The New York Jets and Pittsburgh Pirates lead the longest active playoff droughts in their respective leagues. Many teams struggle to reach the playoffs despite systems designed to promote competitive balance.
Key points
New York Jets have the longest active playoff drought in NFL
Pittsburgh Pirates lead in MLB playoff droughts
Teams struggle despite systems for competitive balance
Fans experience frustration due to long playoff droughts
Draft lotteries and salary caps aim to improve team performance
The way most professional sports leagues are designed, no team is supposed to be "bad" for an extended period of time. Systems like draft lotteries and salary caps are intended to bring competitive balance to leagues — but that doesn't mean they always bring the intended results of keeping every team in a cycle of playoff appearances.
Some fans have been put through more misery than others, with their teams struggling to contend for a playoff spot over a long-term period, let alone a championship. While franchises like the NFL's New England Patriots, the MLB's Los Angeles Dodgers and the NBA's Boston Celtics have become synonymous with consistent playoff trips and success, others have become known for the exact opposite: annual seasons that become more about a draft slot than contention.
Across all four major sports leagues (NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB), as of April 2026, at least one franchise hasn't made the playoffs in at least nine years. The NHL's Buffalo Sabres recently snapped one of those extensive cold spells, returning to the playoffs in 2026 for the first time in an NHL-record 14 seasons.
Here are the longest active playoff droughts in sports — the teams that haven't had much to play for over the last decade.
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Detroit Red Wings IMAGN 032326
Detroit Red Wings IMAGN 032326
Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
**Last Playoff Appearance:**2015-16
**Last Playoff Result:**Lost in first round to Bruins
**Playoff Drought:**9 years
It's been nearly a decade since Detroit enjoyed some playoff hockey. The Red Wings last made the Stanley Cup playoffs in the 2015-16 season, when they lost to Boston in the first round after winning 41 regular-season games.
That year was the tail-end of a decades-long run of success for Detroit. The Red Wings made the playoffs in every season from 1990-91 to 2015-16, including four Stanley Cup Final victories and another two appearances. But slowly, the Red Wings' success slowed down.
Under coaches Jeff Blashill, Derek Lalonde and Todd McLellan, the Red Wings haven't been able to break through in the late 2010s and early 2020s. It hasn't all been bad, as they had a winning record in 2024-25 and 2023-24, but Detroit is certainly itching for competitive action on the ice to return.
When the Buffalo Sabres snapped their NHL-record-streak of 14 seasons without a playoff appearance in April 2026, it left Detroit with the new longest playoff drought in the league.
Basketball in Charlotte has had a tough few decades. In 1988-89, the Hornets joined the NBA as an expansion team. But in 2002, they relocated to New Orleans, later rebranding as the Pelicans in 2013. So, the NBA had a squad return to Charlotte in 2004-05, the most recent expansion team for the league, originally named the Bobcats, then returning to the Hornets name a decade later.
All that off-the-floor franchise turmoil for years hasn't yet been overcome to be a consistent winner. The Hornets have fielded some competitive rosters over the years, but most of their success came in the 1990s before relocating — names like Larry Johnson, Alonzo Mourning, Glen Rice and Baron Davis made Charlotte a threat.
Since 2015-16, however, the Hornets haven't been in the NBA Playoffs despite a usually-weak Eastern Conference. Kemba Walker last led Charlotte to the postseason as the franchise's star, but he's now long-been retired. The likes of LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges and more haven't been able to break the drought yet — although the 2025-26 season could be promising, with the Hornets surging in the second half.
The Pirates own a long, storied history in baseball, going all the way back to the 19th century. They own five championships, have had some of the game's biggest stars like Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, Dave Parker, Barry Bonds and Andrew McCutchen, but recent history has not been kind to Pittsburgh.
It's been 27 years since the team's last World Series title (1979), 34 years since its last NLCS berth (1992), 13 years since reaching the NLDS (2013) and 10 full seasons since last making the playoffs in 2015.
The Pirates have endured some miserable years since then. In five of those seasons, they finished last in the NL Central. Only once, in 2018, have they had a record over .500, and Pittsburgh has consistently been one of the lowest spenders in MLB.
Recently, there's been some renewed hope for Pirates fans in the form of 2025 NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes. The franchise is eyeing more immediate contention with its ace, but he won't be able to break the drought alone.
The talent that has gone through the Los Angeles Angels organization in the last decade, namely being two future Hall of Famers, would make you think the team has been an annual World Series contender.
Mike Trout, a three-time MVP and one of the greatest outfielders of all-time, has spent his entire career with the Angels since 2011. Shohei Ohtani picked the Angels as an international free agent in 2018, winning two MVP awards with L.A. as a megastar two-way player. Neither of them, nor players like Andrelton Simmons, Justin Upton, Anthony Rendon, Albert Pujols and more, have been able to life the Angels to the postseason.
