⚾ MLB: 1882-2021
140 6
Left the American Association to join the National League to begin the 1890 season.
Franchise currently exists as the Cincinnati Reds.
🏈 NFL: 1968-2021
54
The Bengals were founded in 1966 as a member of the American Football League (AFL) by former Cleveland Browns head coach Paul Brown, and began play in the 1968 season. Brown was the Bengals' head coac...
Defunct Teams
Teams that have folded or moved away from the Cincinnati area.F i l t e r & S o r t Filter & Sort
WHA: 1976-1979
4
The only major league hockey team to play in Cincinnati. Successful enough to have survived through the end of the WHA, but were left out of the NHL–WHA merger in the summer of 1979.
🏀 NBA: 1958-1972
15
The franchise began with the Rochester Seagrams (a semi-professional team) from Rochester, New York, that formed in 1923 and hosted a number of teams there over the next 20 years. They joined the Nati...
🏀 NBL: 1949-1949
1
Formerly the New York Renaissance, or Rens, moved to Dayton, Ohio in the middle of the NBL season to replace the Detroit Vagabond Kings, who went out of existence on December 17, 1948.
⚾ NAL: 1943-1945
3
Before becoming the Ethiopian Clowns, there is evidence indicating that the team was formed in Miami, Florida. Soon enough the team became an independent barnstorming club, changing its name to the Ethiopian Clowns. and evenually, the Cincinnati Clowns.
🏈 AFL3: 1937-1941
5
The Cincinnati Bengals was a short-lived professional football team that played in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is unrelated to the current Cincinnati Bengals. Originated by Hal Pennington (who was also the t...
🏀 WPBT: 1936-1941
6
Due to dismal performance, the Metropolitans disbanded at the end of the 1937-38 season.
🏈 APFL: 1938-1939
2
The Dayton Rosies played in the APFL in 1938 and as the Bombers in 1939 before folding because of dismal performance....
⚾ NAL: 1936-1937
2
Founded by the first U.S. african-american olympic gold medal winner, the short lived squad used Cincinnati Reds hand-me-down uniforms and played at Crosley Field
🏈 NFL: 1933-1934
2
The Cincinnati Reds were a National Football League team that played the 1933 season and the first eight games of the 1934 season. The football Reds played most of their home games at Crosley Field. O...
🏈 NFL: 1930-1933
4
The Detroit Lions franchise was founded in Portsmouth, Ohio as the Portsmouth Spartans and joined the NFL on July 12, 1930. Amid financial struggles, the team was relocated to Detroit in 1934. The tea...
⚾ NNL1: 1906-1930
25
Travelling known as the Cuban Stars of Havana, Stars of Cuba, Cuban All-Stars, Havana Reds, Almendares Blues or simply as the Cubans. By 1916, the team was known as the Cuban Stars (West)
⚾ Negro: 1918-1929
12
As an independent team, and also as the only black team in the Ohio/Indiana, they played black and white teams all over the country throughout the 1910s. Local newspapers sometimes referred to the team as "Moses Moore's Marcos."
🏈 NFL: 1913-1929
17 1
The Dayton Triangles were an original franchise of the American Professional Football Association (now the National Football League (NFL)) in 1920. The Triangles were based in Dayton, Ohio, and took t...
🏈 NFL: 1910-1921
12
The Cincinnati Celts were the first professional football team to play in Cincinnati, Ohio. The team played in the unofficial "Ohio League" and the American Professional Football Association (renamed...
⚾ FL: 1913-1913
1
Team disbanded after the Federal League folded following the 1915 season.
⚾ UA: 1884-1884
1
Team disbanded after the Union Association folded following the 1884 season.
⚾ NL: 1876-1879
4
One of 8 teams that founded the National League in 1876. Folded in 1890 after being expelled due to scheduling games on Sundays and the marketing of the beer sales.
⚾ NABBP: 1867-1870
4
Baseball's first openly all-professional team. Due to their success and continental scope of their tours, the Red Stockings established styles in team uniforms and nicknames that have some currency today.
⚾ NABBP: 1867-1868
2
Successful in the mid to late 1860s, but when another local team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, decided to field an all-professional team in 1869, it spelled the end for the amateur Buckeyes.
The early history of sports contains hundreds of teams that appeared for only 1 or 2 seasons before folding. Most of these teams have no historical photographs or articles, so are omitted from this list to reduce clutter. To view a comprehensive list of all defunct teams, browse to the early leagues section for baseball, football, basketball, or hockey.