The Redblacks ended a 40-year championship drought for the city of Ottawa that spanned three CFL franchises and 27 football seasons of play. The Redblacks became the fourth-fastest expansion team to win a championship in an established North American professional sports league, after the 1950 Cleveland Browns (who won a championship in their first season in the National Football League), the 1927–28 New York Rangers (who won the Stanley Cup in their second National Hockey League season) and the 1995 Baltimore Stallions (who, as part of the CFL's mid-1990s U.S. expansion, won the Grey Cup in their second and final CFL season); they are tied with the 1970–71 Milwaukee Bucks (winners of the National Basketball Association title in their third season).