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A championship ring or premiership ring is a ring presented to members of winning teams in North American
professional sports In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought l ...
leagues, and college tournaments. Championship rings are mostly confined to North American sports. Since only one championship trophy is awarded by the league to the winning team, championship rings are distributed as a memento for the players and team officials to keep for themselves to symbolize their victory. Winners' medals (and runners-up medals) are not awarded in North American professional sports, in contrast to Olympic sports and European club association football tournaments such as the
Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
and
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
. Championship rings are distributed by and paid for by the winning team (although some leagues may partially subsidize the cost), in contrast to medals which are awarded and paid for by the league or competition governing body. Championship rings have long been part of North American sports lexicon. An individual's number of championship rings, rather than number of championship trophies, is often used by sportswriters as a tally of a their personal success, since it is more appropriate to write that it is the team/franchise/club and not the individual who wins the championship trophy (i.e. number of NBA Championship rings rather than Larry O'Brien Trophies won by former NBA coach Phil Jackson). In North American sports vernacular, a player's aim of wanting the "ring" is synonymous with winning the playoff league championship, and it has entered popular lexicon (retired basketball center Shaquille O'Neal was quoted as saying "My motto is very simple: Win a Ring for the
King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
", former NHL goaltender
Patrick Roy Patrick Jacques Roy (; born October 5, 1965) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey goaltender and executive, who serves as the head coach for the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). In 2017, Roy was named o ...
remarking "I can't hear what Jeremy says, because I've got my two Stanley Cup rings plugging my ears"). The four best known (and expensive) championship rings are the ones from the "Big Four" major professional sports leagues in North America; the
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
's (MLB) World Series ring, the
National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
's (NBA) championship ring,
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL)
Super Bowl ring The Super Bowl ring is an award in the National Football League given to the team members of the winning team of the league's annual championship game, the Super Bowl. Since only one Vince Lombardi Trophy is awarded to the team (ownership) itsel ...
, and the
National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
's (NHL)
Stanley Cup ring The Stanley Cup ring is a championship ring, an annual award in the National Hockey League given by the team that wins the Stanley Cup Finals, a best-of-seven series to determine the league's champion that season. In addition to the winning player ...
. In North American sports, besides rings to commemorate winning the league championship game/series, rings are often presented to the championship game/series finalists (known as losers' rings, which are never worn), and conference championship game/series winners.http://sports-rings.com/wordpress1/2014/06/18/how-bout-them-cowboys-rings/ How about them. Cowboy rings There are also individual rings given to All-Star Game participants and inductees into a hall of fame.


Description

Championship rings are typically made of
yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In the ...
or white gold with
diamonds Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, bu ...
and other precious stones. They usually include the team name, team logo, and the championship number (usually indicated in
Roman numeral Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, ea ...
s for the NFL's Super Bowl wins). Championship ring policies differ between the four major professional leagues. NHL and MLB owners pay for the cost of the rings. The NFL pays up to $5,000 per ring for up to 150 rings for teams that win the Super Bowl. Teams can distribute any number of rings but must pay for any additional costs, and may offer lesser rings at their discretion. The NBA standardized its championship ring from 1969 through 1983; presently the winning team selects its own design and the league covers the cost of the rings. The winning team can typically present rings to whomever they choose, including usually, but not limited to: players (active roster or injured), coaches, trainers, executives, personnel, and general staff. In the NHL, since the Stanley Cup has limited space and stringent criteria, rings are often presented to current players who may not qualify to have their name engraved on the Cup. Some teams have also been known to give rings to former players who are not officially part of the winning team, including those who have been part of the roster for part of the title-winning season but traded away or waived before the playoffs (a common practice among MLB teams, where
Arthur Rhodes Arthur Lee Rhodes, Jr. (born October 24, 1969) is an American former Major League Baseball left-handed relief pitcher who is the current pitching coach for the Cleburne Railroaders of the American Association of Professional Baseball. Career Rho ...
, Bengie Molina, and Lonnie Smith played in the World Series against a team they played for earlier in the season, guaranteeing them World Series rings regardless of the series outcome). Retired players, coaches, and executives not involved with the team in an official capacity have received rings too, particularly those with a long tenure and/or having fan favorite status. Occasionally, rings are even raffled or auctioned to fans, usually as part of a charity fundraiser. A recent trend over the last 15–20 years has been lesser rings awarded to front office staff. These are commonly called "B" and "C" level rings and are smaller and contain fewer diamonds or contain faux diamonds. The first instance of this was the Redskins Super Bowl XVII ring when many in the front office received rings that were not solid gold and contained cubic zirconia stones (which resemble diamonds). When
Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater ...
won Super Bowl XXXVII, the players and coaches received rings with a diamond-centered Lombardi trophy. Some staff received rings with a metal Lombardi trophy and real diamonds surrounding the trophy and the "C" level ring did not contain any diamonds. The
Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...
had five tiers of rings created to commemorate their 2019 NBA Championship, with 20 top tier rings (worth a reported $100,000 CAD or $150,000 CAD each) made for players and key staff, while 20,000 fifth tier replica rings (worth around $20 CAD each) were distributed to the audience at
Scotiabank Arena Scotiabank Arena (French: ''Aréna Scotiabank)'', formerly known as Air Canada Centre (ACC), is a multi-purposed arena located on Bay Street in the South Core district of Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the home of the Toronto Rapt ...
during the Championship banner-raising ceremony at the 2019–20 season home opener. The ring manufacturer also makes replica rings, pendants, and other accessories derived from the championship ring design for sale to the general public.


