A winless season is a regular season in which a sports team fails to win any of its games. The antithesis of a perfect season, winless seasons have been suffered twelve times in professional American football, six times in arena football, three times in professional Canadian football, once each in American professional lacrosse and box lacrosse, more than twenty-five times in major Australian football leagues, over twenty times in top-level rugby league, at least twice in top-level rugby union, and twice in English county cricket.
Gridiron football Because of the relatively small number of games played in college and professional football seasons, there is a possibility that a particularly inept team will not manage to win any games. Before overtime in the regular season was instituted, teams might tie a game without winning a game; these are still counted in lists of winless seasons. This is because, during eras before overtime was introduced to American football, leagues generally ignored tied games when calculating winning percentage.
Because NFL teams do not all play one another each season, it is possible for multiple teams to go winless (or also, for that matter, to go undefeated in the regular season). This was common in the NFL's early years as scheduling was not standardized and teams entered and left the league regularly. Since 1935, multiple simultaneous winless seasons has only happened once, in 1944 when both Brooklyn and Card-Pitt finished 0–10 in a season where rosters had been decimated (and parity disrupted) by wartime enlistments.
National Football League 8 or more games Year Team Wins Losses Ties Strength of Schedule Remarks Cleveland Browns 0 16 0 0.520 19-game winless streak, beginning with a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the final game of the 2016 NFL season and ending with a victory over the New York Jets in Week 3 of the 2018 season. Ties the 2008 Detroit Lions for most losses in a single season. Coincidentally, both had perfect 4–0 preseasons. First NFL franchise to have multiple seasons with 15 or more losses, going 1–31 over two seasons, with their only win in week 16 of the 2016 season. The team would not record its next win until week 3 of 2018 season, and would go 1–35–1 between their three wins through four seasons, resulting in consecutive 17 game losing streaks; this is also the most recent winless season and last under the 16-game schedule. Detroit Lions 0 16 0 0.559 20-game winless streak, beginning with a loss against the Green Bay Packers in the final week of the 2007 NFL season and ending with a win against the Washington Redskins (now Commanders) in Week 3 of the 2009 NFL season. Combined with a 1–7 finish from 2007, a 2–14 season in 2009, and a 2–10 start in 2010, Detroit went 5–45 from Week 9 of the 2007 season until Week 13 of the 2010 season. Detroit was the first non-expansion team to lose every game in a full season since World War II. This was their second winless season in franchise history (1942, see below). With this season, the Lions became only the second NFL franchise with two full winless seasons, and the only one still in existence; this was also the first winless season since the institution of the 16-game schedule in 1978 (that was used until 2020). Baltimore Colts 0 8 1 0.648 Strike-shortened season; seven weeks (out of 16) of the schedule were cancelled as a result. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 0 14 0 0.520 Debut season; also lost the first twelve games of the 1977 season to start 0–26 as a franchise. Dallas Cowboys 0 11 1 0.540 Debut season; lost twice by two points in first half of season. Tie was in the eleventh game against the New York Giants at Yankee Stadium. Brooklyn Tigers 0 10 0 0.645 Suspended operations after the season, and did not return to the league after World War II ended. 1944 Card-Pitt 0 10 0 0.650 Merger between Chicago Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers due to player shortages during World War II. Chicago Cardinals 0 10 0 0.595 If one includes the 1944 Card-Pitt team (see above), the Cardinals are the only NFL team to have back-to-back full seasons without a victory. (The league, however, considers Card-Pitt and the Cardinals to be separate franchises.) If the connection between Card-Pitt and the Cardinals is made, the team would have a 29-game losing streak (the most by an NFL team); between week 6 of the 1942 season and week 1 of the 1946 season, the Cardinals and Card-Pitt teams posted a combined 1–36 record. Detroit Lions 0 11 0 0.541 This was the first NFL season during U.S. involvement in World War II, leading to a depletion of the player talent pool. There were talks of suspending play. However, it was ultimately decided to continue operations to boost morale on the home front. Cincinnati Reds 0 8 0 0.608 Folded before the season was over. Columbus Tigers 0 9 0 0.649 First franchise with more than one full winless season (the Tigers folded after the 1926 campaign). Columbus Panhandles 0 8 0 0.531
The Rochester Jeffersons went a combined 0–21–2 from 1922 to 1925, but played only partial NFL schedules in those years (0–4–1, 0–4, 0–7 and 0–6–1, respectively). They also had another winless season in 1911 going 0–1–3 in the New York Pro Football League.
