With the 2024 NFL preseason officially underway, many football fans are beginning to set up their draft boards for their respective fantasy football drafts. Fantasy football is a tradition unlike any other as fans, friends, coworkers and more all compete against each other for 16-17 weeks to be named the best fantasy player in their league.
The fantasy football season is a grind, but you'll reap a huge reward at the end if you can walk away with the championship.
Depending on the league you play in, the winner might get a financial award, but unless you're playing in a high-stakes league, it's not really about the money. It's about the glory. And with glory should come a symbol of your dominance — a trophy.
Can you imagine winning a fantasy football trophy and setting it up in your office to gloat to your coworkers? Or in your house to show off to your friends? So one of the biggest questions that your league should answer is what trophy you're going to award the champion.
With so many trophy options out there, one can get overwhelmed with trying to decide on the best option for their league. Luckily enough, we’ll do the hard work for you. Below, we’ll highlight some of the worst and best fantasy football trophy ideas on the world wide web.
5. Customized Plaque
There were a ton of contenders for the worst fantasy football trophy idea when putting this story together.
Some of the ideas that came to mind were doing a DIY trophy or buying something from the thrift store (e.g. an old kids football trophy).
However, I believe getting a plaque for your league is one of the worst ideas you can do as a league commissioner. The reason I say this is because it's super bland, as there's only so much customization you can do compared to the other ideas on this list.
Also, giving someone a plaque reminds me of school. Imagine playing in a league that has a plaque as a trophy, while your friends have a chance to compete for a championship belt in their league.
It doesn't matter who you are, you are going to feel a certain type of way. Don't worry, the other ideas on this list will be better than a plaque.
4. Customized Football
If you don't want to hand out a plaque, another trophy idea to consider is a customized football.
On the surface, a customized football may not seem that fun, especially compared to the prestige of a championship belt or replica Lombardi Trophy. However, a football allows you to do a lot of different designs that could feature the winner of the league and whatever their team name.
It's a trophy that can be showcased for years, it's budget-friendly, and it might be a little less likely to get thrown into the "to donate" bin when your family is doing a little spring cleaning.
3. Championship Rings
A more pricey option that will make your league stand out from the rest of the competition is handing out a championship ring.
The championship ring is synonymous with winning and is handed out at all different levels of sports. For your fantasy football league, a ring might be too expensive and hard to get as many people don’t know their ring size off-hand.
However, as a league manager could you imagine the cool and creative designs you could create for the winner? That said, one thing to remember is whoever wins this prize won’t be wearing the ring out for a night on the town or to a special family event.
But the winner will have ultimate bragging rights in your league and will be able to showcase this item for years to come. And you know they'd be wearing every single ring to their next fantasy football draft.
2. Championship Belt
Many of us grew up in the peak era of pro wrestling, spending time as a kid dreaming about having that World Heavyweight Championship around our waist.
The championship belt will be less expensive than the ring and you can proudly showcase it more than a plaque. Now there are two ways you could do a custom championship belt.
One option would be to have a generic championship belt with the league name on it, which can be passed down from winner to winner. The other option would be to have the winner’s name on it, getting a unique new belt every year.
That being said, one option is going to be more expensive than the other, and when it comes to trophy ideas it's all about the creativity and the experience of friends, family and rivals competing for the big prize at the end.
If you don't feel like springing for a custom belt, a kids replica pro wrestling title belt is also a pretty funny light-hearted trophy solution. Naturally, the champion gets to call everyone else in the league a jabroni.
1. Replica Vince Lombardi Super Bowl Trophy
We saved the best option for last as this trophy idea will keep your friends and family coming back to play in your league.
What trophy am I talking about? None other than a replica Vince Lombardi Super Bowl trophy. The Lombardi Trophy is one of the most iconic trophies in sports, along with the Stanley Cup, Grey Cup, and the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
However, most of us know that we will not be playing in the NFL and the closest we can get to the league is playing fantasy football. So why not get the league winner, a replica of the trophy with their name on it?
You can find this trophy on the internet (try Etsy) and it will get your league excited to compete for the entire season. Of course if you are the league manager you’d love to take home that trophy, but giving it to someone else in the league in an official ceremony is pretty cool too.
Hopefully, some of these ideas will help you as you prepare for your fantasy football draft. Remember, there’s no wrong choice as any of these trophy ideas (minus the plaque) would be great prizes.
For everything else you need to prepare for the upcoming season, check out our full 2024 fantasy football draft kit!
This article was originally published on www.si.com as 5 Best Fantasy Football Trophy Ideas for Your League Champion in 2024.
