Repeats in Major League Baseball are a rarity. In fact, prior to the Los Angeles Dodgers lifting their second consecutive Commissioner’s Trophy on Saturday, no team had won back-to-back World Series titles since the New York Yankees at the turn of the century.
Now that the Dodgers have crossed that item off of their agenda, they’ve shifted their attention to an even bigger goal; the most coveted feat in all of sports; the three-peat.
If repeats are hard, then three-peats can also be described as grueling — just ask the Kansas City Chiefs, who had hoped to join the exclusive club last year but fell well short in the Super Bowl against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Will the Dodgers succumb to the same fate next year, or will they etch their name in the history books alongside the other all-time great teams in sports? Let’s take a look at the last teams to accomplish the three-peat in every major sport:
MLB: New York Yankees (1998-2000)
Photo by Al Tielemans /Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
In what was the last true Yankees dynasty, the team won four titles in five years — with the wins in the three-peat coming in convincing fashion. Sweeping the San Diego Padres in 1998 and the Atlanta Braves in 1999 and then beating the New York Mets in the 2000 Subway Series, the likes of Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte cemented their respective places in Yankees history.
NFL: Green Bay Packers (1965-67)
No NFL team has three-peated in the Super Bowl era (1966-present), but the Packers did three-peat, as they won the final NFL championship in 1965 and then the first two Super Bowls in 1966 and 1967. Near the end of Vince Lombardi’s reign as head coach, Bart Starr, Jim Taylor and Willie Davis helped lead Green Bay to three consecutive titles, including a pair of blowouts in Super Bowl I and Super Bowl II. The Packers also three-peated from 1929-31.
Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi raises a football in victory, surrounded by reporters covering the first Super Bowl in 1967.
NASCAR: Jimmie Johnson (2006-10)
Johnson drove laps around everyone in the latter half of the 2000s, winning 35 races from 2006-10 and six Cup Series championships in eight years. He ended his career with seven championships, tied with Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the most in NASCAR history.
College Football: Minnesota Golden Gophers (1934-36)
The Golden Gophers lost one game over their three-peat span (25-1) under head coach Bernie Bierman. Minnesota won two more titles under Bierman in 1940 and 1941. The head coach was ordered to report to the Marines during WWII, with him returning as Minnesota’s head coach in 1945.
Men’s College Basketball: UCLA Bruins (1967-73)
Thought some of the aforementioned runs were impressive? Those don’t hold a candle to John Wooden’s UCLA teams of the late 1960s and early 1970s. A period that saw the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton and Curtis Rowe, among many others, put on the Bruins uniform saw UCLA win titles in nine of 10 seasons.
Team group shot of the UCLA University players after they won the NCAA Title beating Dayton. Lew Alcindor shown in center rear and coach John Wooden is on right rear.
Women’s College Basketball: UConn Huskies (2013-16)
The game of basketball has treated the UConn faithful well over the past decade. Losing a whopping five games over four years (151-5), the Huskies were the unstoppable force of women’s college basketball, boat-racing teams up and down the floor. Breanna Stewart, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Morgan Tuck were part of what was arguably the golden age of UConn hoops.
Premier League: Manchester City (2021-24)
Before finishing third in the Premier League last season, Manchester City had won four consecutive titles in England’s top division. Not just a three-peat, but a four-peat! In total, they’ve won six of the last 10 Premier League titles, all under legendary manager Pep Guardiola.
Champions League: Real Madrid (2016-18)
Led by Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid’s second generation of Galácticos won Europe’s highest trophy three consecutive times, with the final one coming in Ronaldo’s final season with the club. Real Madrid are the only team in the modern Champions League era to three-peat.
Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid poses with the UEFA Champions League trophy following the UEFA Champions League Final between Real Madrid and Liverpool at NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium on May 26, 2018 in Kiev, Ukraine. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
College Softball: Oklahoma (2021-24)
Another four-peater on this list, the Sooners lost just 15 games in their four-year stretch of dominance under coach Patty Gasso. Oklahoma beat Texas and Florida State twice apiece to win its titles. They came just short of winning a five-peat last season, losing in the semifinals.
NBA: Los Angeles Lakers (2000-02)
Phil Jackson retired following the 1998 season with the Chicago Bulls — until, of course, he became the head coach of the Lakers in 1999. Led by the star power of Shaquille O’Neal and an emerging superstar by the name of Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles won three straight titles, while Jackson actually claimed his sixth consecutive title as a coach, as he won in each of his final three seasons at the helm in Chicago with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.
Kobe Bryant (L) of the Los Angeles Lakers holds the Larry O’Brian trophy as teammate Shaquille O’Neal (L) hold the MVP trophy after winning the NBA Championship against Indiana Pacers 19 June, 2000. (Photo credit should read AFP/AFP via Getty Images)
WNBA: Houston Comets (1997-2000)
The first four seasons of the WNBA were controlled by the Houston Comets, who won each of the first four league titles. As the Comets dominated the sport, Cynthia Cooper won two WNBA MVPs. Cooper and Tina Thompson each went on to have Hall of Fame careers, but the Comets disbanded as a franchise following the 2008 season.
NHL: New York Islanders (1980-83)
The pride of Long Island won its first Stanley Cup in what was the Islanders’ eighth season in the sport. A run that featured Hall of Famers Bryan Trottier, Mike Bossy, Clark Gillies and goalkeeper Billy Smith saw the Islanders sweep the Stanley Cup in 1982 and 1983 and avoid a Game 7 in each of the four seasons. This run came directly after the Montreal Canadians also four-peated.
College Baseball: USC Trojans (1970-74)
The Trojans baseball program was a behemoth under manager Rod Dedeaux, winning five consecutive World Series thanks to the contributions of George Milke and Russ McQueen, among many others. To date, the five-peat remains an NCAA Baseball record, with two being the most consecutive titles by any other team.
UFL: Birmingham Stallions (2022-2024)
The Stallions have been on a tear since the second iteration of the USFL was announced in 2022. Birmingham won two league championships as a part of the USFL, as well as the inaugural UFL Championship Game in 2024 after the league merged with the XFL. Under the leadership of former NCAA football head coach Skip Holtz, the Stallions have compiled a 32-4 record in three years, never sustaining more than two losses in a single season.
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