Cleveland sports curse

The Cleveland sports curse was a sports superstition involving the city of Cleveland, Ohio, and its major league professional sports teams, centered on the failure to win a championship in any major league sport for 52 years, from 1964 to 2016. Three major league teams based in Cleveland contributed to belief in the curse: the Browns of the National Football League (NFL); the Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA); and the then-Indians of Major League Baseball (MLB).

The championship drought began after the Browns defeated the Baltimore Colts in the 1964 NFL Championship Game, two seasons before the first Super Bowl.[1] The city's professional sports teams, including the short-lived Barons franchise of the National Hockey League, then went an unprecedented 147 combined seasons without a championship.[1] The drought ended when the Cavaliers beat the Golden State Warriors in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals by overcoming a 3–1 series deficit, an event widely interpreted as having broken the curse.[2][3][4][5][6][7]

  1. ^ a b The Upshot Staff (June 4, 2015). "The Most Cursed Sports Cities in America". The New York Times. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  2. ^ McCauley, Janie (June 19, 2016). "James and Cavaliers win thrilling NBA Finals Game 7, 93-89". NBA Media Ventures, LLC. Associated Press. Archived from the original on June 19, 2016. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
  3. ^ Tan, Avianne (June 21, 2016). "This Cavs Season Ticket Holder Waited 45 Years for a Championship". ABC News. ABC News Internet Ventures. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Broken 1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Broken 2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Broken 3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Broken 4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).