Now that the Texas Rangers have taken their name off the list of franchises to never win a championship, many are wondering who could be next in line to do the same.
In North America’s four major sports leagues — the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL — there are 35 teams still looking for that first title. The National Hockey League leads the way with 11 teams, as eight of those have been founded since 1991. Major League Baseball has the fewest at five with the Colorado Rockies, Milwaukee Brewers, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners and Tampa Bay Rays.
Using current DraftKings Sportsbook New York odds, EmpireStakes.com developed hypothetical odds of who might be next since New York has two of the 35 still looking to raise the trophy when the season ends — the Buffalo Bills and the Brooklyn Nets.
Odds of Next First-Time Champion
Bills Have Championship Window
Buffalo won two titles in the old American Football League in 1964 and 1965, but New York’s third NFL team still hasn’t been able to claim a Super Bowl championship like the Jets and Giants have done. The Bills, who famously lost four Super Bowls in a row from 1990 to 1993, are tied for second with the Cincinnati Bengals at +600.
Only the Phoenix Suns have better odds at +300 now that they’ve put together a Big Three of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal to chase their first NBA title. The only other NBA team to make the top 10 is the Los Angeles Clippers, who just added James Harden to Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
Don’t hold your breath on the Nets just yet. Brooklyn’s odds of winning a championship are +20000 at New York sports betting sites.
Currently the Bills are watching their chances get longer and longer this season as they’ve lost three of five games after Sunday’s 24-18 setback to the Bengals. Buffalo opened the season at 3-1, but at 5-4 it is a game behind the Miami Dolphins in the AFC East standings. That dropped the current Bills Super Bowl odds to +2000, while the odds of winning the AFC title are at +1100.
Buffalo will look to get back on track with back-to-back home games Monday against Denver and Nov. 19 against the New York Jets. The Bills are 7.5-point favorites at Caesars Sportsbook NY against the Broncos, who had their off week after a shocking win over Kansas City on Oct. 29.
The Bills figure to be one of the best bets to be next in line for that first championship as long as quarterback Josh Allen stays healthy and productive. The 27-year-old is 57-28 as a starter in his career, and he’s led Buffalo to five straight seasons of 10-plus wins, so the team needs to win five of the last eight games to keep that streak intact. He’s currently completing a career-best 71.3% of his passes, but some of the Bills’ problems can be found in his nine interceptions being tied for the NFL’s highest after Week 9.
