Things looked promising after they took a 7-0 on their first drive, but then the Philadelphia Eagles shut them down en route to a 38-7 win. The Kings also have one of the longest playoff droughts in American professional sports. appreciated. 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. WOLVERHAMPTON, England: Wolverhampton boosted their survival hopes and delivered a damaging blow to Tottenham's Champions League ambitions in a 1-0 win in the English Premier League on Saturday. 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 . Things looked promising for the Magic when they landed Shaquille ONeal with the #1 pick in the 1992 NBA Draft. Here is how they compare to those 12. The 10 longest championship droughts in professional sports - WPRI.com Minnesota (Minneapolis/St. The Ravens, as a result of the Cleveland Browns relocation controversy, absorbed the Browns' personnel upon their suspension, but not their history. 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. Here are the US and Canadian metros with the longest active championship droughts. The sport was also just two years removed from Wayne Gretzky retiring. Rocky Widner / NBA. 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. It could be tantalizingly close misses, like the Buffalo Bills run of four straight Super Bowl losses in the 1990s. 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. Keep in mind, that this happened when this franchise played in Rochester, New York as the Rochester Royals. The Bucks were in their third year as a franchise and were led by MVP Kareen Abdul-Jabbar in his second season, Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson and the great power forward Bob Dandridge. The Kansas City Royals have a chance to end a 29-year wait for a second world title. 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. Only locations with at least one currently active professional sports team were considered in the analysis. The following championships were included: Each sports season is referred to by the year that the season started. Here's a look at the longest championship droughts for teams still in their original cities. Under Coach Tom Coughlin, the Jaguars were a remarkably successful expansion franchise. While the Rays made the postseason for the fourth straight season in 2022, they fell to the Guardians in the Wild Card Series. Listed here are both appearance droughts and winning droughts in almost every level of the NFL playoff system. Contact Frank with thoughts, questions, and story ideas at [emailprotected]. Here are some of sports' longest-standing droughts for things other than championships. are the only original WNBA team with its original name that has never won a title, giving them a drought of 25 seasons. In 2015, the MLS added Orlando FC, which has yet to qualify for the playoffs. 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. 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. 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 T-Wolves fell 4-2 to the defending champions Los Angeles Lakers. In the Super Bowl, however, the Denver Broncos defense shut down Newton, as the Broncos won 24-10 in Peyton Mannings final game. While championship droughts are the focus, some fan bases have gone more than a decade without even seeing their team in the playoffs. It is the longest playoff drought in NBA history, surpassing the Los Angeles Clippers (15, 1977-19992) and Minnesota Timberwolves (13, 2005-18). That 10-year drought is twice as long as anyone else in the NFL, as the Cardinals, Bengals and Broncos have all most . After the Cav's NBA championship last night, the city that's endured the most seasons without a major sport championship is San Diego. Its been just as long since the team even reached the Stanley Cup Final, losing in five conference finals over that stretch. Phoenix, which is home to MLBs Arizona Diamondbacks, the NBAs Phoenix Suns, the NFLs Arizona Cardinals and the NHLs Arizona Coyotes, won its only championship ever in 2001 when the Diamondbacks won a thrilling World Series over the New York Yankees by scoring two runs in the bottom of the 9th inning in Game 7. Frank loves video. Jim Hart is the only QB in team history that fits the bill. Despite having a team in each of the five major sports, it has been more than three decades since . Longest Playoff Droughts in Sports - Audacy Others, meanwhile, are annually telling themselves Maybe next year just to repeat the cycle. Led by Dwight Howard, the Magic stunned LeBron James and the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in six games. The Cardinals' 70-year championship drought is one year longer than the team the Cubs beat Wednesday. 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 . 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. 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). Here are the longest title droughts among the remaining NBA playoff teams, starting with the longest. Researchers at HotDog.com ranked U.S. and Canadian metropolitan areas according to active professional sports championship droughts. Even with four total franchises between Nashville and Memphis, the state has never won a professional sports title in 25 years. Its made just one Fall Classic, in '82, when the Brew Crew was unable to finish off a 3-2 lead against the Cardinals. The Magic returned to the Eastern Conference Finals the next season, losing to the Celtics 4-2. 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. It snaps a decade-long absence from October baseball, a step in the right direction for the franchise. Once part of the NFL, the Chargers made it to the AFC Championship Game four times: (i) losing to the Oakland Raiders 34-27 in 1980-81; (ii) losing 27-7 to Cincinnati in the famous Freezer Bowl in 1981-82; (iii)losing to the undefeated Patriots 21-12 in 2007-08; and (iv) then there was the 1994-95 season. 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 . have a historic playoff drought to go along with their historic championship drought. Sacramento Kings - 1951. (61), Milwaukee Brewers (53) and San Diego Padres (53). 