Which Teams Have the Longest Championship Droughts in Sports?

It took 53 years — more than five decades — for the New York Knicks to once again hoist the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy, but their win over the San Antonio Spurs in five games during the 2026 NBA Finals officially snapped one of the longest championship droughts in American sports.

If there are any two records that no team in professional sports wants to hold, “longest championship drought” or, worse, “longest playoff drought” are probably near the top of that list. So, which unfortunate fan bases have had to suffer through the longest dry spells in American sports? Let’s take a look.

You can watch all of these teams try to snap their own championship droughts right on DIRECTV!

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Longest Active Championship Droughts in Sports

Here’s a list of all of the major American sports teams that have gone the longest without a championship.

1. Arizona Cardinals – NFL – 79 Years

Last Championship Win: 1947

The NFL’s Arizona Cardinals hold the crown for the longest active championship drought in all of American professional sports. Arizona’s last championship win came four different names ago, as the Chicago Cardinals. Since then, they’ve been the St. Louis Cardinals and the Phoenix Cardinals, but the closest they came to another Lombardi was in the 2008 Super Bowl, which they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

2. Cleveland Guardians – MLB – 78 Years

Last Championship Win: 1948

The Cleveland Guardians hold the second-longest active drought in American sports. Unlike the Cardinals, Guardians fans have been treated to multiple “almost” moments over the years, with the team making the World Series in multiple seasons, including against the Chicago Cubs in an iconic 2016 matchup.

3. Sacramento Kings – NBA – 75 Years

Last Championship Win: 1951

The Sacramento Kings won the NBA title in the 50s as the Rochester Royals. The closest they’ve come since was the 2002 Western Conference Final against the Los Angeles Lakers and then didn’t get another crack at the postseason for two more decades.

4. Detroit Lions – NFL – 69 Years

Last Championship Win: 1957

The Detroit Lions have been one of the most tragic stories of the NFL, second only to the Arizona Cardinals in length of drought. In recent seasons, the arrival of Dan Campbell, Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown and other offensive superstars have made them one of the league’s most perennially competitive clubs, but they’ve continued to fall short of the big game.

5. Atlanta Hawks – NBA – 68 Years

Last Championship Win: 1958

Atlanta has generally been a fixture of the NBA postseason, but for all their effort to make a run at the title, they’ve never been quite able to get there. Their team has been good, but not good enough to get over the hump, leaving them with one of the longest droughts in the NBA.

6. Minnesota Vikings – NFL – 65 Years

Last Championship Win: The Minnesota Vikings have never won an NFL championship or the Super Bowl.

Four Super Bowl losses in the 1970s and a litany of January heartbreaks since have made Minnesota one of the league’s great hard-luck stories. After a 14-3 surge in 2024, 2025 was a step back: a quarterback carousel produced a 4-8 start before the Vikings rallied to finish 9-8 and missed the playoffs.

7. Tennessee Titans/Houston Oilers – NFL- 65 Years

Last Championship Win: 1961

Tennessee last won the Lombardi Trophy when the team was the Houston Oilers. Since then, they’ve made multiple playoff pushes that have generated some of the most iconic moments in NFL history, including their improbable “Music City Miracle” comeback against Buffalo, only to later lose to the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV. They also handed Tom Brady what would be his final postseason loss as a New England Patriot in 2019.

8. Los Angeles Chargers – NFL – 63 Years

Last Championship Win: 1963

The Chargers’ only championship came in the AFL as the San Diego Chargers, long before their return to Los Angeles. Since then, the franchise has had plenty of talent rostered but hasn’t been able to make it to the Super Bowl, earning them a “great on paper” reputation.

9. Cleveland Browns – NFL – 62 Years

Last Championship Win: 1964

The Browns won it all in 1964, but they’ve been a disaster for the most part ever since, never once reaching even an AFC Championship Game in the modern era and holding the record for the highest turnover rate at quarterback in league history.

10. Buffalo Bills – NFL – 66 Years

Last Championship Win: The Buffalo Bills have never won an NFL championship or the Super Bowl.

Like the Lions, the Bills have been an NFL powerhouse in recent seasons, especially since the arrival of Josh Allen under center. They’ve dominated the AFC East in the post-Brady/Belichick era, but have fallen short in the postseason, most often and most notably at the hands of Andy Reed’s Kansas City Chiefs.

