Written by Jonathan Knight

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For the 64th consecutive year, the baseball season concluded with someone other than the Indians winning the World Series.

This time it was the not-at-all-long-suffering St. Louis Cardinals that quenched their city’s interminable five-year drought between titles, dropping St. Louis’ standing in the Sports Misery Index from 36th to 59th among the 62 cities (or more appropriately, markets) that at some point have fielded a team that could potentially have captured a world title in one of the four major sports leagues encompassing the U.S. and Canada.

For more details on the rationale between determining the factors that go into calculating the Index - which mirrors the U.S. economic Misery Index (inflation rate + unemployment rate), click here for a previous TCF column outlining the origin of the Sports Misery Index.

Thus, as St. Louis sweeps up the tickertape, only Rochester, San Antonio, and Boston are less miserable than the Gateway of the Midwest at the moment.

And, not surprisingly, nobody is more miserable than Cleveland.

Proving anybody can be No. 1 if you find the right set of numbers, the Best Location in the Nation remains atop the Sports Misery Index (the SMI, if you will), now scoring a darling 229.8 (compared to last-place Boston’s 91.61) and marginally increasing its lead over second-place San Diego (198).

Rounding out the top five are Seattle (193.11), Buffalo (193), and Minneapolis (167.91).

Let’s see how the current index breaks down, first by looking at the two factors individually: drought factor and non-title percentage.

 

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) each has endured since winning a world title.

For example, Cleveland’s Drought Factor is now 133: when you combine the Browns, Indians, Cavs, and don’t forget the Barons’ two NHL seasons, Cleveland teams have now played 133 consecutive seasons without winning a title.

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

1.CLEVELAND [133]

Last world title: Browns 1964

2.SAN DIEGO [98]

Last world title: never

3.SEATTLE [94]

Last world title: SuperSonics (1978-79)

4.BUFFALO [93]

Last world title: never

5.MINNEAPOLIS [72]

Last world title: Twins 1991

6.WASHINGTON [65]

Last world title: Redskins 1991

7.ATLANTA [59]

Last world title: Braves 1995

8.KANSAS CITY [52]

Last world title: Royals 1985

9.TORONTO [51]

Last world title: Blue Jays 1993

10.VANCOUVER [46]

Last world title: none

11.HOUSTON [44]

Last world title: Rockets 1994-95

12.CINCINNATI [42]

Last world title: Reds 1990

13.DENVER [40]

Last world title: Avalanche (2000-01)

14.PHOENIX [39]

Last world title: Diamondbacks (2001)

15.OAKLAND [38]

Last world title: Athletics (1989)

16.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

20.SACRAMENTO [26]

Last world title: none

21.NASHVILLE [26]

Last world title: none

22.OTTAWA [25]

Last world title: Senators 1926-27

23.TAMPA BAY [25]

Last world title: Buccaneers 2002

24.ORLANDO [22]

Last world title: none

25.CALGARY [21]

Last world title: Flames 1988-89

26.BALTIMORE [21]

Last world title: Ravens (2000)

27.MIAMI [21]

Last world title: Heat 2005-06

28.EDMONTON [20]

Last world title: Oilers (1989-90)

29.SAN JOSE [19]

Last world title: none

30.*HARTFORD [18]

Last world title: none

31.*QUEBEC [17]

Last world title: none

32.*WINNIPEG [17]

Last world title: none

33.JACKSONVILLE [16]

Last world title: none

34.NEWARK [15]

Last world title: Devils 2002-03

35.NEW YORK [14]

Last world title: Yankees (2009)

36.DETROIT [13]

Last world title: Red Wings 2007-08

37.PHILADELPHIA [12]

Last world title: Phillies 2008

t38.COLUMBUS [10]

Last world title: none

t38.MEMPHIS [10]

Last world title: none

t40.*FORT WAYNE [9]

Last world title: none

t40.INDIANAPOLIS [9]

Last world title: Colts 2006

t42.LOS ANGELES [8]

Last world title: Lakers 2009-10

t42.*SYRACUSE [8]

Last world title: Nationals 1954-55

t44.CHICAGO [7]

Last world title: Blackhawks 2009-10

t44.PITTSBURGH [7]

Last world title: Penguins 2008-09

46.*ROCHESTER [6]

Last world title: Royals 1950-51

t47.*HAMILTON [5]

Last world title: none

t47.RALEIGH [5]

Last world title: Hurricanes (2005-06)

49.SAN ANTONIO [4]

Last world title: Spurs (2006-07)

t50.*PROVIDENCE [3]

Last world title: none

t50.NEW ORLEANS [3]

Last world title: Saints 2009

t50.OKLAHOMA CITY [3]

Last world title: none

t50.SAN FRANCISCO [3]

Last world title: Giants 2010

t54.MILWAUKEE [2]

Last world title: Packers 2010

t54.*TRI-CITIES [2]

(Moline, Ill., Rock Island, Ill., Davenport, Ia.)