The New Orleans Saints came close to a winless season in 1980. The team lost their first 14 games and finished with a 1–15 record. Their only win was in week 15 when they won by a single point. The Indianapolis Colts had a similar scare in 1991, winning their only game by a single point after starting the season 0-9. Coincidentally, both teams avoided a winless season by defeating the New York Jets at the Jets' home field (Shea Stadium in 1980, Giants Stadium in 1991) by a one-point margin of victory.
7 games or fewer Year Team Wins Losses Ties Strength of schedule Remarks 1929 Dayton Triangles 0 6 0 0.656 Dayton's final season. The third of three consecutive winless seasons for Dayton. Their final win was in 1927; they then consecutively went 0–18–1, losing every game in their final two seasons. 1928 Dayton Triangles 0 7 0 0.625 The second winless season for Dayton. 1927 Buffalo Bisons 0 5 0 0.456 The Bisons consecutively went 0–13–2 through a three-season span. 1926 Hammond Pros 0 4 0 0.537 The second winless season for Hammond. 1926 Louisville Colonels 0 4 0 0.546 Louisville changed their name from the Brecks to the Colonels making this the franchise's third winless season and going 1-12–0 in their four seasons. 1925 Rochester Jeffersons 0 6 1 0.609 The fourth consecutive winless season for the Jeffersons. They went 0–21–2 through this span. 1925 Dayton Triangles 0 7 1 0.663 1925 Duluth Kelleys 0 3 0 0.621 1925 Milwaukee Badgers 0 6 0 0.708 1924 Kenosha Maroons 0 4 1 0.612 Only season. 1924 Minneapolis Marines 0 6 0 0.650 Consecutively went 0-9-2 through a three-season span. 1924 Rochester Jeffersons 0 7 0 0.594 The third consecutive winless season for the Jeffersons. 1923 Louisville Brecks 0 3 0 0.544 The second winless season for Louisville in their third season, and only having one win in the previous season. 1923 Rochester Jeffersons 0 4 0 0.550 The second consecutive winless season for the Jeffersons. 1922 Evansville Crimson Giants 0 3 0 0.567 1922 Rochester Jeffersons 0 4 1 0.590 1922 Hammond Pros 0 4 1 0.526 1921 Tonawanda Kardex 0 1 0 0.400 Only NFL season. 1921 Muncie Flyers 0 2 0 0.444 The second winless season in a row. The Flyers finished their NFL franchise record as 0–3. 1921 Louisville Brecks 0 2 0 0.285 1921 New York Brickley Giants 0 2 0 0.650 Only season. 1920 Muncie Flyers 0 1 0 0.700
Arena football The previously shorter length of seasons in arena football made imperfect seasons quite possible. The following teams went through an Arena Football League or a National Arena League season without winning a game: Year Team Played Remarks League 1989 Maryland Commandos 4 Only year branded as the Maryland Commandos. AFL 1991 Columbus Thunderbolts 10 Moved to Cleveland the following year. 1992 New Orleans Night 10 Team ceased operations after season. 1994 Milwaukee Mustangs 12 First winless team to remain in same city during following season. Went 10–4 in 1996. Folded in 2001. 1996 Memphis Pharaohs 14 Relocated twice, firstly as the Portland Forest Dragons from 1997 and then as the Oklahoma Wranglers. Folded in 2001. 2003 Carolina Cobras 16 Went 6–10 the following season. Folded in 2004. 2018 Lehigh Valley Steelhawks 15 Only team in the league to be winless. Was 9–1 the season before and 2nd in the league. Folded after the season. NAL
In 2001, the Columbus Wardogs of AF2, the minor league of the AFL, made history becoming the first American football team to go 0–16.
United Football Leagues The United Football League of 2009 to 2012 had one winless season. In their inaugural season, the 2009 New York Sentinels lost all six of their games. The team, which was a traveling team that played games in Hartford, Long Island and New Jersey (and had intended to play a game in New York City but backed out), fired its head coach and settled permanently in Hartford to become the Hartford Colonials. Under the UFL's double round robin format, only one team could finish any particular season entirely with losses, since every team played each other at least twice.
The United Football League of 2024 has had no winless seasons to date, nor did its immediate predecessors. It has had one team, the 2025 Memphis Showboats, that failed to win any games in regulation (though the team won two overtime games).
World League of American Football The 1991 inaugural season of the World League of American Football saw the Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks fold after losing all ten of their regular-season games. The following year, the WLAF replaced that franchise with the Ohio Glory who almost met the same fate but managed one win in their lone season.
Other American football leagues