How can you spot when a team becomes a dynasty? Look for a team whose latest trophy has a few friends back home. A team whose fans get called frontrunners. A team who’s making the season feel like a foregone conclusion. A team that’s been fighting for the crown basically every year, and winning!

The minimum? Three championships.

A threepeat? Perfection.

Three in four years? Just oppressive.

Three out of five? If it’s every other year, they’re in. Throw a Finals loss in there and it’s definitely a yes. 

Three for six? Only won half the time? That leaves room for another dynasty. Can there be two dynasties at once? Uhh… no that doesn’t make sense.

To make it easy a team becomes a dynasty if they’re winning the title more than they’re not. Losses in the big game can extend a dynasty's length, but a dynasty must start and end with a championship. Too many absences and the dynasty crumbles, ending when someone new steals the spotlight. 

In the Big Four American sports there have been 27 dynasties. In chronologically order, they are as follows:

1910 - 1914 Philadelphia Athletics

World Series wins: 1910, 1911, 1913

World Series losses: 1914

1915 - 1919 Boston Red Sox

World Series wins: 1915, 1916, 1918

1920 - 1924 Ottawa Senators

Stanley Cup Finals wins: 1920, 1921, 1923

1936 - 1944 New York Yankees

World Series wins: 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1943

World Series losses: 1942

1945 - 1952 Toronto Maple Leafs

Stanley Cup Finals wins: 1945, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1951

1947 - 1963 New York Yankees (2)

World Series wins: 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1962

World Series losses: 1955, 1957, 1960, 1963

1949 - 1955 Minneapolis Lakers

NBA Finals wins: 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954

1952 - 1956 Detroit Red Wings

Stanley Cup Finals wins: 1952, 1954, 1955

Stanley Cup Finals losses: 1956

1956 - 1961 Montreal Canadiens

Stanley Cup Finals wins: 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960

1957 - 1970 Boston Celtics

NBA Finals wins: 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969

NBA Finals losses: 1958

1962 - 1965 Toronto Maple Leafs (2)

Stanley Cup Finals wins: 1962, 1963, 1964

1965 - 1980 Montreal Canadiens (2)

Stanley Cup Finals wins: 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979

Stanley Cup Finals losses: 1967

1972 - 1975 Oakland Athletics (2)

World Series wins: 1972, 1973, 1974

1975 - 1981 Pittsburgh Steelers

Super Bowl wins: 1975, 1976, 1979, 1989

1980 - 1989 Los Angeles Lakers (2)

NBA Finals wins: 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988

NBA Finals losses: 1983, 1984, 1989

1980 - 1984 New York Islanders

Stanley Cup Finals wins: 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983

Stanley Cup Finals losses: 1984

1984 - 1991 Edmonton Oilers

Stanley Cup Finals wins: 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990

1991 - 1998 Chicago Bulls

NBA Finals wins: 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998

1993 - 1997 Dallas Cowboys

Super Bowl wins: 1993, 1994, 1996

1998 - 2001 New York Yankees (3)

World Series wins: 1998, 1999, 2000

World Series losses: 2001

2000 - 2003 Los Angeles Lakers (3)

NBA Finals wins: 2000, 2001, 2002

2002 - 2006 New England Patriots

Super Bowl wins: 2002, 2004, 2005

2003 - 2008 San Antonio Spurs

NBA Finals wins: 2003, 2005, 2007

2010 - 2015 San Francisco Giants

World Series wins: 2010, 2012, 2014

2015 - 2020 New England Patriots (2)

Super Bowl wins: 2015, 2017, 2019

Super Bowl losses: 2018

2015 - 2019 Golden State Warriors

NBA Finals wins: 2015, 2017, 2018

NBA Finals losses: 2019

2020 - present Kansas City Chiefs

Super Bowl wins: 2020, 2023, 2024

Super Bowl losses: 2021

So right now the Chiefs rule the NFL, but no other league has a dynasty reigning. And nobody’s particularly close either. The NBA hasn’t had a repeat champion, or even a repeat finalist, since the Warriors dynasty ended in 2019. The 2017 - 2022 Astros went to four out of six World Series, but two wins five years apart is hardly a dynasty. It’s been almost 35 years since the last hockey dynasty, and the Lightning lost their shot to go three for three in 2022.

But perhaps a new dynasty has already begun… Only time will tell.