mariners snapped one of the longest playoff droughts ever, making it into the MLB postseason . In 1991, the Minnesota Twins went from finishing in last place the year before to winning the World Series in a dramatic Game 7. 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. Fans growing up as children hoping desperately to see their favorite club they were raised to support one day lift the banner declaring the champions. 2023 HotDog.com | 1013 Centre Road, Suite 403S Wilmington, New Castle, Delaware, 19805. "Hotdog" is a registered trademark of Incognito Mode LLC. Further ties were broken by the team with the most active professional sports franchises. 9. Tennessee Titans. The Detroit Red Wings brought the last major championship home to the Motor City ten . Which NFL team has the longest Super Bowl drought? In the Super Bowl, however, the Denver Broncos defense shut down Newton, as the Broncos won 24-10 in Peyton Mannings final game. 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.