List of Major League Baseball franchise postseason droughts

Longest current World Series championship droughts

No World Series was played in 1994, and counts as a drought season for those franchises.

^¶ Participating in the 2018 postseason, outcome uncertain

Longest World Series championship droughts through history

The first World Series was played in 1903. No World Series was played in 1904 or 1994. This list only shows droughts of 30 or more seasons. Active droughts are listed in bold type.

* Year does not indicate a title won, but rather the team's first year of existence or the first year of the modern World Series (1903).

^¶ Participating in the 2018 postseason, outcome uncertain

World Series championship droughts by city/region

This list only includes cities/regions with current Major League Baseball franchises. Years during which a city/region did not field a Major League Baseball team are not counted.

*city without Major League Baseball franchise for 33 seasons (1972–2004)

**city without Major League Baseball franchise for 4 seasons (1966–1969)

†city without Major League Baseball franchise for 7 seasons (1970–1976)

‡number doesn't indicate a title won, but rather total seasons played.

^¶ Participating in the 2018 postseason, outcome uncertain

World Series in which neither team had previously won a championship

In these instances, the World Series matchup ensured that one team would win the first championship in its history.

*In these cases, each team was making its first World Series appearance.

World Series in which both teams had ended pennant droughts of 20-plus seasons

World Series in which neither franchise had won a championship in 30-plus seasons

Teams that had never won the World Series are included, even if they were less than 30 seasons old at the time. Bold denotes team that won.

Numbers marked with * indicates that the number is counted from either the franchise's first year of existence or the first year of the modern World Series (1903).

Longest current Major League pennant droughts

No pennants were won in 1994 due to the players' strike that year.

^¶ Participating in the 2018 postseason, outcome uncertain

Longest Major League pennant droughts through history

List begins with 1903, about the time the current configuration of National League and American League stabilized and also the year of the first World Series. No pennants were won in 1994 due to the players strike that year. This list only shows droughts of 20 or more seasons. Active droughts are listed in bold type.

* Year does not indicate a pennant, but rather the team's first year of existence or the first year of the modern World Series (1903).

^¶ Participating in the 2018 postseason, outcome uncertain

Major League pennant droughts by city/region

This list only includes cities/regions with current Major League Baseball franchises. Years during which a city/region did not field a Major League Baseball team are not counted.

*city without Major League Baseball franchise for 33 seasons (1972–2004)

**city without Major League Baseball franchise for 7 seasons (1970–1976)

†number doesn’t indicate a title won, but rather total seasons played.

^¶ Participating in the 2018 postseason, outcome uncertain

World Series droughts by division

Longest current postseason droughts

*Also longest active drought in North American sports

^¶ Drought ends with the 2018 postseason, currently in progress

Longest postseason droughts in the expanded-postseason era

After the postseason was expanded in 1995 to include eight teams (further expanded in 2012 to ten teams), 18 of the 30 teams qualified within the first five years, and few teams went for long droughts without at least participating in the first round of the postseason. This list only shows droughts of 15 or more seasons that occurred primarily in the expanded-postseason era. Active droughts are listed in bold type.