The Brewers have made it to the playoffs only three times since then. 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 Twin Cities have been home to MLBs Minnesota Twins, NFLs Minnesota Vikings, the NBAs Minneapolis Lakers (now Los Angeles Lakers), the NHLs Minnesota North Stars (now Dallas Stars) and Minnesota Wild, the NASLs Minnesota Kicks (now defunct) and the MLS Minnesota United FC. A handful of teams have finally gotten over the hump in recent years and ended. The Hornets/Bobcats have made only 10 playoff appearances and have never advanced beyond the second round. Even with four total franchises between Nashville and Memphis, the state has never won a professional sports title in 25 years. Only locations . It snaps a decade-long absence from October baseball, a step in the right direction for the franchise. The Titans came just a yard short of having a chance to send Super Bowl XXXIV to overtime against the St. Louis Rams. During this championship season Chuck Bednarik hit Frank Gifford so hard he didn't wake up until he was in the "Monday Night Football" booth. Featured Photo Credit: Doug Lemke / Shutterstock. Vancouver has only one active team, the, The most recent championship for Detroit was the, There have been no championships in Nashville history. Mariners: 46 seasons (No titles)With the Nationals making it to the Fall Classic in 2019, that left the Mariners as the only franchise without an appearance in baseballs championship event. The Sacramento skyline, as seen fromThe ZigguratinWest Sacramento, California. The Twins win came months after the Minnesota North Stars lost in the Stanley Cup Finals. They also won the pennant in 2006, when they lost in five games to the 83-win Cardinals. 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. June 20, 2016 2:16 pm. The Kings also have one of the longest playoff droughts in American professional sports. The Blue Jays fell in back-to-back ALCS in 2015-16, representing their closest recent attempts. Which teams have the longest championship droughts? No city currently compares to Clevelands legendary sports curse, but many pro sports markets have nonetheless seen lengthy championship droughts in recent years. Paul) owns the longest championship drought of all American cities that have teams in the four major sports. Atlanta Hawks - 63 years. In 1991, the Minnesota Twins went from finishing in last place the year before to winning the World Series in a dramatic Game 7. The Predators, after missing the playoffs their first five seasons, have made the playoffs 12 of the 15 seasons since then. The Bucs only three postseason appearances since then (2013-15) all fell short of the NLCS. 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 Cleveland Guardians have the longest active championship drought in MLB, with their last World Series title coming in 1948. Active droughts are listed in bold type. Of course, we saw two of the longest MLB playoff droughts end this year. The Las Vegas Aces organization also has never won an WNBA title in its 25-year history. The Rangers have since experienced their fair share of October agony, including back-to-back World Series losses in 2010-11 -- the latter featuring multiple instances in which Texas was one strike away from beating St. Louis and hoisting the trophy. Credit: Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports. See where the Miami Dolphins rank among the current longest title droughts in American major sports. In 2001, the NBAs Vancouver Grizzlies moved to Memphis after six seasons and a dismal 101-359 (.219) record. Jacksonville has only one active team, the, The most recent championship for Newark was the, The most recent championship for New Orleans was the, There have been no championships in Columbus history. Minnesota's dry spell extends nearly 25 years, all the way back to . 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. Contact Frank with thoughts, questions, and story ideas at [emailprotected]. After the Eagles' Super Bowl win, the longest championship droughts for In the Super Bowl, however, the Denver Broncos defense shut down Newton, as the Broncos won 24-10 in Peyton Mannings final game. Since then, the team has used four different names and reached just two conference finals . 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. San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA. Brewers/Pilots: 54 seasons (No titles)After one season in Seattle, the franchise moved to Milwaukee in 1970. 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. Here are the longest title droughts among the remaining NBA playoff teams, starting with the longest. (All-time and active). To put that 21-year drought into perspective, 28-year-old Jaromir Jagr led the NHL in points (121) during the 2000-01 regular season. Today, he streams pretty much everything while his library of thousands of Blu-rays and DVDs collects dust. The Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, Tennessee Titans. But their quest to give the city of San Diego its first World Series crown ended when the Phillies beat them in five games. Rocky Widner / NBA. A citys sports misfortunes can come in different forms. 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. 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. 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. Here is how they compare to those 12. Welcome to SportsHistory!Today we took look at every single NFL team's championship drought and ranked them in order! For these teams, its practically impossible. 12 longest active playoff droughts in NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL 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. Winnipeg has only one active team, the, There have been no championships in Jacksonville history. 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. And some of these droughts are especially surprising. Phoenix Suns - 53 years. Note that for continuity purposes, the Cleveland Browns are officially considered to have suspended operations for the 1996, 1997, and 1998 seasons. Others, meanwhile, are annually telling themselves Maybe next year just to repeat the cycle. "Hotdog" is a registered trademark of Incognito Mode LLC. 