Most Cursed Franchises in Sports
a Yourlist ranking · the crowd decides the order
From billy goats to blown 25-point leads, these are the franchises whose fanbases have earned a permanent seat in sports therapy. Vote up the ones you think are truly snakebitten.
What counts: Ranked by depth and legend of the 'curse' — historical title droughts, iconic collapses, and sheer cultural weight of the misery — not just current win totals. All years, drought lengths, and founding dates are approximate and drawn from public record; 'curse rating' is a subjective 0-10 measure of
Cleveland Browns
Never reached a Super Bowl in over five decades of trying, survived a franchise relocation to Baltimore, and somehow still found new ways to lose (Red Right 88, The Fumble, The Drive — all against Denver). The 2017 team went 0-16, a modern low-water mark for NFL futility.
Last Championship: 1964 (pre-Super Bowl)Founded: 1946Approx. Drought: 61 yearsCurse Rating: 9.5/10
added by IJRin 5 rankings
0Buffalo Bills
Lost four consecutive Super Bowls from 1991-1994, the only team in NFL history to do so, capped by Scott Norwood's 'wide right' kick. Decades of near-misses since have only deepened the wound, even with Josh Allen-era hope.
Last Championship: Never wonFounded: 1960Approx. Drought: 65 yearsCurse Rating: 8.5/10
added by IJRin 4 rankings
0Zero Super Bowl wins in four appearances, plus a catalogue of gut-punch playoff losses including the Gary Anderson missed field goal in 1998 and the 2017 'Minneapolis Miracle' that only delayed the inevitable heartbreak. Purple hearts, permanently broken.
Last Championship: Never wonFounded: 1961Approx. Drought: 64 yearsCurse Rating: 8.3/10
added by IJRin 5 rankingsMinnesota Vikings
0Blew a 28-3 lead in Super Bowl LI, the largest collapse in championship history, turning 'Dirty Bird' euphoria into a permanent internet punchline. Still searching for their first Lombardi Trophy since entering the league in 1966.
Last Championship: Never wonFounded: 1966Approx. Drought: 59 yearsCurse Rating: 8.7/10
added by IJRin 4 rankingsAtlanta Falcons
0
The Curse of the Billy Goat allegedly kept the North Siders out of the World Series winner's circle for 108 years, complete with the 2003 Steve Bartman incident. They finally broke it in 2016, but the legend of the curse remains sports' most iconic.
Last Championship: 2016Founded: 1876Approx. Drought: 9 yearsCurse Rating: 9.8/10
added by IJRin 5 rankingsChicago Cubs
0
The Curse of the Bambino supposedly began when Babe Ruth was sold to the Yankees in 1919, dooming Boston to 86 years of World Series futility including gut-wrenching losses in '46, '67, '75, and '86. The 2004 comeback from 0-3 against the Yankees finally exorcised it.
Last Championship: 2018Founded: 1901Approx. Drought: 7 yearsCurse Rating: 9.3/10
added by IJRin 5 rankingsBoston Red Sox
0Baseball's longest active World Series drought traces back to 1948, surviving name changes, the 1997 Game 7 blown save, and a 2016 Series loss to the Cubs that only compounded Cleveland's citywide sports misery.
Last Championship: 1948Founded: 1901Approx. Drought: 77 yearsCurse Rating: 8.8/10
added by IJRCleveland Guardians
0
The 1919 Black Sox scandal, where players conspired to throw the World Series, birthed an 86-year title drought finally broken in 2005. Add a modern-record 121-loss season in 2024 and this is a franchise built on shame and misfortune.
Last Championship: 2005Founded: 1901Approx. Drought: 20 yearsCurse Rating: 8.6/10
added by IJRin 3 rankingsChicago White Sox
0An NBA franchise that hasn't won a title since 1951 as the Rochester Royals, and endured a record 16-season playoff drought from 2006 to 2023 — the longest active postseason drought in the four major North American leagues at the time it ended.
Last Championship: 1951Founded: 1945Approx. Drought: 74 yearsCurse Rating: 7.8/10
added by IJRin 2 rankingsSacramento Kings
0LA Clippers
Decades under owner Donald Sterling's dysfunction, a franchise-record run of losing seasons, and never once reaching an NBA Finals despite star talent like Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and Kawhi Leonard passing through. The league's perennial punchline.
Last Championship: Never wonFounded: 1970Approx. Drought: 55 yearsCurse Rating: 8/10
added by IJR
0The 'Trust the Process' rebuild produced generational draft luck like Joel Embiid, yet the franchise has been eliminated by inexplicable injuries, buzzer-beaters, and blown series leads every single time it mattered since 1983. Cursed by its own timing.
Last Championship: 1983Founded: 1946Approx. Drought: 42 yearsCurse Rating: 7.5/10
added by IJRin 4 rankingsPhiladelphia 76ers
0Toronto Maple Leafs
The NHL's most storied original-six franchise hasn't lifted the Stanley Cup since 1967, the longest active drought in the league, punctuated by a historic collapse from a 4-1, third-period lead in Game 7 against Boston in 2013.
Last Championship: 1967Founded: 1917Approx. Drought: 58 yearsCurse Rating: 8.9/10
added by IJRin 5 rankings
0No NFL title since 1957 and zero Super Bowl appearances ever, including the infamous 0-16 season in 2008 — the first winless 16-game season in league history. A recent playoff renaissance hasn't erased seven decades of futility.
Last Championship: 1957Founded: 1930Approx. Drought: 68 yearsCurse Rating: 8.4/10
added by IJRin 4 rankingsDetroit Lions
0Joe Namath's guaranteed Super Bowl III win in 1969 remains the franchise's only title, and the drought since is the longest active one in the NFL. 'Butt Fumble' era chaos and a revolving door of quarterbacks have only deepened the misery.
Last Championship: 1969Founded: 1960Approx. Drought: 56 yearsCurse Rating: 8.2/10
added by IJRin 3 rankingsNew York Jets
0The NFL's oldest continuously operating franchise has one championship to show for it, from 1947, decades before the Super Bowl even existed. A 2008 Super Bowl appearance ended in a last-minute loss to Pittsburgh, extending the league's longest championship drought.
Last Championship: 1947 (pre-Super Bowl)Founded: 1898Approx. Drought: 78 yearsCurse Rating: 8.1/10
added by IJRin 4 rankingsArizona Cardinals
0Newcastle United
England's most passionate fanbase hadn't seen a major trophy since 1969 until a 2023 League Cup win finally broke a 54-year curse, but the club has never won a top-flight league title since 1927 — a wound that new Saudi ownership hasn't yet healed.
Last Championship: 1969 (major trophy)Founded: 1892Approx. Drought: 54 yearsCurse Rating: 7.6/10
added by IJR
0Mexico National Football Team
El Quinto Partido — 'the fifth game' — describes Mexico's inability to ever advance past the World Cup Round of 16 when playing outside home soil, a psychological wall that's held since 1930 despite consistent qualification and talent.
Last Championship: Never won World CupFounded: 1927Approx. Drought: —Curse Rating: 7.9/10
added by IJR
0Scotland National Football Team
The world's oldest national football team has never once advanced past the group stage in eight World Cup appearances, a run of heartbreak stretching back to 1954 that includes infamous near-misses against Brazil and the Netherlands.
Last Championship: Never won World CupFounded: 1873Approx. Drought: —Curse Rating: 7.7/10
added by IJR
0
Keep ranking
Comments
Free account · your comment posts right after signup