Notably, the Angels have made just one postseason appearance in Trout's historic career: 2014. And that year, they failed to win a game against the Royals in the ALDS. The last time Los Angeles won a postseason game was in 2009.
The most Ohtani and Trout were able to do together is keep the Angels hovering around .500. Otherwise, they've consistently been one of the American League's worst squads for over a decade.
**Last Playoff Result:**Lost AFC Championship Game to Steelers
Playoff Drought: 15 years
No franchise's fans have had it worse than the Jets in the last decade.
Year-in and year-out, there hasn't been much reason for hope for New York. The Jets have cycled through coaches, quarterbacks and big-name draft picks, none of whom could bring the team back to the playoffs.
The last time New York made the playoffs was actually a strong run — Mark Sanchez's Jets reached the AFC Championship Game in 2010, where they lost to the Steelers, 24-19. Even the next year, 2011, wasn't all that bad, with the Jets finishing 8-8.
Only one time since then has New York finished an NFL season with a winning record, when it went 10-6 in 2015 but finished second in the AFC East. But the rest of the 15-year playoff drought has brought eight last-place division finishes and nine seasons with five wins or less.
The Jets have tried different voices and strategies. Rex Ryan, Todd Bowles, Adam Gase, Robert Saleh and Aaron Glenn haven't worked out at head coach. Sanchez, Geno Smith, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Josh McCown, Sam Darnold, Zach Wilson, Justin Fields, and even future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers haven't been able to get the Jets over the top at quarterback.
Every year has been a rebuilding year for the Jets lately. And as long as they're in a division with Josh Allen and Drake Maye, it will remain difficult for New York to return to the playoffs.
The Jets easily own the longest NFL playoff drought, the only team with a double-digit streak of seasons without a playoff appearance.
However, there are some relative surprises on the list, considering the solid talent teams like the Colts, Falcons and Saints have had in recent years. Atlanta hasn't made the playoffs in eight years despite having Matt Ryan at quarterback for a few years, plus strong offensive weapons like Julio Jones, Bijan Robinson and Drake London. The Falcons have also been hovering around .500 yearly every year; during their eight-year playoff drought, seven of those seasons resulted in either seven or eight wins.
The Colts and Saints both last made postseason appearances in 2020, when Philip Rivers was the quarterback for Indianapolis and Drew Brees was in his final year for New Orleans. Coincidentally, Rivers made an unprecedented return to the Colts in 2026, when they were back in playoff contention, but ultimately missed out.
The Raiders, Cardinals and Titans all last made the playoffs in 2019.
In the NBA, the Hornets are the only team with a playoff drought of at least six seasons. The play-in tournament has changed things a bit — some of these teams have competed for a playoff spot as a six-through-10 seed, but none of them were able to advance to the first round.
The second-longest NBA playoff drought was recently broken in 2025-26 when the San Antonio Spurs clinched a playoff spot behind Victor Wembanyama, their first bid since 2019, and the Trail Blazers' berth as a No. 7 seed in 2026 broke their four-year drought.
Now, the Wizards have the second-longest drought; they last made the playoffs in 2021, when the Bradley Beal-Russell Westbrook-led Wizards were taken down by the 76ers.
The Jazz and Bulls both last made the playoffs in 2022, while the Nets and Kings last made it in 2023.
Five MLB teams have playoff droughts of at least five seasons entering the 2026 campaign. Only the Pirates and Angels haven't been to the postseason in at least a decade.
Of the top droughts, the Rockies may still be the furthest from contention. It's been seven years since Colorado had postseason baseball, yet the Rockies lost 119 games in 2025 and are building talent from the ground-up. Colorado has had three consecutive 100-loss seasons, last making the playoffs in 2018 when it lost to the Brewers in the NLDS.
Interestingly, after the Nationals' last postseason game, they were celebrating a World Series title. Washington won Game 7 of the 2019 Fall Classic against the Astros, but has now failed to return to the postseason in the six seasons since then as the Nationals continue undergoing a rebuild.
As for the Las Vegas-bound Athletics, they won a playoff game against the Astros in 2020, but that was their lone postseason win since 2013. The A's made the playoffs in 2018, 2019 and 2020, but have had three seasons of at least 90 losses in the last four years.
With the Sabres locking in a postseason spot in 2025-26, their first trip to the playoffs in a league record 14 seasons, that leaves the Red Wings' drought of 10 seasons as the longest in the NHL.
The Ducks and Flyers also broke playoff cold spells in 2026, leaving the Sharks, Blackhawks and Bluejackets all with droughts of at least six years. The Flames also last made the playoffs in 2022, the fifth-longest drought.