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. The Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks are the other NHL teams to go 50-plus years without winning the Stanley Cup. In fact, the last time Toronto hosted an Eastern Conference finals game came in 2002. 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. Sacramento has quite a playoff drought going, as it last reached . The Seattle Mariners snapped one of the longest playoff droughts ever, making it into the MLB postseason . So Which Pro Sports Teams Have The Longest Title Droughts Now? - Forbes The franchise was originally based in Los Angeles, but moved to Oakland prior to the 1982 season. Led by quarterback Stan Humphries, the Chargers came back from a 13-3 deficit to win 17-13. 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. A Warner Bros. Which MLB team has the longest World Series drought? 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. Required fields are marked *. They are one of 11 teams without an NBA championship. For some fans, however, hope all is all they have had for too long. The team moved to Los Angeles in 2017 after 56 years in San Diego. 8 Philadelphia 76ers: 38 . The Detroit Lions, are one of seven teams without a Super Bowl win. Despite owning a dominant team, the Lakers have yet to win an NBA championship since 1988. (See The Vikings: Tale of Glory and Doom.). Here are the U.S. and Canadian metros with the longest active championship droughts. Cleveland Guardians (MLB) - 73 years. Jacksonville is the nations 40th largest metropolitan area with a 2017 population of1,504,980. The Twins havent advanced past the LDS round since 02. Longest active championship droughts in sports after Cubs snap skid 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. 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. and, in a few cases, century-long curses. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. Most cities, however, have tasted recent success in a major sport in one form or another. Tennessee also stands out for its pro sports struggles. Related: MLB power rankings 2022 Houston Astros, New York Yankees battle for No.1 spot. 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. He specializes in technology, business, and film/television. Cyber Monday is coming with lots of deals on the things cord-cutters want and need from top providers like Hulu, ExpressVPN and NordVPN. 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. A championship appearance is listed as appearing in an NFL Championship (19321969), AFL Championship (19601969), or Super Bowl Championship (1966present). The defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins won the series 4-2. The Hornets would move to New Orleans after the 2002 season. 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). An early exit extended Torontos futility with one of the longest championship droughts in sports. Shaq would leave for the Lakers the next season and it would not be until 2008-2009 that the Magic would return to the conference finals. The second longest New York City championship drought: A look at the By ending the 2021-22 season with a 30-52 record, the Kings have failed to reach the postseason for 16 consecutive seasons. Sacramento Kings - 71 years. The Panthers have reached the Super Bowl twice. Longest NFL title droughts The Magic returned to the Eastern Conference Finals the next season, losing to the Celtics 4-2. Which teams have the longest championship droughts, US Sports This Sacramento Kings - 1951. Among teams that have never won a title, the Phoenix Suns have the longest drought at 54 seasons. 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 search for a franchise QB: History of every NFL team's franchise Researchers at HotDog.com ranked U.S. and Canadian metropolitan areas according to active professional sports championship droughts. Most cities, however, have tasted recent success in a major sport in one form or another. Its been just as long since the team even reached the Stanley Cup Final, losing in five conference finals over that stretch. Since the Chargers won the 1963 AFL championship, the Chargers, Padres, Clippers and Rockets have played a combined 109 seasons without a championship among them. Within two years, the Magic had the best record in the Eastern Conference and reached the 1994-95 NBA Finals. The Padres have the distinction of holding the longest championship drought that no one gives a shit about. Pittsburgh Pirates - 6 years. Now that Cleveland has won a championship, which city has the longest Cleveland last won a championship 69 years ago, in 1948. Only locations with at least one currently active professional sports team were considered in the analysis. 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). It could be tantalizingly close misses, like the Buffalo Bills run of four straight Super Bowl losses in the 1990s. The Rochester Royals, now known as the Sacramento Kings, won the NBA Finals in 1951. The organizations last championship came in 1951, when the team was the Rochester Royals. Buffalo, who has The Browns last appeared in the AFC Championship Game during the 1989 season when they fell . They are one of 11 teams without an NBA championship. Further ties were broken by the team with the most active professional sports franchises. Your email address will not be published. . Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) celebrates leading the Bucks to the NBA championship Tuesday night. Prior to the 1972 season, the AFL's Oakland Raiders defeated the NFL's Green Bay Packers in the Super Bowl. Theyve made it twice total since last winning in 1984. Very little work got done in 2008. The Mariners last made the playoffs in 2001, an unforgettable season for the team. Where Detroit ranks among longest championship droughts