Written by Jonathan Knight

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 Two more professional sports seasons are in the books and Cleveland’s reign atop the Sports Misery Index is as secure as ever.

Hooray.

To be sure, with new champions in both the NBA and NHL, there were changes – most notably Dallas dropping from 10^th in the rankings to 58^th. Conversely, with long-suffering Boston fans having been rewarded after going almost an hour-and-a-half without a world title, Beantown dropped from 52^nd to dead last at No. 62.

Thus, while Boston replaces San Antonio as the least miserable sports city, Cleveland remains at the opposite end of the spectrum of the 62 cities (or more appropriately, markets) that at some point have fielded a team that could have captured a title in one of the four major sports leagues in the United States and Canada.

For more details on the rationale between determining the factors, click here for a TCF column from last February outlining the origin of the Index.

Let’s see how the current index breaks down, first by looking at the two factors individually.

 

NEXT IN LINE

Ranking the Cities by Drought Factor

Here’s a list of the cities by highest Drought Factor – how many seasons (not years) they’ve endured since winning a world title.

For example, Cleveland’s Drought Factor is now 132: when you combine the Browns, Indians, Cavs, and don’t forget the NHL Barons, Cleveland teams have now played 132 consecutive seasons without winning a title.

The * symbolizes that the city currently has no teams in any of the four major leagues.

1.CLEVELAND [132]

Last world title: Browns 1964

2.SAN DIEGO [97]

Last world title: never

t3.SEATTLE [93]

Last world title: SuperSonics (1978-79)

t3.BUFFALO [93]

Last world title: never

5.MINNEAPOLIS [71]

Last world title: Twins 1991

6.WASHINGTON [64]

Last world title: Redskins 1991

7.ATLANTA [58]

Last world title: Braves 1995

8.KANSAS CITY [51]

Last world title: Royals 1985

9.TORONTO [50]

Last world title: Blue Jays 1993

10.VANCOUVER [46]

Last world title: none

11.HOUSTON [43]

Last world title: Rockets 1994-95

12.CINCINNATI [41]

Last world title: Reds 1990

13.DENVER [39]

Last world title: Avalanche (2000-01)

14.PHOENIX [38]

Last world title: Diamondbacks (2001)

t15.OAKLAND [37]

Last world title: Athletics (1989)

t15.CHARLOTTE [37]

Last world title: none

17.PORTLAND [34]

Last world title: Trail Blazers 1976-77

18.SALT LAKE CITY [32]

Last world title: none

19.MONTREAL [29]

Last world title: Canadiens 1992-93

t20.SACRAMENTO [26]

Last world title: none

t20.NASHVILLE [26]

Last world title: none

22.OTTAWA [25]

Last world title: Senators 1926-27

23.TAMPA BAY [24]

Last world title: Buccaneers 2002

24.ORLANDO [22]

Last world title: none

25.CALGARY [21]

Last world title: Flames 1988-89

t26.BALTIMORE [20]

Last world title: Ravens 2000

t26.EDMONTON [20]

Last world title: Oilers 1989-90

t26.MIAMI [20]

Last world title: Heat 2005-06

29.SAN JOSE [19]

Last world title: none

30.*HARTFORD [18]

Last world title: none

t31.*QUEBEC [17]

Last world title: none

t31.*WINNIPEG [17]

Last world title: none

33.JACKSONVILLE [16]

Last world title: none

34.NEWARK [15]

Last world title: Devils 2002-03

35.ST. LOUIS [14]

Last world title: Cardinals 2006

t36.DETROIT [12]

Last world title: Red Wings 2007-08

t37.NEW YORK [12]

Last world title: Yankees 2009

38.PHILADELPHIA [11]

Last world title: Phillies 2008

t39.COLUMBUS [10]

Last world title: none

t39.MEMPHIS [10]

Last world title: none

t41.*FORT WAYNE [9]

Last world title: none

t41.INDIANAPOLIS [9]

Last world title: Colts 2006

43.*SYRACUSE [8]

Last world title: Nationals 1954-55

t44.*ROCHESTER [6]

Last world title: Royals 1950-51

t44.PITTSBURGH [6]

Last world title: Penguins 2008-09

t44.LOS ANGELES [6]

Last world title: Lakers 2009-10

t47.*HAMILTON, ONTARIO [5]

Last world title: none

t47.RALEIGH [5]

Last world title: Hurricanes (2005-06)

t47.CHICAGO [5]

Last world title: Blackhawks 2009-10

50.SAN ANTONIO [4]

Last world title: Spurs (2006-07)

t51.*PROVIDENCE [3]

Last world title: none

t51.NEW ORLEANS [3]

Last world title: Saints 2009

t51.OKLAHOMA CITY [3]

Last world title: none

t54.*TRI-CITIES [2]

(Moline, Illinois; Rock Island, Illinois; Davenport, Iowa)

Last world title: none

t54.SAN FRANCISCO [2]

Last world title: Giants 2010

t56.*ANDERSON, INDIANA [1]

Last world title: none

t56.*SHEBOYGAN, WISCONSIN [1]

Last world title: none

t56.*WATERLOO, IOWA [1]

Last world title: none

t56.*PORTSMOUTH, OHIO [1]

Last world title: none

t56.MILWAUKEE [1]

Last world title: Packers 2010

t57.DALLAS [0]

Last world title: Mavericks 2010-11

t57.BOSTON [0]

Last world title: Bruins 2010-11

 

CHAMPIONSHIP SATURATION

Measuring the Cities by Their Percentage of Title Seasons

Here’s a list of the cities by highest title percentage – number of a city’s world-title seasons divided by number of total seasons.

The * symbolizes that the city currently has no teams in any of the four major leagues.

