Written by Jonathan Knight

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To recap: we just watched LeBron win his first championship and Los Angeles win its 20th.

And through it all, New York held on to its title as least miserable sports city.

Good frickin’ times.

Not that neither Miami nor Los Angeles were really that high up on the list of suffering sports cities to begin with, but now they plummet: Los Angeles from No. 48 to No. 60, Miami from No. 26 to No. 61.

And yet they both are still entitled to more sympathy than New York, which holds onto dead last in the Sports Misery Index at No. 62.

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.

And, not surprisingly, nothing changes atop the list, where Cleveland remains the Don Corleone of sports misery.

Proving anybody can be No. 1 if you put together 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 231.83 (compared to last-place New York’s 94.38) and marginally increasing its lead over second-place San Diego (199).

The top five also remain the same: Buffalo (195), Seattle (194.12), and Minneapolis (170.98), though Buffalo leap-frogged Seattle (ironic, since the Emerald City just watched its SuperSonics reach the NBA Finals disguised as the Oklahoma City Thunder).

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 134: when you combine the Browns, Indians, Cavs, and don’t forget the Barons’ two NHL seasons, Cleveland teams have now played 135 consecutive seasons without winning a title.

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

1.CLEVELAND [135]

Last world title: Browns 1964

2.SAN DIEGO [99]

Last world title: never

3.SEATTLE [95]

Last world title: SuperSonics (1978-79)

4.BUFFALO [95]

Last world title: never

5.MINNEAPOLIS [75]

Last world title: Twins 1991

6.WASHINGTON [68]

Last world title: Redskins 1991

7.ATLANTA [62]

Last world title: Braves 1995

8.KANSAS CITY [53]

Last world title: Royals 1985

9.TORONTO [53]

Last world title: Blue Jays 1993

10.VANCOUVER [47]

Last world title: none

11.HOUSTON [46]

Last world title: Rockets 1994-95

12.CINCINNATI [43]

Last world title: Reds 1990

13.DENVER [43]

Last world title: Avalanche (2000-01)

14.PHOENIX [42]

Last world title: Diamondbacks (2001)

15.OAKLAND [39]

Last world title: Athletics (1989)

16.CHARLOTTE [39]

Last world title: none

17.PORTLAND [35]

Last world title: Trail Blazers 1976-77

18.SALT LAKE CITY [33]

Last world title: none

19.MONTREAL [30]

Last world title: Canadiens 1992-93

20.NASHVILLE [28]

Last world title: none

21.SACRAMENTO [27]

Last world title: none

22.TAMPA BAY [27]

Last world title: Buccaneers 2002

23.OTTAWA [26]

Last world title: Senators 1926-27

24.ORLANDO [23]

Last world title: none

25.BALTIMORE [22]

Last world title: Ravens (2000)

26.CALGARY [22]

Last world title: Flames 1988-89

27.EDMONTON [21]

Last world title: Oilers (1989-90)

28.SAN JOSE [20]

Last world title: none

29.*HARTFORD [18]

Last world title: none

30.JACKSONVILLE [17]

Last world title: none

31.*QUEBEC [17]

Last world title: none

32.*WINNIPEG [17]

Last world title: none

33.NEWARK [17]

Last world title: Devils 2002-03

34.DETROIT [16]

Last world title: Red Wings 2007-08

35.PHILADELPHIA [15]

Last world title: Phillies 2008

36.COLUMBUS [11]

Last world title: none

37.MEMPHIS [11]

Last world title: none

38.INDIANAPOLIS [11]

Last world title: Colts 2006

39.CHICAGO [10]

Last world title: Blackhawks 2009-10

40.*FORT WAYNE [9]

Last world title: none

41.PITTSBURGH [9]

Last world title: Penguins 2008-09

42.*SYRACUSE [8]

Last world title: Nationals 1954-55

43.*ROCHESTER [6]

Last world title: Royals 1950-51

44.RALEIGH [6]

Last world title: Hurricanes (2005-06)

45.*HAMILTON [5]

Last world title: none

46.SAN ANTONIO [5]

Last world title: Spurs (2006-07)

47.NEW ORLEANS [5]

Last world title: Saints 2009

48.SAN FRANCISCO [5]

Last world title: Giants 2010

49.OKLAHOMA CITY [4]

Last world title: none

50.MILWAUKEE [4]

Last world title: Packers 2010

51.DALLAS [4]

Last world title: Mavericks 2010-11

52.BOSTON [4]

Last world title: Bruins (2010-11)

53.NEW YORK [3]

Last world title: Giants 2011

54.*PROVIDENCE [3]

Last world title: none

55.ST. LOUIS [2]

Last world title: Cardinals 2011

56.*TRI-CITIES [2]

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

Last world title: none

57.*ANDERSON [1]

Last world title: none

58.*SHEBOYGAN [1]

Last world title: none

59.*WATERLOO [1]

Last world title: none

60.*PORTSMOUTH [1]

Last world title: none

61.LOS ANGELES [0]

Last world title: Kings 2011-12

62.MIAMI [0]

Last world title: Heat 2011-12

 

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 221 seasons, seven of which have ended with a world title. Thus of all the seasons in Cleveland history, 3.17% have ended with a championship.

