Texas Rangers, Minnesota Vikings Top Among Longest Title Waits

Most sports fans would instinctively point to the Los Angeles Clippers as the most futile franchise in sport: they've never been close to a championship, they've played in three markets since 1970, and they don't even have a finals appearance in their history. 

Though this wouldn't be far off, the Clippers aren't the only team to have turned 40 with nothing to show for it.

Below is a summary of the franchises that have taken (or are taking) the longest to capture their first title; and yes, a Stanley Cup before the founding of the NHL (1917), a BAA Championship before the founding of the NBA (1951), an NFL or AFL Championship before the first Super Bowl (1966), and a pennant before the first World Series (1903) are championships.

Championships won before a merger that didn't result in a league-versus-league final (e.g. ABA, NBL, WHA) do not count, nor do championships won under the same name as past glories (the early 1900s Ottawa Senators are not the early 1990s-present Ottawa Senators).

So, writing off teams that, no matter when in their history, have won a title, we're left with seven NFL, eight MLB, 13 NHL, and 14 NBA teams still seeking their first championships.

Let's start in with the NFL. It took the Philiadelphia Eagles (est. 1933) a mere 15 years to capture their first of back-to-back NFL Championships in 1948. Their last such title was in 1960, six years before the first Super Bowl, which despite two appearances, they have never won.

Beyond the Eagles, 13 other franchises have yet to win a Super Bowl. Among them are the Bills, Browns, Lions, Chargers, and Titans (as the Houston Oilers), all of which won one (or more) pre-Super Bowl NFL or AFL championship in their first decade of competition.

The above group also includes three relatively recent expansion teams: the Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars are at 15 seasons and counting, while the Houston Texans haven't made the playoffs once in their eight years in the NFL.

With New Orleans's erstwhile Ain'ts (est. 1967) finally ending their 43 years in the wilderness, there are only a few notable droughts remaining in football: the Falcons, founded in 1966, are at 44 championship-less seasons, the Bengals (est. 1968) are at 42, and the Seahawks are in their 34th non-championship season.

The winner of the losers? The Minnesota Vikings, founded 1961. Their first NFL Championship was in 1969, but they lost Super Bowl IV to the Chiefs. They've appeared in the big game three more times since, but they will hit the half-century mark in 2011 should they not close the deal.

Past NFL droughts of note: the Broncos played 37 years before winning their first Super Bowl in 1997; the Cardinals took from 1898 to 1927 to win an NFL Championship; The 49ers' first Super Bowl in 1981 ended 45 lost years; and the Steelers, winningest team of the Super Bowl era (six), needed 41 years to get their first one (1974).

Basketball

Moving to basketball, at 40, the Clippers and the Cleveland Cavaliers still aren't the Association's longest-suffering teams. That honor belongs to the Phoenix Suns, who, since 1968, have yet to win their first ring.

Since joining the NBA in 1974, the Utah Jazz are trophy-less, as are 1976 additions in Denver, New Jersey, and Indiana. To the list we can also add the Mavericks (1980), Hornets (1988), Timberwolves and Magic (1989), Raptors and Grizzlies (1995), and Bobcats (2005).

The Pistons, NBA originals in 1948, had five NBL titles since 1941, but needed 48 more years before Isaiah's team took it home in 1989; Rockets fans waited 37 seasons for their first hardware, in 1994; 1999 ended 33 years in the wilderness for the Spurs; and Jordan's first championship Bulls, in 1991, were celebrating 25 winless years in the Windy City.

Swing and a Miss

In baseball, had the Phillies not captured the 1901 NL Pennant, 1980's World Series win would have broken a 97-year drought. (Not that 79 years between championships wasn't long enough.) 

The Seattle Mariners are currently at 33 years without so much as a World Series appearance. This is an honor shared by the Washington Nationals (since starting play in Montreal in 1969), 41 years without winning it all, and the holders of baseball's longest active first-championship drought, at 49 years, the Texas Rangers (est. 1961).

Not far behind the Rangers, the state rival Astros have appeared once, but never won, since joining the league in 1962. The Milwaukee Brewers (1970), Colorado Rockies (1993), and Tampa Bay Rays (1998) have all also appeared once without winning any, and the Padres, who joined alongside the Expos in 1969, are winless in two tries over their 41-year history.

Interestingly, the most decorated team in North American pro sports history—the New York Yankees—needed 22 years to capture their first title. The Jays (1992) were 16, the Pirates (1909) were 17, the Indians (1920) were 26, and the Twins (1924), were 30 before capturing their first titles. All of these pale in comparison, however, to the 72 seasons and three cities the Baltimore Orioles played in before finally snapping what appears to be the longest-ever drought since inception with their Series win in 1966.

Futility on Ice

All of the NHL's Original Six teams won the Cup in short succession after joining, so the longest possible drought belongs to teams added in 1967. Still waiting for their first parade, after 43 years, are two teams: the St. Louis Blues and the Los Angeles Kings.

Added in 1970, the Sabres and Canucks have yet to win, as does the 1974 addition in Washington. More recent expansion teams in San Jose (1991), Ottawa (1992), and Florida (1993) are approaching 20 Cup-less years, and after a decade, there is still nothing to report in Nashville, Atlanta, Columbus, or Minnesota.

By winning in 1999, Dallas ended 32 years of mediocrity; their expansion cousin Penguins were Cup-less for 24 years before Mario Lemieux delivered the goods in 1991, and the New Jersey Devils marked 21 years since their founding (in Kansas City) with their first Cup in 1995.

Of the four WHA teams to join the NHL in 1979, the Oilers were the first to win (five years later, in 1984). The Nordiques broke their 17-year curse in 1996, as the Colorado Avalanche, and the 2006 champions from Carolina ended 27 years of suffering that began in Hartford. This leaves only the the Phoenix Coyotes, 31 and counting, with the NHL eyeing the franchise's return to Winnipeg, where they never won even a playoff round.

So, in order, here are the longest active "First Title Droughts":

11. Phoenix Coyotes (31)

10. Seattle Mariners (33)

9. Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, New Jersey Nets, Seattle Seahawks (34)

8. Washington Capitals, Utah Jazz (36)

7. Los Angeles Clippers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Buffalo Sabres, Vancouver Canucks, Milwaukee Brewers (40)

6. San Diego Padres, Washington Nationals (41)

5. Cincinnati Bengals, Phoenix Suns (42)

4. St. Louis Blues, Los Angeles Kings (43)

3. Atlanta Falcons (44)

2. Houston Astros (48)

1. Minnesota Vikings, Texas Rangers (49)