When a sports team wins a championship, it brings the entire city together. Even some people who don’t usually watch sports end up wearing a shirt representing their city’s team and celebrating at the championship parade. Watching your team drive through downtown while holding their championship trophy is one of the most euphoric feelings for a sports fan. The sense of accomplishment and comradery is on another level. It almost feels like you’re part of the team (yes, we know that’s not even close to the truth).
But that trophy moment is truly something else. Now let’s zoom out and think about what makes it special. It’s the trophy and the meaning that it holds to everyone in the sports world. That championship trophy belongs to your team and city for the next 365 days. Whether it’s the NBA’s Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy, the NHL’s Stanley Cup, the MLB’s Commissioner’s Trophy or the NFL’s Lombardi Trophy, your favorite team earned that trophy, and you can revel in the fact that you can talk trash to your friends from other cities for the next year.
Championship trophies are steeped in history and deep meaning. Even with all of that, many fans aren’t aware of what went into creating these trophies that have become iconic over the years. Who designed them? Why do they look the way that they look? Who was the first team to win them?
Major League Baseball – Commissioner’s Trophy
Out of the four major sports championship trophies in North America, baseball’s Commissioner’s Trophy (or World Series Trophy) is the one that was most recently redesigned. The first iteration of the Commissioner’s Trophy was given out in 1967 to the St. Louis Cardinals. Around 30 years later, the MLB decided that it was time for a complete redesign of the trophy, and they commissioned the unparalleled Tiffany & Co. for the redesign. The updated version of the trophy features 30 flags, one for each Major League team, with latitude and longitude lines symbolizing the world. This trophy was first awarded to the New York Yankees in 2000. 24 years later, the Los Angeles Dodgers became the most recent winners of the trophy — taking down the Yankees.
(Spoiler alert: Tiffany & Co designing trophies is a central theme of this article.)
National Football League – Lombardi Trophy
Next up, we have the Lombardi Trophy, or the Super Bowl Trophy. The NFL’s championship trophy was designed by Tiffany & Co. back in 1966. In a fun piece of trivia, the Lombardi Trophy started as a sketch on a napkin during a meeting. Oscar Riedener, a vice president at Tiffany and Co., was in a meeting with NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle when he showed Rozelle his early thoughts for the trophy on a napkin sketch. The trophy has a football in the kicking position on a three concave-sided stand. Initially, the trophy was named the World Professional Football Championship Trophy. The Green Bay Packers won the Super Bowl in 1967 and were the first recipients of the trophy. After legendary Packers coach Vince Lombardi passed away in 1970, the trophy was deservedly renamed in Lombardi’s honor. The Kansas City Chiefs are the most recent winners of the Lombardi Trophy, winning Super Bowl LVIII against the San Francisco 49ers. They won three of the last five Lombardis.
National Basketball Association – Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy
Onto the next trophy designed by Tiffany & Co.: the famed jewelry house designed the NBA’s championship trophy in 1977. The Portland Trail Blazers won the first trophy in 1977, led by the unforgettable Bill Walton (on the heels of his wild success at UCLA). The trophy features a basketball above a hoop and basket. The trophy was originally named the Walter A. Brown Trophy until it was renamed the Larry O’Brien Trophy in honor of the NBA commissioner from 1975-1984, Larry O’Brien. Victor Solomon redesigned the trophy in 2022, making the base of the trophy round and slanting the ball and net forward to represent the league’s goal to be a progressive leader in sports and culture. The Boston Celtics are the most recent winners of the trophy.
National Hockey League – Stanley Cup
Probably the most popular trophy in North American sports is the NHL’s Stanley Cup. In addition to its popularity, it’s the only trophy out of the four major North American sports championship trophies that wasn’t designed by Tiffany & Co. The trophy was commissioned in 1892 and is named after Lord Stanley of Preston. He donated it as an award to Canada’s top-ranking amateur ice hockey club. The original Stanley Cup was first awarded to the Montreal Canadiens in 1893.
The Stanley Cup has evolved over the years. This is the 4th iteration of the Stanley Cup. The original was made in 1893 and replaced in 1912 by the second version of the cup. The third version was made in 1932 before the classic Stanley Cup we all know and love today was made in 1948. The Toronto Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup in 1948, and the Florida Panthers are the most recent Stanley Cup champs.
The Championship Trophies By the Numbers
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