Manufacture

L.G. Balfour of
Attleboro, Massachusetts Attleboro is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It was once known as "The Jewelry Capital of the World" for its many jewelry manufacturers. According to the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, Attleboro had a population ...
and
Jostens Jostens is an American manufacturer of memorabilia. The company is primarily known for its production of yearbooks and class rings for various high schools and colleges as well as championship rings for sports. Jostens also produced photobook pro ...
of Minneapolis, Minnesota are the two companies that have produced the majority of championship rings for the four major professional sports leagues. Tiffany & Co. and Intergold (now a Jostens subsidiary) compete with Balfour, Baron, and Jostens in the design and manufacturing of championship rings. Tiffany has been gaining momentum with NFL teams, having made the Buccaneers XXXVII, Giants XLII, Saints XLIV, Giants XLVI, and the Seahawks XLVIII rings. Recently, newcomer Baron Championship Rings has gained momentum in the professional championship ring market, having designed and manufactured the 2016 NBA Champions Cleveland Cavaliers rings (at the time the heaviest NBA Championship ring ever made, weighing in at 165grams and 105pennyweights) and the 2019 NBA Champions Toronto Raptors rings (presently the largest-ever championship ring).


History and growth of trend

The
Montreal Hockey Club The Montreal Hockey Club of Montreal, Quebec, Canada was a senior-level men's amateur ice hockey club, organized in 1884. They were affiliated with Montreal Amateur Athletic Association (MAAA) and used the MAAA 'winged wheel' logo. The team was ...
ordered the first championship rings for its players after winning the 1893 Stanley Cup championship, ordering rings resembling
wedding band A wedding ring or wedding band is a finger ring that indicates that its wearer is married. It is usually forged from metal, traditionally gold or another precious metal. Rings were used in ancient Rome during marriage, though the modern pra ...
s with two crossed hockey sticks. Although several NHL teams ordered championship rings in the early 20th century, Stanley Cup-winning teams ordering championship rings did not become an annual custom in the NHL until the 1960s. The first World Series ring was given to the members of the New York Giants following their victory in the 1922 World Series over the
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...
. When the Yankees won the 1923 World Series, players were given a commemorative pocketwatch. The Yankees first gave rings to their players following the 1927 World Series. Rings became an annual tradition in the 1930s, as every World Series–winning team has given rings to its players since 1932. Prior to the first World Series-championship ring, baseball players in the early 20th century often requested other items in place of rings, including cufflinks and
tie bar A tie clip (also tie slide, tie bar, or tie clasp) is a clothing accessory that is used to clip a tie to the underlying shirt front, preventing it from swinging and ensuring that the tie hangs straight, resulting in a neat, uniform appearance. ...
s. Prior to the 1922 World Series, players on the World Series-winning team were given keepsakes, such as a pin or
pocketwatch A pocket watch (or pocketwatch) is a watch that is made to be carried in a pocket, as opposed to a wristwatch, which is strapped to the wrist. They were the most common type of watch from their development in the 16th century until wristwatc ...
fob.
Frankie Crosetti Frank Peter Joseph Crosetti (October 4, 1910 – February 11, 2002) was an American baseball shortstop. Nicknamed "The Crow", he spent his entire seventeen-year Major League Baseball playing career with the New York Yankees before becoming a coach ...
and
Tommy Henrich Thomas David Henrich (February 20, 1913 – December 1, 2009), nicknamed "The Clutch" and "Old Reliable", was an American professional baseball player of German descent. He played his entire Major League Baseball career as a right fielder an ...
requested shotguns from the Yankees following World Series championships.
Grover Cleveland Alexander Grover Cleveland Alexander (February 26, 1887 – November 4, 1950), nicknamed "Old Pete", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. He played from 1911 through 1930 for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and St. Louis Cardinals. He ...
reportedly
pawn Pawn most often refers to: * Pawn (chess), the weakest and most numerous piece in the game * Pawnbroker or pawnshop, a business that provides loans by taking personal property as collateral Pawn may also refer to: Places * Pawn, Oregon, an his ...
ed his
1926 World Series The 1926 World Series was the championship series of the 1926 Major League Baseball season. The 23rd edition of the Series, it pitted the National League champion St. Louis Cardinals against the American League champion New York Yankees. The ...
