The Top 10 Most Notorious Curses in Sports History
Some losses feel too strange to blame on skill or strategy. When teams collapse in the final seconds, star players fade overnight, or bad luck spans generations, fans look for deeper answers. That’s where curses come in as a way to explain the unexplainable. Over time, these stories take hold. Here are some famous ones.
The Billy Goat Curse — Chicago Cubs
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The Cubs’ championship drought took on mythic weight after a 1945 World Series incident involving tavern owner Billy Sianis and his pet goat. After being removed from Wrigley Field, Sianis allegedly declared the Cubs would never win again. The team went on to endure 71 years without a title before finally winning in 2016.
The Curse of the Bambino — Boston Red Sox
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Trading Babe Ruth to the Yankees in 1919 shadowed the Red Sox for 86 years. They came painfully close to breaking through multiple times, only to fall short. The phrase “Curse of the Bambino” caught on later, but the drought itself became central to baseball lore long before that label existed.
The Madden Cover Curse — Madden NFL
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Appearing on the Madden NFL cover was once seen as a milestone. Over time, a pattern emerged. Players who landed the cover often followed it with injuries, down seasons, or sudden drop-offs in performance. From Garrison Hearst to Antonio Brown, those examples helped turn the idea of a “Madden curse” into a lasting superstition among fans and even some players.
The Sports Illustrated Cover Jinx — Sports Illustrated
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Appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated has frequently preceded sudden career downturns. Teams labeled dominant collapsed, and athletes suffered injuries or poor performances soon after publication. While individual cases can be dismissed, the sheer number of examples has cemented the cover jinx as one of sports media’s longest-running superstitions.
Bobby Layne’s Curse — Detroit Lions
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Bobby Layne led the Lions to three championships before being traded in 1958. He supposedly said Detroit wouldn’t win for 50 years. Whether that’s apocryphal or not, the Lions have floundered since and failed to appear in a Super Bowl.
The Rocky Colavito Curse — Cleveland Indians
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Cleveland fans never forgave the front office for trading Rocky Colavito in 1960. The All-Star slugger’s departure preceded decades of heartbreak, including blown leads and Game 7 losses in the World Series. Many still view the move as the franchise’s original sin and a source of their lingering futility.
The Curse of Coogan’s Bluff — San Francisco Giants
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When the Giants left New York in 1957, a memorial plaque honoring fallen player Eddie Grant was lost. Despite multiple pennants in San Francisco, the team couldn’t win a World Series until a replica plaque was installed in 2006. Three championships followed in the next eight years.
The Colonel Sanders Curse — Hanshin Tigers
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After winning the 1985 Japan Series, fans threw a Colonel Sanders statue into Osaka’s Dotonbori River while celebrating. The Tigers went years without another title, and the statue wasn’t recovered until 2009, incomplete. The team’s continued struggles have kept the curse firmly embedded in Japanese baseball folklore.
The Curse of ’51 — Mayo GAA
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Mayo’s 1951 All-Ireland Gaelic football title was followed by decades of near misses. A legend claims a curse prevents another championship until all members of that winning team have passed away. Despite multiple finals appearances, Mayo remains without a title.
The Talladega Superstition — Talladega Superspeedway
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Drivers have long regarded Talladega as one of the most dangerous tracks. Reports of unexplained incidents, eerie experiences, and severe crashes have been documented for decades. Bobby Isaac famously exited his car mid-race in 1973 after claiming to hear voices. The track’s reputation continues to unsettle competitors.
The Socceroos’ Shaman Curse — Australia Men’s National Soccer Team
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Before a 1969 World Cup qualifier, the Australian squad allegedly hired a shaman to jinx their opponent. After failing to pay him, the story goes, the curse turned against them. For decades, Australia struggled to qualify. In 2004, a televised counter-ritual was performed, and soon after, the team finally saw success on the world stage.