Surprising amount a Super Bowl ring costs and is worth

European sport loves its personal medals around the neck when it comes to winning a big trophy. Premier League? Medal. Champions League? Medal.

American sport is different. It's all about the rings.

You've got the NFL, NBA, NHL and WNBA that serve as four examples of sporting competitions across the Atlantic Ocean that love handing out rings to their winners instead of a traditional medal around the neck.

The NFL season finale, the Super Bowl, is the most iconic of them all, with it the pinnacle of the American sporting calendar.

Super Bowl 58 takes place on Sunday, 11 February, which will see the Kansas City Chiefs face off against the San Fransisco 49ers.

All eyes will be on the game - but also the mega stars who might appear in the crowd.

Both the winners of the Super Bowl and the runners' up get rings, with it tradition that the losers never wear theirs.

But how much do they actual cost and go for?

Well, it varies and massively so.

The NFL itself gives teams between $5,000 and $7,000 (£3,964 and £5,550) for every ring being made. Teams usually add to this privately so they can go all out for something truly special but experts estimate they are usually in the $30,000 to $50,000 (£23,788 to £39,647) bracket. So, pretty decent.

@tombrady/Instagram

Every year the rings differ too, customised to the team and the year of the victory as well as personal details for every player, such as their squad number.

The end cost of the rings remains a secret with franchises usually keeping the amount spent under wraps.

As for what they are then worth, it varies depending on who's ring we're talking about and at what point in their careers they won them.

Two winners' rings from the 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl winning teams sold for more than $69,000 (£54,713) each back in 2008.

In contrast, two-time Super Bowl winner Lawrence Taylor, of the New York Giants, saw his 1990 winners' ring sold for a whopping $169,000 (£134,007) in 2012.

Perry Knotts/Getty Images

The value of those worn by Tom Brady, who won a record seven Super Bowls, would go through the roof if they went public.

Sotheby's auction house estimates each of his seven rings would sell for a cool $1 million (£792,945) if they hit the open market.

The issue of Super Bowl rings became somewhat of an international incident in 2005 when Russian President, Vladimir Putin, had reportedly taken a Super Bowl ring from Patriots owner Robert Kraft.

Kraft denied giving Putin the ring after at first admitting to it. To this day it is on display in the Kremlin.

Topics: Celebrity, Money, Super Bowl, US News, Sport

Tom Earnshaw

Tom joined LADbible in 2024, specialising in SEO and trending content. He moved to the company from Reach plc where he enjoyed spells as a content editor and senior reporter for one of the country's most-read local news brands, LancsLive. When he's not in work, Tom spends his adult life as a suffering Manchester United supporter after a childhood filled with trebles and Premier League titles. You can't have it all forever, I suppose.

@TREarnshaw