Last world title: none

t56.*ANDERSON [1]

Last world title: none

t56.*SHEBOYGAN [1]

Last world title: none

t56.*WATERLOO [1]

Last world title: none

t56.*PORTSMOUTH [1]

Last world title: none

t56.DALLAS [1]

Last world title: Mavericks 2010-11

t56.BOSTON [1]
Last world title: Bruins (2010-11)

62.ST. LOUIS [0]

Last world title: Cardinals 2011

 

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.

For instance, Cleveland teams have played a combined 219 seasons, seven of which have ended with a world title. Thus of all the seasons in Cleveland history, 3.2% have ended with a championship.

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 10.35%

6.Boston 9.39%

7.Ottawa 8.57%

8.New York 8.53%

9.Raleigh 7.69%

10.*Syracuse 7.14%

11.Oakland 7.06%

12.Detroit 6.79%

13.Milwaukee 6.67%

14.Baltimore 6.56%

15.Los Angeles 6.23%

16.Pittsburgh 5.96%

17.Chicago 5.04%

18.Dallas 5.00%

19.St. Louis 4.92%

20.Newark 4.84%

21.Miami 4.81%

22.Philadelphia 4.35%

23.San Francisco 4.27%

24.Minneapolis 4.09%

25.Calgary 3.33%

26.Denver 3.31%

27.Cleveland 3.20%

28.Washington 3.06%

29.Cincinnati 2.98%

30.Portland 2.44%

31.Kansas City 1.72%

32.New Orleans 1.72%

33.Houston 1.54%

34.Tampa Bay 1.49%

35.Indianapolis 1.49%

36.Phoenix 1.06%

37.Seattle 0.89%

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 0%

*Providence 0%

*Tri-Cities 0%

*Anderson 0%

*Sheboygan 0%

*Waterloo 0%

*Portsmouth 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 (229.80)

96.80 + 133

2. SAN DIEGO (198)

100 + 98

3. SEATTLE (193.11)

99.11 + 94

4. BUFFALO (193)

100 + 93

5. MINNEAPOLIS (167.91)

95.91 + 72

6. WASHINGTON (161.94)

96.94 + 65

7. ATLANTA (158.34)

99.34 + 59

8. KANSAS CITY (150.28)

98.28 + 52

9. VANCOUVER (146)

100 + 45

10. HOUSTON (142.46)

98.46 + 44

11. TORONTO (140.65)

89.65 + 51

12. CINCINNATI (139.02)

97.02 + 42

13. PHOENIX (137.94)

98.94 + 39

14. CHARLOTTE (137)

100 + 37

15. DENVER (136.69)

96.69 + 40

16. SALT LAKE CITY (132)

100 + 32

17. PORTLAND (131.56)

97.56 + 34

18. OAKLAND (130.94)

92.94 + 38

t19.SACRAMENTO (126)

100 + 26

t19. NASHVILLE (126)

100 + 26

21. TAMPA BAY (123.51)

98.51 + 25

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. MIAMI (116.19)

95.19 + 21

30. JACKSONVILLE (116)

100 + 16

31. BALTIMORE (114.44)

93.44 + 21

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. *FORT WAYNE (109)

100 + 9

37. PHILADELPHIA (107.65)

95.65 + 12

38. INDIANAPOLIS (107.51)

98.51 + 9

39. DETROIT (106.21)

93.21 + 13

40. NEW YORK (105.47)

91.47 + 14

41. *HAMILTON (105)

100 + 5

42. EDMONTON (103.87)

83.87 + 20

t43. *PROVIDENCE (103)

100 + 3

t43. OKLAHOMA CITY (103)

100 + 3

45. *TRI-CITIES (102)

100 + 2

46. CHICAGO (101.96)

94.96 + 7

47. LOS ANGELES (101.77)

93.77 + 8

48. NEW ORLEANS (101.28)

98.28 + 3

49. PITTSBURGH (101.04)

94.04 + 7

t50. *ANDERSON (101)

100 + 1

t50. *SHEBOYGAN (101)

100 + 1

t50. *WATERLOO (101)

100 +1

t50. *PORTSMOUTH, OHIO (101)

100 + 1

54. *SYRACUSE (100.86)

92.86 + 8

55. SAN FRANCISCO (98.73)

95.73 + 3

56. RALEIGH (97.31)

92.31 + 5

57. MILWAUKEE (95.33)

93.33 + 2

58. DALLAS (96)

95 + 1

59. ST. LOUIS (95.08)

95.08 + 0

60. *ROCHESTER (94.89)

88.89 + 6

61. SAN ANTONIO (92.57)

88.57 + 4

62. BOSTON (91.61)

90.61 + 1

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