Buffalo, San Diego seek to break longest major sports title droughts

Updated October 2020, for more recent updates, go here

Winning a major sports championships may not be the most important event to impact a city or region. But when you've gone decades without claiming such a title, that can impact how visitors and potential residents view your city.

Before the Cavaliers won the NBA championship in 2016, Cleveland sports fans had suffered through 144 major sports pro seasons of the Browns, Cavs, and Indians since their last title in 1964. San Diego and Buffalo teams last won a crown in 1964 and 1965, respectively, and some don't even consider the old AFL to count.

As for including soccer as a major sport, the MLS Cup champ deserves to be recognized on roughly equal footing to the so-called Big Four [NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL]. The average MLS attendance of 21,265 per game in 2019 exceeded that of the NBA [17,750] and NHL [17,423], and the league’s average franchise value of $240 million is not exactly peanuts anymore. Soccer is a worldwide sport of interest, especially the World Cup, and the MLS Cup championship games in 2018 and 2019 attracted record crowds of more than 69,000.

Some would count big-time college programs among this group, especially when the coaches get paid millions, as the players have to settle for dreams of a big future payday. But I don't want to make this list even more complicated than it is.

San Diego continues to top this list, but its pro sports suffering index is balanced with near-perfect weather, cool beaches, and the Bill Walton clan. Meanwhile, Buffalo fans deal with not just major pro sports futility, but brutal winters with only the Gronkowski clan to cheer them up. However, nearby Niagara Falls is picturesque and contains casinos so there is that.

LA moved to the top of the happiest fan base list by virtue of the Lakers' and Dodgers' "bubble" championships in 2020.

North American cities with number of major pro sports seasons [NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS] since last championship, as of October 2020

City No. Last title Leagues represented

San Diego 115 1964, Chargers AFL MLB, NFL*, NBA*

Buffalo 113 1965, Bills AFL NFL, NHL, NBA* Milwaukee 99 1971, Bucks NBA MLB, NBA Minneapolis 90 1991, Twins MLB MLB, NFL, NBA, MLS Phoenix 75 2001, Dbacks MLB MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL Vancouver 64 Never NHL, MLS, NBA*

New York City 61 2012, Giants NFL MLB(2), NFL(2), NBA, NHL, MLS

Cincinnati 60 1990, Reds MLB MLB, NFL Charlotte 58 Never NBA, NFL Arlington 49 Never MLB Detroit 49 2008, Red Wings NHL MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL Montreal 47 1993, Canadians NHL MLS, NHL, MLB* Newark 43 2003, Devils NHL NHL, MLS, NBA* Nashville 43 Never NFL, NHL Dallas 37 2011, Mavs NBA NFL, NBA, NHL, MLS

Ottawa Sacramento Orlando San Jose Calgary Edmonton Miami Indianapolis Anaheim Jacksonville Winnipeg Columbus Denver Chicago St. Paul Salt Lake City New Orleans Memphis Baltimore Brooklyn Oklahoma City Raleigh Philadelphia Cleveland 36 1927, Senators NHL NHL 35 Never NBA 35 Never NBA, MLS 33 2003, Earthquakes MLS NHL, MLS 31 1989, Flames NHL NHL 30 1990, Oilers NHL NHL 29 2013, Heat NBA MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL 27 2007, Colts NFL NFL, NBA 27 2007, Ducks NHL MLB, NHL 25 Never NFL 25 Never NHL 23 2008, Crew MLS NHL, MLS 23 2016, Broncos NFL MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, MLS 23 2016, Cubs MLB MLB(2), NFL, NBA, NHL, MLS 21 Never NHL 21 2009, Real MLS NBA, MLS 21 2010, Saints NFL NFL, NBA 19 Never NBA 17 2012, Ravens NFL NFL, MLB 15 1955, Dodgers MLB NBA, NHL, MLB* 14 Never NBA 14 2006, Hurricanes NHL NHL 13 2018, Eagles NFL MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, MLS 13 2016, Cavs NBA MLB, NFL, NBA

San Francisco 12 2014, Giants MLB MLB, NFL Houston 11 2017, Astros MLB MLB, NFL, NBA, MLS Pittsburgh 10 2017, Pens NHL MLB, NFL, NHL Green Bay 9 2010, Packers NFL NFL Portland 9 2015, Timbers MLS NBA, MLS Boston 8 2019, Patriots NFL MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, MLS Oakland 7 2018, Warriors NBA MLB, NFL, NBA

Atlanta 7 2018, Atlanta United MLS MLB, NFL, NBA, MLS, NHL* San Antonio 6 2014, Spurs NBA NBA Toronto 5 2019, Raptors NBA MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS Washington, D.C. 5 2019, Nationals MLB MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, MLS

St. Louis 3 2019, Blues NHL MLB, NHL, NFL*

Las Vegas 3 Never NHL Seattle 1 2019, Sounders MLS NFL, MLB, MLS

Kansas City 1 2020, Chiefs NFL MLB, NFL, MLS

Tampa 1 2020, Lightning NHL NFL, MLB, NHL

Los Angeles 0 2020, Dodgers MLB MLB, NFL(2), NBA(2), NHL, MLS(2)

* Formerly in this league

NOTE: Teams are divided among cities where the championship parade would be held if that team won the title. For instance, if the Texas Rangers won, the parade would not be in Dallas but in Arlington or even Fort Worth. That's why Arlington takes the Rangers' years rather than Dallas. A Cowboys parade would likely be in Dallas even though they now play in Arlington - or there could be celebrations in both cities. New York takes most of its area pro teams, even though some like the Giants play in New Jersey. The 2012 SB parade for the Giants was in NYC.