The Chicago Cubs won the World Series on Wednesday night, ending 108 years of futility -- and leaving the Cardinals as the team with the longest championship drought in North American sports.
The Chicago Cardinals won the NFL championship in 1947, and that franchise -- which has moved to St. Louis and then to Arizona -- hasn’t won a championship since. No other franchise in the four major pro sports league has gone as long without a title.
The franchise with the next-longest drought is the Cleveland Indians, who lost to the Cubs last night. The Indians last won a title in 1948. The NBA’s Sacramento Kings, who last won a title in 1951 as the Rochester Royals, have the third-longest drought.
The fourth-longest drought belongs to the Detroit Lions, who won the NFL championship in 1957. Other NFL teams in the Top 10 longest droughts in North American sports are the Eagles (who last won the NFL championship in 1960), the Titans (who won the AFL Championship in 1961, when they were the Houston Oilers) and the Chargers (who won the AFL Championship in 1963).