Where do the CFL's Ottawa Redblacks sit among the all-time losers?

Ottawa Redblacks wide receiver Justin Hardy celebrates a touchdown in a game against the Montreal Alouettes on Sunday, June 28, 2026. Photo by Tim Snow /POSTMEDIA

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There are a couple of ways Ottawa Redblacks fans, or what’s left of them, can look at the team’s current Canadian Football League-record losing streak.

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They can release their anger/frustration/embarrassment by booing, or they can cheer for the defeats to pile up.

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Think about it.

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Be good at something, we tell our kids.

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If the Redblacks are going to be this bad, they might as well be the best-worst team ever.

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Of course, Ottawa already has the market cornered on that dubious distinction, as the earliest professional football franchises in the nation’s capital (first known as the Senators, then the Rough Riders) lost 25 consecutive games between November 10, 1928 and November 12, 1932.

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But not even former Postmedia football writer Tim Baines was around to witness that run of futility.

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When the Redblacks fell to a disgraceful 0-11 this season with a 45-24 loss to the B.C. Lions on Sunday night at TD Place, it was the 17th time in a row they left a stadium empty-handed, dating back to a 34-33 victory over those same Lions at that same venue on Sept. 5, 2025.

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The latest beating not only means the Redblacks will go at least a full calendar year between victories, but it officially moved them into sole possession of second place on Canada’s all-time list of lousy professional football teams.

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The Hamilton Wildcats dropped 16 straight from Oct. 17, 1948 to Nov. 5, 1949.

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Has any team had a winless season?

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No pro football team in North America has exited an entire 18-game campaign with a zero in the win column, because the CFL played only 16 games a year until 1986 and the NFL has never had a season longer than 17 games.

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The 2003 Hamilton Tiger-Cats finished 1-17-0, while the 1961 Lions, the 1959 Saskatchewan Roughriders and the 1954 Lions all crawled across the finish line with 1-15-0 records.

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The 2008 Detroit Lions and the 2017 Cleveland Browns made it through an entire NFL season with unblemished 0-16 records, while the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-14), 1982 Baltimore Colts (0-8-1) and 1942 Lions (0-11) also played a full season without tasting victory.

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What are the longest losing streaks in pro sports history?

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The Chicago Cardinals lost 29 straight games between 1942-1945, while the Buccaneers hold the post-merger mark of 26 consecutive defeats over the 1976-1977 seasons.

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Both the 2003-2004 Pittsburgh Penguins and the 2020-2021 Buffalo Sabres went 18 games in a row without a victory, although neither failed to pick up a point during their slide.

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The Penguins lost one in overtime, while the Sabres had two OT losses.

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The record for most consecutive losses in Major League Baseball history is held by the 1889 Louisville Colonels, who dropped 26 in a row, while the modern-era record (post 1900) is 23, held by the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies.