Tuesday Top Ten: Major Sports Droughts Before First Championship

The last several years have been good for long-suffering pro sports fan bases, with the likes of the Cubs, Cavaliers, Astros, Eagles, Royals, and Warriors ending droughts of 30+ years without championships.  We can now add the Washington Capitals to that list.  Last Thursday, Alex Ovechkin and Co. ended their franchise's 43-year Cup-less history, beating the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals to win the series 4-1.  Only four franchises in the NHL have had longer droughts before winning their first Stanley Cup (and three of those still haven't won one).

As I did two years ago after the Cavaliers won their first NBA title, I'm going to take a look at the longest first-championship droughts in each of the four major sports leagues –- that is, the longest it has taken a franchise to win its first title since joining its league.  Here are a couple caveats and clarifications:

• I'm not counting AFL, ABA, or WHA championships.  
• I'll be starting a former ABA and WHA team's clock from the year it began playing in the NBA and NHL, respectively.  
• For former AFL teams, I'll be starting from the first Super Bowl season (1966-1967), even though the NFL and AFL didn't merge for another few years.  
• For the NBA, NFL, and NHL, I'm counting the year the season ended as the season, so for instance, Super Bowl XX was played after the 1985 season, but it was played in 1986, so that counts as 1986.  
• For MLB, I am counting 1903 as the first year possible, since that was the year the first World Series was played.  
• For the NHL, I am counting 1927 as the first year possible, since that was the year of the first official NHL playoffs and the year Lord Stanley's Cup became a permanent fixture in the NHL, although that really didn't come into play, since the Original Six all won titles pretty soon after 1927.  
• Since the NBA, NFL, and NHL seasons have ended this year, I've added another year to any current droughts, since obviously a team that hasn't won the title this year cannot win one until 2019.

I'm going to list the following:  (1) ten longest current droughts; (2) ten longest droughts for teams that actually won a championship; and (3) the combined list for each league.  With that, here you go:

Ten Longest Current Droughts

1.  58 years
-Minnesota Vikings, NFL (1961-present)

2.  57 years
-Texas Rangers/Washington Senators, MLB (1961-present)
3 (tie).  52 years
-Atlanta Falcons, NFL (1967-present)
-Buffalo Bills, NFL (1967-present)
-San Diego Chargers, NFL (1967-present)
-Tennessee Titans/Houston Oilers, NFL (1967-present)
7.  51 years
-St. Louis Blues, NHL (1968-present)

8 (tie).  50 years
-Cincinnati Bengals, NFL (1969-present); 
-Phoenix Suns, NBA (1969-present)
10 (tie).  49 years
-Milwaukee Brewers/Seattle Pilots, MLB (1969-present)
-San Diego Padres, MLB (1969-present)
-Washington Nationals/Montreal Expos, MLB (1969-present)

Ten Longest All-Time Droughts for Franchises That Won a Championship

1.  77 years
-Philadelphia Phillies, MLB (1903-1980)

2.  63 years
-Baltimore Orioles/St. Louis Browns, MLB (1903-1966)

3.  55 years
-Houston Astros/Houston Colt, MLB .45s (1962-2017)

4.  52 years
-Los Angeles Dodgers/Brooklyn Dodgers/Brooklyn Robins/Brooklyn Superbas, MLB (1903-1955)

5.  49 years
-Detroit Pistons/Ft. Wayne Pistons, NBA (1950-1989)
6.  45 years
-Cleveland Cavaliers, NBA (1971-2016)

7.  44 years
-Los Angeles Kings, NHL (1968-2012)

8.  43 years
-Washington Capitals, NHL (1975-2018)
9 (tie).  42 years
-Pittsburgh Steelers/Pittsburgh Pirates, NFL (1933-1975)
-New Orleans Saints, NFL (1968-2010)

MLB Overall

1.  77 years:  Philadelphia Phillies (1903-1980)

2.  63 years:  Baltimore Orioles/St. Louis Browns (1903-1966)

3.  57 years:  Texas Rangers/Washington Senators (1961-present)

4.  55 years:  Houston Astros/Houston Colt .45s (1962-2017)

5.  52 years:  Los Angeles Dodgers/Brooklyn Dodgers/Brooklyn Robins/Brooklyn Superbas (1903-1955)

6 (tie).  49 years:  San Diego Padres (1969-present); Milwaukee Brewers/Seattle Pilots (1969-present); Washington Nationals/Montreal Expos (1969-present)

9 (tie).  41 years:  Los Angeles Angels/Anaheim Angels/California Angels (1961-2002); Seattle Mariners (1977-present)

NBA Overall

1.  50 years:  Phoenix Suns (1969-present)
2.  49 years:  Detroit Pistons/Ft. Wayne Pistons (1950-1989)

3.  48 years:  Los Angeles Clippers/San Diego Clippers/Boston Braves (1971-present)

4.  45 years:  Cleveland Cavaliers (1971-2016)

5.  44 years:  Utah Jazz/New Orleans Jazz (1975-present)

6 (tie).  41 years:  Brooklyn Nets/New Jersey Nets/New York Nets (1977-present)*; Denver Nuggets (1977-present); Indiana Pacers (1977-present)**

9.  30 years:  Dallas Mavericks (1981-2011)

10 (tie).  29 years:  Minnesota Timberwolves (1990-present); Orlando Magic (1990-present)

*The Nets won ABA titles in 1974 and 1976 prior to joining the NBA

**The Pacers won ABA titles in 1970, 1972, and 1973 prior to joining the NBA

NFL Overall

1.  58 years:  Minnesota Vikings (1961-present)

2 (tie).  52 years:  Atlanta Falcons (1967-present); Buffalo Bills (1967-present)*; San Diego Chargers (1967-present)**; Tennessee Titans/Houston Oilers (1967-present)***

6.  50 years:  Cincinnati Bengals (1969-present)

7 (tie).  42 years:  Pittsburgh Steelers/Pittsburgh Pirates (1933-1975); New Orleans Saints 1968-2010)

9.  37 years:  Seattle Seahawks (1977-2014)

10.  36 years:  San Francisco 49ers (1946-1982)

*The Bills won AFL titles in 1964 and 1965 prior to joining the NFL

**The Chargers won the AFL title in 1963 prior to joining the NFL

***The Oilers won AFL titles in 1960 and 1961 prior to joining the NFL

NHL Overall

1.  51 years:  St. Louis Blues (1968-present)

2 (tie).  48 years:  Buffalo Sabres (1971-present); Vancouver Canucks (1971-present)

4.  44 years:  Los Angeles Kings (1968-2012)

5.  43 years:  Washington Capitals (1975-2018)

6.  39 years:  Arizona Coyotes/Phoenix Coyotes/Winnipeg Jets (1980-present)*

7.  31 years:  Dallas Stars/Minnesota North Stars (1968-1999)

8.  27 years:  San Jose Sharks (1992-present)
9 (tie).  26 years:  Carolina Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers (1980-2006)**; Ottawa Senators (1993-present)

*The Jets won WHA titles in 1976, 1978, and 1979 prior to joining the NHL

**The Whalers won a WHA title in 1973 prior to joining the NHL