With the MLB playoffs underway, fanbases that have a team in the dance are on the edge of their seat. After slogging through a 162-game season that started in March, most of these fanbases will see their season come to an end in less than 10 postseason games. From the painful chokes of teams like the Milwaukee Brewers this year to teams like the Baltimore Orioles who found themselves out of the playoffs within two games, I set it upon myself to find out which fanbases have suffered the most in the most important time of the year, the playoffs.
While it certainly isn’t, and never will be a perfect science, I have calculated the most accurate “fanbase playoff pain index.” Which pro sports cities are the most cursed? Let’s take a closer look.
Methodology
To do this, I looked at all teams for all cities with either three or four professional sports teams and computed their average “playoff pain” by assigning a number to each result since the turn of the century. Each playoff result from 2000 up until the 2024 MLB playoffs was included. I added up all the points for each team and divided it by the number of playoff appearances. Here is the table of the points system I used:
Championship/Finals Loss = 10 points
Semifinals Loss = 5 points
Quarterfinals Loss = 3 points
All Other Playoff Stage Losses = 1 point
Game or Series Loss at Home = 1 point
Championship Win = -20 points
Championship Win at Home = -2 points
Rules
To make it as fair and even as possible, I created a couple of rules to try to create uniformity. First, the cities are split between “large” and “mid-sized” markets. Large markets have four teams while mid-sized markets have three teams. I also didn’t take into account teams who recently moved to a new city. For example, I didn’t count the Rams for Los Angeles as it’s not the same pain as it would be for a fanbase that has been invested in the team long-term. For cities that have very near proximity to each other like Washington D.C. and Baltimore, I combined the teams that those fans likely share (i.e. the Washington Wizards as Baltimore doesn’t have an NBA team) but kept their MLB and NFL teams separate. In these instances, the city will be listed twice on the list, but the difference will be listed in parentheses.
In addition, cities like Milwaukee and Nashville may not have three of their own pro teams, but they do have strong ties to teams (i.e. the Green Bay Packers and Memphis Grizzlies) so those teams have been included for them. Lastly, teams can be split between two cities where both cities may feel that they are “their team.” An example of this would be the Columbus Blue Jackets having fans in both Cleveland and Cincinnati.
What Sports Cities Are the Most Cursed?
Large Market “Playoff Pain” Rankings
1.) Cleveland, OH (3.05 pts/playoff appearance)
Possibly the least surprising ranking on this list is the City of Cleveland being at the top of this list. While the Cleveland Browns and Columbus Blue Jackets haven’t suffered very much and haven’t had that many playoff appearances in general, the Cleveland Guardians and Cleveland Cavaliers more than make up for it. With a ranking of 4.38, the Guardians are third in the playoff pain index amongst big-market baseball teams while the Cavaliers are second among basketball teams. Although the 2016 NBA Championship was great for Cleveland, it doesn’t take the sting out of the four combined championships lost in the 21st century.
RELATED | Pro Sports Teams That Have Never Won a Championship
2.) Philadelphia, PA (2.90)
Although the Philadelphia Phillies and Philadelphia Eagles have combined to win three championships this century, Philadelphia teams have lost five championships in that same time frame. Although it might not seem like Philly struggles much, the 76ers have lost in the Eastern Conference Semifinals in six of their last eight playoff appearances while the Flyers lost in the Conference Semifinals or later seven times from 2000-12. If the Phillies can claim their first World Series since 2008 this year, the city of Philadelphia would quickly fall down this list.
3.) Phoenix, AZ (2.73)
Although teams from Phoenix, Arizona aren’t perennial playoff contenders, they lose in heartbreaking fashion when they’re in the dance. Outside of the 2001 World Series Championship, the city has seen three losses at the last step. The Santonio Holmes toe-tapping catch will haunt Phoenix fans forever as will the two different three-year stretches where the Phoenix Suns lost in the Western Conference Semifinals or later each season. Add in that the Arizona Coyotes are now being taken away and moved to Utah due to cheap owners, and it’s hard to find a city that has felt pain the way Phoenix since 2000.
4.) Minneapolis, MN (2.70)
5.) Detroit, MI (2.64)
6.) Dallas, TX (2.53)
7.) San Francisco, CA (Athletics) (2.16)
8.) Denver, CO (1.81)
9.) Baltimore, MD (1.65)
10.) Washington D.C. (1.25)
11.) Chicago, IL (Cubs) (0.88)
12.) San Francisco, CA (Giants) (0.24)
13.) Chicago, IL (White Sox) (0.20)
14.) Miami, FL (-0.76)
15.) Boston, MA (-0.95)
Mid-Sized Market “Playoff Pain” Rankings
1.) Charlotte, NC (3.16 pts/playoff appearance)
Although the Carolina Hurricanes and Charlotte Hornets have suffered in their own right since the turn of the century, it’s the Carolina Panthers that carry the heavy lifting for their fanbases’ pain. Although they have only made the playoffs seven times since 2000, they have still lost two heartbreaking Super Bowls and one NFC Championship. Although the Hurricanes did win the Stanley Cup Finals in 2006, in the last six seasons they have lost in the Conference Semifinals three times and the Conference Finals twice. For as good as this team has been over the years, they’re still fighting to get back over the hump again.
2.) Nashville, TN (3.12)
Although Charlotte edged out Nashville for first amongst the mid-markets, Nashville has seen its fair share of playoff woes in each of its teams. On the ice, they’ve lost a Stanley Cup Final in their own building to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Tennessee Titans lost Super Bowl XXXIV by inches thanks to “The Tackle,” and the Memphis Grizzlies lost in the Conference Semifinals or Conference Finals four times in an era dominated by the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs.
Nashville teams have shown flashes of promise multiple seasons but somehow fall just short every single time. The fact that their three teams have combined for 121 seasons and have no championships in the history of their franchises, it’s clear that the Nashville fanbase has been struggling well before the year 2000 as well.
3.) Atlanta, GA (3.02)
Although Atlanta finishing this high might seem odd given their recent World Series win in 2021, the previous futility of the Atlanta Braves was still enough to keep Atlanta near the top of this list. Outside of 2021, the Braves made the playoffs 14 times and only made it to the NLCS twice. Given how exclusive the MLB playoffs are, it is insane for a team to make the playoffs that often and be cursed from even seeing a World Series appearance.
Although the Atlanta Hawks haven’t been great as of late, their teams from 2007-17 were notorious for finishing near or at the top of the Eastern Conference, only to falter when the lights were bright. Add in the Super Bowl LI loss of the Atlanta Falcons, and it’s hard to imagine many happy playoff nights for those in Georgia. The Falcons’ Super Bowl XXXIII loss in 1998 and the Braves’ four World Series losses from 1991-1999 show this isn’t just a 21st-century problem either.