11. Atlanta Falcons – NFL – 60 Years

Last Championship Win: The Atlanta Falcons have never won an NFL championship or the Super Bowl.

The Falcons’ drought story is illustrated by two infamous collapses: a 1998 Super Bowl loss to Denver and their iconic blown 28-3 lead against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI, often considered one of the greatest comebacks in Super Bowl and NFL history.

12. Toronto Maple Leafs – NHL – 59 Years

Last Championship Win: 1967

One of the Original Six NHL teams, the Maple Leafs postseason woes extend nearly six decades back. Despite being one of the league’s most iconic teams and often stacked with talent, the Leafs have been plagued by postseason disappointments time and again, including, most recently, a 2025 Conference Final elimination by the eventual champion Florida Panthers.

13. Phoenix Suns – NBA – 58 Years

Last Championship Win: The Phoenix Suns have never won an NBA title.

For the sheer success that the Phoenix Suns have enjoyed over the years, it’s a bit of a shock that their championship drought extends nearly sixty years, too. The Suns have been laden with talent and a consistent fixture in the postseason. They also went to the Final as recently as 2021.

14. Cincinnati Bengals – NFL – 58 Years

Last Championship Win: The Cincinnati Bengals have never won an NFL championship or the Super Bowl.

Two Super Bowl losses to Joe Montana’s 49ers and a third to the Rams after the 2021 season have left Cincinnati without a title to their name. Despite having loads of star power in Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and others, their defense has struggled mightily, a major factor as to why the team missed the playoffs for a third straight year in 2025-26.

15. New York Jets – NFL – 58 Years

Last Championship Win: 1968

Like the Browns, the Jets have been a storm of dysfunction in recent decades, and they’re also in the longest active playoff drought in the NFL. Quarterback has been a problem for the Jets, but the front office and coaching carousel has proven a limited factor, too, despite their on-paper talent.

16. Milwaukee Brewers – MLB – 57 Years

Last Championship Win: The Milwaukee Brewers have never won the World Series.

The Brewers have been generally competitive since their founding in 1969 but have yet to win the World Series, coming closest in a seven-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals in 1982. Last season, Milwaukee looked poised to make a run all the way to the big game, but had their fortunes spoiled by the Los Angeles Dodgers, who went on to win a second consecutive title.

17. San Diego Padres – MLB – 57 Years

Last Championship Win: The San Diego Padres have never won the World Series.

The Padres’ World Series history is arguably defined mostly by bad luck: They ended up facing two absolute powerhouse teams, the 1984 Detroit Tigers and the 1998 New York Yankees, in their two appearances.

18. Los Angeles Clippers – NBA – 56 Years

Last Championship Win: The Los Angeles Clippers have never won an NBA championship.

The Clippers’ drought is often attributed to their historically subpar ownership situation, with the franchise moving from Buffalo to San Diego to Los Angeles before finally stabilizing. Still, the Clippers didn’t even make their first Conference Finals appearance until 2021.

19. Buffalo Sabres – NHL – 56 Years

Last Championship Win: The Buffalo Sabres have never won the Stanley Cup.

The Buffalo Sabres have never won the NHL title, but up until the 2025-26 season, they were known for another drought: They hadn’t even made it into the postseason for 15 years. Buffalo had enough talent rostered this season to make a deep playoff run, though, eventually falling to the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference Semifinals in an electric seven-game series.

20. Vancouver Canucks – NHL – 56 Years

Last Championship Win: The Vancouver Canucks have never won the Stanley Cup.

The Vancouver Canucks have been competitive at times over the years and have made the Stanley Cup Final multiple times, but they’ve never been able to claim the top prize. Their 2011 season is the closest they’ve come, winning the President’s Trophy for their regular season performance but losing in a Game 7 of the Final series against the Boston Bruins. That loss infamously sparked a massive riot in downtown Vancouver that saw widespread damage to the city and residents’ property.

What Are the Longest Active Sports Championship Droughts in the World?

The Cardinals hold the longest active championship drought in the United States, but there are four other teams around the world who actually have longer active droughts, mostly in the English Premier League:

• Preston North End, Soccer, English Premier League, 136 years
• Genoa CFC, Soccer, Serie A, 102 years
• Huddersfield Town, Soccer, English Premier League, 100 years
• Newcastle United, Soccer, English Premier League, 99 years

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