We Are Not the Champions: The 5 US States Starved for Titles

There are states across the country where the words championship parade almost seem like they’re banned. 

No matter which state we’re talking about, there is no scientific formula for curing a championship drought. It’s one of those sensitive topics that can cause diehard fans to get so worked up about their team that the local sports radio station doesn’t have any open lines.

For those who can handle the bad news, here’s a look at the top five states that have gone the longest without a championship. 

How We Ranked the Longest Championship Droughts

We focused on states that are experiencing extended big four championship droughts. If the Knicks weren’t the defending NBA champs, New York would’ve gotten serious consideration. 

In other cases, if it’s a state that has more than four teams, and the majority have produced dismal results, the suffering outweighs the success. States with a zero next to the number of championship parades also carried significant weight.

In summary, here are the three factors we weighted heavily:

• Years since most recent championship
• Number of inept teams in location
• Franchises that have never won  

The Five Longest-Suffering States in Sports

5. Ohio

Yes, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers won the 2016 NBA title, but when you add 

Ohio’s other teams to the conversation, it paints a picture that sports fans are starving for a championship parade. Cincinnati alone is riding a 36-year championship drought that dates back to the Reds winning the 1990 World Series. The Bengals are 0-3 in Super Bowl appearances, with SBLVI being the most recent. 

Looking back at the Browns playoff history, the franchise has made a grand total of four postseason appearances since 1990. Plus, it has been so long since the Browns have won a title that the game was known as the NFL Championship (1964).

Fans of MLB’s Guardians (formerly the Indians) might’ve seen their team play in this season’s ALCS, but the last World Series win came 78 years ago. 

The Blue Jackets, Ohio’s lone NHL team, have won a grand total of two Stanley Cup Playoff series. 

4. Arizona 

When you spotlight the Grand Canyon State, the word “grand” doesn’t quite fit. Over 96 championship seasons in Phoenix, the Diamondbacks, Cardinals, and Suns have won exactly one championship: the 2001 World Series. The franchise made a return trip three seasons ago as a Wild Card team, but lost to the Texas Rangers. 

The Cardinals do nothing to fix the problem, and “missed playoffs” is an extremely common phrase. Since moving to Arizona nearly four decades ago, the team has made six NFL Playoff appearances, only one of which ended with a Super Bowl loss (2009). At this point, Phoenix should hold a parade for landing the No. 1 pick in a future NFL Draft. 

When it comes to the Suns, Hall-of-Famer Charles Barkley couldn’t even help the franchise finally pop the champagne. The franchise has made just three NBA Finals appearances over 34 seasons.

The Phoenix Coyotes are another sad chapter of sports in Arizona. The now-defunct NHL team only made the playoffs nine times it its 27 years of existence. Even worse, the franchise spent the better part of a decade fighting off rumors of relocation before finally moving to neighboring Utah for the 2024-25 season.

Arizona’s 25-year championship drought doesn’t look like it’s ending anytime soon. 

3. Tennessee

Nashville might be known as Music City, but “We Are The Champions” is one of those songs that Predators fans are still waiting to hear blasting down Music Row. Over 28 seasons, the franchise’s lone Stanley Cup Final appearance came in 2017. Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins spoiled any parade plans by taking the series in six games. 

The Titans also call Nashville home, but other than the 1999 Super Bowl appearance, there hasn’t been much to cheer about. Back-to-back three win seasons and a 1-6 start to 2026 doesn’t help. How fitting would it be if Tennessee's luck finally changes in 2030 when the new Nissan Stadium hosts the Big Game. 

With the Grizzlies, it doesn’t seem to matter if they’re playing in Vancouver or Memphis, the sad story has the same ending. Over 32 seasons, 26 of which have been spent in Tennessee, the franchise has advanced to the Western Conference Finals once. 

2. Utah

We included the Beehive State mainly because the Utah Jazz are one of 10 franchises that has never won an NBA Championship. There was a time when this franchise had one of the league’s top duos in Karl “The Mailman” Malone and John Stockton. Besides both players being in the Naismith Hall of Fame, they played 18 seasons together between 1985 and 2003. The two NBA Finals appearances (1997 and 1998) ended in losses to Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls.

The franchise hasn’t enjoyed a winning season since 2022. It’s the 48-year championship drought and zero NBA titles that secured Utah’s spot.

It’s too soon to include the Mammoth, the state’s NHL club, being that this is only their third season since relocating from Arizona.  

1. Minnesota 

The North Star State easily gets the No. 1 spot because three out of the Big 4 teams have yet to win a world championship. Sure, the Twins have won two World Series crowns, but the current drought is 35 years. The baseball team has not advanced to the American League Championship Series since 2002. If we combine Minnesota's four major franchises together, the grand total exceeds 130 championship seasons.

Vikings fans might be excited about how the 2026 season is going, but making the Super Bowl and winning the Vince Lombardi Trophy is a whole different story. All four appearances ended in double-digit losses.  

Then there are the Wild (26th season) and Timberwolves (38th season) who are still trying to figure out what it takes to make the league championship round.  

For those thinking the city of Minneapolis is cursed, the WNBA’s Lynx have won four league titles since 2011. 

Does Having More Teams Mean More Heartbreak?

Forty-six years is an extremely long time to wait for a championship parade, but an argument can be made that Jazz fans have extremely low expectations being that the franchise hasn’t enjoyed much success since Stockton and Malone retired. 

The heartbreak is constant in Ohio, Arizona, Minnesota, and Tennessee because they all have three to six big four teams, and championship hopes are constantly shattered. When there are multiple teams missing the playoffs, it starts the downward spiral that the championship luck isn’t changing anytime soon.