ring. In professional sports leagues—such as the NFL and MLB—rings are also awarded to the team that lost the championship game (e.g., Super Bowl) or series (e.g., World Series), because that team is the champion of their conference (e.g., AFC or NFC in the NFL) or league (AL or NL in MLB). In recent years, it has become common for American and Canadian high schools to give championship rings to teams that win the state or provincial championship in their given sport, usually football. In North American racing series like the NASCAR Sprint Cup or
IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices o ...
, rings are presented for a championship win, as well as wins in the most prestigious individual races of the schedule (such as the Daytona 500,
Coca-Cola 600 The Coca-Cola 600, originally the World 600, is an annual NASCAR Cup Series points race held at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, on a Sunday during Memorial Day weekend. The first race, held in 1960, was also the first on ...
or
Indy 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indianap ...
). In American college basketball, championship rings are given to the team that wins the
NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as NCAA March Madness and commonly called March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from ...
. Final Four rings are given to the other three teams in the Final Four.


Value and resale

The earliest championship rings for major professional sports were relatively plain, featuring only a few diamonds or other precious stones (in setting or mounting). However, since then they have been increasing larger and more expensive with more intricate designs, especially from the 1990s onward, so a typical championship ring now contains over a hundred diamonds (besides the mounting, diamonds will placed on the bezel, shoulders, and even the hoop of the ring) which would be worth tens of thousands of dollars. The increasing value and complexity of championship rings parallels the North American major professional sports leagues' growth in businesses and viewership, along with athletes' increasing salaries and endorsements in tandem with team owners' increasing ability and willingness to pay for more intricate rings. This is in contrast to the 1970s and earlier where professional athletes typically worked another job in the off-season and leagues covered little (if any) of the cost of procuring championship rings - in that era team owners typically balked at paying for anything beyond relatively basic rings. As some professional sports leagues have become larger and more competitive,
dynasties A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A d ...
are quite uncommon and winning even one title is "a source of pride for the team, because you never know if you're going to win another one. It could be a one and only". Hence, the 2016 NBA Champions Cleveland Cavaliers (who broke the city's 52-year drought of pro sports championships) and the 2019 NBA Champions Toronto Raptors (who wanted to reflect that it was not just Toronto's, but Canada's first NBA championship) commissioned some of the largest rings to commemorate their titles. Genuine championship rings are popular sports memorabilia/collectibles that can fetch tens of thousands of dollars at auction. Dave Meggett is known to have placed his ring for sale on
eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became ...
. Two Super Bowl rings from the 1970s Steelers sold on eBay for over $32,000 apiece in mid-2008. Patriots safety Je'Rod Cherry raffled his ring from
Super Bowl XXXVI Super Bowl XXXVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion St. Louis Rams and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...
in November 2008 to benefit several charities working to help children in Africa and Asia. Tight end
Shannon Sharpe Shannon Sharpe (born June 26, 1968) is an American former football tight end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons, primarily with the Denver Broncos. Regarded as one of the greatest tight ends of all time, he ranks th ...
, meanwhile, gave his first Super Bowl ring to his brother Sterling, who had his career cut short by injury. In 2011, a Super Bowl ring belonging to Steve Wright, a lineman for the Green Bay Packers in the 1960s
sold for over $73,000 at auction
Three Super Bowl rings belonging to former Raiders' great Ray Guybr>brought over $96,000 at auction
In 2012, Lawrence Taylor's son sold his father's 1990 Super Bowl ring for more than $250,000. In 2005, a minor international incident was caused when it was reported that
Russian President The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federal ...
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
had taken a Super Bowl ring from New England Patriots owner
Robert Kraft Robert Kenneth Kraft (born June 5, 1941) is an American billionaire businessman. He is the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Kraft Group, a diversified holding company with assets in paper and packaging, sports and entertainment ...
. Kraft quickly issued a statement saying that he had given Putin the ring out of "respect and admiration" he had for the Russian people and Putin's leadership. Kraft later said his earlier statement was not true, and had been issued under pressure from the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
. The ring is on display at the Kremlin, along with other "gifts".