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

1.Montreal 18.62%

2.Edmonton 15.63%

3.San Antonio 11.11%

4.*Rochester 11.11%

5.Toronto 10.20%

6.Boston 9.32%

7.New York 8.62%

8.Ottawa 8.33%

9.Raleigh 7.14%

10.*Syracuse 7.14%

11.Oakland 6.98%

12.Detroit 6.73%

13.Milwaukee 6.59%

14.Baltimore 6.50%

15.Los Angeles 6.47%

16.Pittsburgh 5.91%

17.Miami 5.61%

18.Chicago 5.01%

19.Dallas 4.90%

20.St. Louis 4.89%

21.Newark 4.69%

22.Philadelphia 4.31%

23.San Francisco 4.22%

24.Minneapolis 4.02%

25.Denver 3.28%

26.Calgary 3.23%

27.Cleveland 3.17%

28.Washington 3.02%

29.Cincinnati 2.96%

30.Portland 2.38%

31.Kansas City 1.71%

32.New Orleans 1.67%

33.Houston 1.52%

34.Tampa Bay 1.45%

35.Indianapolis 1.47%

36.Phoenix 1.03%

37.Seattle 0.88%

38.Atlanta 0.65%

39.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 (231.83)

96.83 + 135

2. SAN DIEGO (199)

100 + 99

3. BUFFALO (195)

100 + 95

4. SEATTLE (194.12)

99.12 + 95

5. MINNEAPOLIS (170.98)

95.98 + 75

6. WASHINGTON (164.98)

96.98 + 68

7. ATLANTA (161.35)

99.35 + 62

8. KANSAS CITY (151.29)

98.29 + 53

9. VANCOUVER (147)

100 + 47

10. HOUSTON (144.48)

98.48 + 46

11. TORONTO (142.8)

89.8 + 53

12. PHOENIX (140.97)

98.97 + 42

13. CINCINNATI (140.04)

97.04 + 43

14. DENVER (139.77)

96.77 + 43

15. CHARLOTTE (139)

100 + 39

16. SALT LAKE CITY (133)

100 + 33

17. PORTLAND (132.62)

97.62 + 35

18. OAKLAND (132.02)

93.02 + 39

19. NASHVILLE (128)

100 + 28

20.SACRAMENTO (127)

100 + 27

21. TAMPA BAY (125.55)

98.55 + 27

22. ORLANDO (123)

100 + 23

23. SAN JOSE (120)

100 + 20

24. CALGARY (118.77)

96.77 + 22

25. *HARTFORD (118)

100 + 18

26. OTTAWA (117.67)

91.67 + 26

t27. JACKSONVILLE (117)

100 + 17

t27.*QUEBEC (117)

100 + 17

t27.*WINNIPEG (117)

100 + 17

30. BALTIMORE (115.5)

93.5 + 22

31. NEWARK (112.31)

95.31 + 17

32. MONTREAL (111.38)

81.38 + 30

t33. COLUMBUS (111)

100 + 11

t33. MEMPHIS (111)

100 + 11

35. PHILADELPHIA (110.69)

95.69 + 15

36. INDIANAPOLIS (109.53)

98.53 + 11

37. DETROIT (109.27)

93.27 + 16

38. *FORT WAYNE (109)

100 + 9

39. EDMONTON (105.37)

84.37 + 21

40. *HAMILTON (105)

100 + 5

41. CHICAGO (104.99)

94.99 + 10

42. OKLAHOMA CITY (104)

100 + 4

43. NEW ORLEANS (103.33)

98.33 + 5

44. PITTSBURGH (103.09)

94.09 + 9

45. *PROVIDENCE (103)

100 + 3

46. *TRI-CITIES (102)

100 + 2

t47. *ANDERSON (101)

100 + 1

t47. *SHEBOYGAN (101)

100 + 1

t47. *WATERLOO (101)

100 +1

t47. *PORTSMOUTH, OHIO (101)

100 + 1

51. *SYRACUSE (100.86)

92.86 + 8

52. SAN FRANCISCO (100.78)

95.78 + 5

53. DALLAS (99.1)

95.1 + 4

54. RALEIGH (98.86)

92.86 + 6

55. MILWAUKEE (97.41)

93.41 + 4

56. ST. LOUIS (97.11)

95.11 + 2

57. *ROCHESTER (94.89)

88.89 + 6

58. BOSTON (94.68)

90.68 + 4

59. SAN ANTONIO (93.89)

88.89 + 5

60. LOS ANGELES (93.53)

93.53 + 0

61. MIAMI (94.39)

94.39 + 0

62. NEW YORK (94.38)

91.38 + 3

 

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