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 . The St. Louis Blues, founded in 1967, hoisted the Stanley Cup in 2019, their first championship in franchise history. 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. Of course, the NHL playoffs werent as kind to others. Minnesota's dry spell extends nearly 25 years, all the way back to . We have seen one of the longest Stanley Cup droughts end in recent years. At the metro level, one city currently stands out for the length of time without a professional sports title. San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA. The organizations last title came in 1947, when there were only 10 teams in the NFL and the Cardinals were playing in Chicago. A championship is listed as winning an NFL Championship (19201969), AFL Championship (19601969), and Super Bowl Championship (1966present). The Titans came just a yard short of having a chance to send Super Bowl XXXIV to overtime against the St. Louis Rams. With the Mariners getting the monkey off their back, here are the 12 active longest postseason droughts between the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL . Sign up to receive our daily Morning Lineup to stay in the know about the latest trending topics around Major League Baseball. He started streaming early, back in 2007 when Netflix introduced what seemed revolutionary even then, "instant watch," or what would eventually become the totality of the company. The Blue Jays' drought continued to grow in 2022 after they lost in the Wild Card Series to the Mariners. 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). Milwaukee since has made two National League Championship Series appearances. The Kings haven't won a Stanley Cup . The Sabres made it to the Conference Finals in 2006 and 2007, but have not won a playoff series since then. They have not made the playoffs since then. 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. Ranking Premier League clubs based on longest trophy droughts ever Kansas City Royals - 6 years. The Brewers have made it to the playoffs only three times since then. 11/4/2016. This is also a list of the last time a particular club won a divisional playoff game. 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. 8 Philadelphia 76ers: 38 . 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. 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. The Detroit Red Wings brought the last major championship home to the Motor City ten . Among teams that have never won a title, the Phoenix Suns have the longest drought at 54 seasons. The Bucks swept through the NBA playoffs beating Nate Thurmond and the San Francisco Warriors (4-1), Wilt Chamberlain and the Los Angeles Lakers (4-1) and sweeping Wes Unseld and the Baltimore Bullets. 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. 1. Note that for continuity purposes, the Cleveland Browns are officially considered to have suspended operations for the 1996, 1997, and 1998 seasons. The Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, Tennessee Titans. 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. Cities With the Longest Active Championship Droughts - HotDog.com Others, meanwhile, are annually telling themselves Maybe next year just to repeat the cycle. 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. 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. So Which Pro Sports Teams Have The Longest Title Droughts Now? - Forbes The Brewers had a 3-2 series lead over the St. Louis Cardinals, as the series moved back to St. Louis. The Sacramento Kings have a historic playoff drought to go along with their historic championship drought. (See The Vikings: Tale of Glory and Doom.). It also has struggled with its back against the wall. Ten teams have multiple losing streaks where they lost an equal number of post season games before breaking the drought. Led by quarterback Stan Humphries, the Chargers came back from a 13-3 deficit to win 17-13. The Indians now have the longest World Series drought of any baseball team, as well as the . 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. Since then the Wild has only had eight playoff appearance and won only two playoff series. Around a quarter (25.5%) have never won a championship, but one important caveat is that most of these cities have not had pro sports franchises for very long. 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. But if youre not going to count those as championships then you have to start counting years with the start of Super Bowls. Winning a championship, regardless of league, is no easy feat. Neither the Reds nor the Bengals have played in a Championship Game since then. New York lost in the midst of long title drought The Lakers went on to win Game 7 at Sacramento in overtime 112-106. Ultimately, they were passed over for another city with a similar drought, only this city has four teams rather than two. Colorado has yet to capture an NL West division title. They are one of 11 teams without an NBA championship. Franchises with the longest championship droughts | Yardbarker Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much Of those 12, they have the longest championship victory or appearance drought. We see many teams continuing their hist. While it certainly isnt one of the longest championship droughts in sports, the 14-year stretch is one of the longest in franchise history. This list only shows droughts of 30 or more seasons for teams. Longest championship drought, by city (with multiple teams in current pro leagues) City: Most recent title: 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 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. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Which teams have the longest championship droughts? Here is a look at the longest active championship droughts, all of which go back to at least 1998. An early exit extended Torontos futility with one of the longest championship droughts in sports. The modern Ottawa Senators did not begin. 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.