Outside North America

In contrast to North American professional sports, winners' medals (and runners-up medals) are awarded in Olympic team sports and European club association football tournaments such as the
Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
and
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
. The
National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...
(NRL) — the premier
Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologi ...
n competition for
rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...
football clubs — also present rings for the players and coach of
NRL Grand Final The NRL Grand Final determines the champions of the National Rugby League club competition. It is a major sport event in Australia. Since 1999, it has been contested at Stadium Australia in Sydney. The first year it was held at Stadium Austral ...
winning sides. After the 2004 NRL Grand Final which was won by the Bulldogs, one of their players,
Johnathan Thurston Johnathan Dean Thurston (born 25 April 1983) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the National Rugby League (NRL). Thurston was an Australian international, Queensland State of Origin and Indigenous All ...
gave his premiership ring to team-mate Steve Price who missed the decider due to injury. The
Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm are a rugby league club based in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia that participates in the National Rugby League. The first fully professional rugby league team based in the state, the Storm entered the competition in 1998. ...
were stripped of their premierships in 2007 and 2009, but the players involved in those premierships were still allowed to keep their premiership rings. In 2014 NRL premiership ring was worth $8000 made by Zed N Zed Jewellery. The winner of the Australian Supercross Championships also receives a championship ring. American Football teams in European leagues and competitions also produce championship rings, but they are usually made from more inexpensive material due to the lower budget of the teams. Circuiti Gioielli, an Italian designer of sports-themed jewelry, has issued custom made North American style rings to several champions like World SBK's
Ben Spies Ben Spies (; born July 11, 1984), is an American former professional motorcycle road racer. He was sometimes nicknamed "Elbows" due to his riding style, in which his elbows protruded outward. Spies won the AMA Superbike Championship for Yoshimur ...
and MXGP's
Antonio Cairoli Antonio "Tony" Cairoli (born 23 September 1985) is an Italian professional motocross racer. He has competed in the Motocross World Championships since 2002. Cairoli is notable for winning nine FIM motocross world championships, second only to te ...
. These pieces were promotional vehicles for the jewelry and were not commissioned by a governing body or team.


International events

In addition to the medals commonly offered in international competition, some governing bodies have been known to gift their champions with commemorative rings. In
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...
, the American,
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
,
Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...
and
Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
federations have used the practice in one or more occasions.


See also

* MLS Cup ring *
NBA championship ring In the National Basketball Association (NBA), a championship ring is awarded to members of the team that win the annual NBA Finals. Rings are presented to the team's players, coaches, and members of the executive front office. The Los Angeles Lakers ...
*
Stanley Cup ring The Stanley Cup ring is a championship ring, an annual award in the National Hockey League given by the team that wins the Stanley Cup Finals, a best-of-seven series to determine the league's champion that season. In addition to the winning player ...
*
Super Bowl ring The Super Bowl ring is an award in the National Football League given to the team members of the winning team of the league's annual championship game, the Super Bowl. Since only one Vince Lombardi Trophy is awarded to the team (ownership) itsel ...
* World Series ring


References

{{reflist, 30em Rings (jewellery) Award items Sports trophies and awards