CINCINNATI (WKRC) – Milwaukee’s first World Series championship ended a 57-year wait for the Brewers and reshuffled a list that Cincinnati fans know well: the longest championship droughts in professional sports.
The Brewers defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 in Game 5 on Wednesday, winning the franchise’s first World Series title. The franchise began in 1969 as the Seattle Pilots before moving to Milwaukee the following year.
The Milwaukee Brewers celebrate during the Trophy Presentation after defeating the Tampa Bay Rays the 2026 World Series at Tropicana Field on October 28, 2026 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
The Cincinnati Reds still have two of baseball’s longest waits: 36 years since their last World Series title and 31 years since their last postseason series victory.
The Reds beat the Oakland Athletics in the 1990 World Series, their most recent championship. MLB’s current ranking places Cincinnati’s active World Series drought ninth among major league teams. The Brewers’ title moved the Reds up one spot on that list.
Cincinnati’s last playoff series win came in 1995, when it swept the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series. The Reds then lost to Atlanta in the NL Championship Series and have not won a postseason series since. Their 31-year drought is the longest active series-win wait in MLB. Next worst is the Los Angeles Angels franchise, which last won a series in 2009.
That does not mean the Reds have gone three decades without winning a playoff game. They won two games in the 2012 NL Division Series against San Francisco before losing the best-of-five series 3-2. Cincinnati’s most recent postseason appearance was in 2025, when it lost two straight games to the Dodgers in the Wild Card Series.
The Bengals also move up on the cross-sport championship-drought list after Milwaukee’s title. Cincinnati has played 58 seasons without winning an NFL championship or Super Bowl. The Bengals are now tied for 13th among 124 active NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL franchise title droughts, alongside the San Diego Padres and Phoenix Suns.
Among franchises that have never won a championship, the Bengals are eighth. The Arizona Cardinals at 78 seasons, the Detroit Lions at 68 seasons and Minnesota Vikings at 65 seasons have gone the longest.
The Brewers had appeared on the same list at 57 seasons before their World Series win.
For Cincinnati, the lists measure two different kinds of October frustration. The Reds have won five World Series titles, most recently in 1990, but have not won a postseason series since 1995. The Bengals have reached the Super Bowl three times but have yet to win a championship.