1.Montreal         18.75%

2.Edmonton       16.13%

3.San Antonio    11.43%

4.*Rochester     11.11%

5.Toronto            10.42%

6.Boston             9.42%

7.Ottawa             8.57%

8.New York         8.55%

9.Raleigh              7.69%

10.Oakland         7.14%

11.*Syracuse     7.14%

12.Detroit            6.81%

13.Milwaukee   6.70%

14.Baltimore      6.61%

15.Los Angeles  6.27%

16.Pittsburgh     5.98%

17.Chicago          5.07%

18.Dallas              5.04%

19.Miami             4.85%

20.Newark          4.84%

21.St. Louis         4.56%

22.Philadelphia 4.36%

23.San Francisco 4.30%

24.Minneapolis 4.12%

25.Calgary           3.33%

26.Denver           3.33%

27.Cleveland      3.21%

28.Washington  3.07%

29.Cincinnati      2.99%

30.Portland         2.44%

31.Kansas City   1.74%

32.New Orleans 1.72%

33.Houston         1.55%

34.Tampa Bay    1.52%

35.Indianapolis  1.49%

36.Phoenix         1.08%

37.Seattle            0.90%

38.Atlanta           0.66%

t39.San Diego    0%

Buffalo                 0%

Vancouver          0%

Charlotte             0%

Salt Lake City      0%

Sacramento        0%

Nashville              0%

Orlando                0%

*Hartford             0%

San Jose             0%

*Quebec             0%

*Winnipeg          0%

Jacksonville       0%

*Fort Wayne      0%

Columbus          0%

Memphis            0%

Oklahoma City   0%

*Hamilton, Ontario   0%

*Providence       0%

*Tri-Cities           0%

*Anderson, Indiana 0%

*Sheboygan, Wisconsin 0%

*Waterloo, Iowa           0%

*Portsmouth, Ohio       0%

 

THE SPORTS MISERY INDEX

And here it is – the updated Sports Misery Index, measured by adding a city’s non-title percentage to its number of consecutive non-title seasons.

The * symbolizes that the city currently has no teams in any of the four major leagues.

1. CLEVELAND    (228.79)

96.79 + 132

2. SAN DIEGO    (197)

100 + 97

3. BUFFALO          (193)

100 + 93

4. SEATTLE         (192.1)

99.10 + 93

5. MINNEAPOLIS   (166.88)

95.88 + 71

6. WASHINGTON   (160.93)

96.93 + 64

7. ATLANTA           (157.34)

99.34 + 58

8. KANSAS CITY  (149.26)

98.26 + 51

9. VANCOUVER  (146)

100 + 45

10. HOUSTON    (141.45)

98.45 + 43

11. TORONTO    (139.58)

89.58 + 50

12. CINCINNATI   (138.01)

97.01 + 41

13. CHARLOTTE  (137)

100 + 37

14. PHOENIX       (136.92)

98.92 + 38

15. DENVER         (135.67)

96.67 + 39

16. SALT LAKE CITY (132)

100 + 32

17. PORTLAND   (131.56)

97.56 + 34

18. OAKLAND     (129.86)

92.86 + 37

t19.SACRAMENTO (126)

100 + 26

t19. NASHVILLE  (126)

100 + 26

21. TAMPA BAY  (122.48)

98.48 + 24

22. ORLANDO    (122)

100 + 22

23. SAN JOSE    (119)

100 + 19

24. *HARTFORD  (118)

100 + 18

25. CALGARY    (117.67)

96.67 + 21

t26.*QUEBEC  (117)

100 + 17

t26.*WINNIPEG  (117)

100 + 17

28. OTTAWA   (116.43)

91.43 + 25

29. JACKSONVILLE  (116)

100 + 16

30. MIAMI   (115.15)

95.15 + 20

31. BALTIMORE (113.39)

93.39 + 20

32. MONTREAL  (110.25)

81.25 + 29

33. NEWARK (110.16)

95.16 + 15

t34. COLUMBUS (110)

100 + 10

t34. MEMPHIS  (110)

100 + 10

36. ST. LOUIS   (109.44)

95.44 + 14

37. *FORT WAYNE  (109)

100 + 9

38. INDIANAPOLIS   (107.51)

98.51 + 9

39. PHILADELPHIA    (106.64)

95.64 + 11

40. DETROIT      (105.19)

93.19 + 12

41. *HAMILTON, ONTARIO  (105)

100 + 5

42. EDMONTON    (103.87)

83.87 + 20

43. NEW YORK   (103.45)

91.45 + 12

t44. *PROVIDENCE   (103)

100 + 3

t44. OKLAHOMA CITY (103)

100 + 3

46. *TRI-CITIES  (102)

100 + 2

47. NEW ORLEANS   (101.28)

98.28 + 3

t48. *ANDERSON, INDIANA (101)

100 + 1

t48. *SHEBOYGAN, WISCONSIN (101)

100 + 1

t48. *WATERLOO, IOWA  (101)

100 +1

t48. *PORTSMOUTH, OHIO (101)

100 + 1

52. *SYRACUSE  (100.86)

92.86 + 8

53. PITTSBURGH (100.02)

94.02 + 6

54. CHICAGO   (99.93)

94.93 + 5

55. LOS ANGELES  (99.73)

93.73 + 6

56. SAN FRANCISCO (97.70)

95.70 + 2

57. RALEIGH  (97.31)

92.31 + 5

58. DALLAS  (94.96)

94.96 + 0

59. *ROCHESTER   (94.89)

88.89 + 6

60. MILWAUKEE    (94.30)

93.30 + 1

61. SAN ANTONIO  (92.57)

88.57 + 4

62. BOSTON    (90.58)

90.58 + 0