The Territorial Cup is a trophy that is awarded annually to the winner of the college football game between the Arizona State University (ASU) Sun Devils and the University of Arizona (UA) Wildcats and has also served as the symbol of the long standing rivalry between the two schools. The NCAA has certified it as the oldest award given for a rivalry game.

The cup was originally awarded to the Arizona Territorial Normal School football team for winning the Arizona Territorial Football League Championship after a season of three games in 1899. As a result, the cup is actually the property of Arizona State University. The Normals, as they were known at the time, were undefeated in gridiron matches with the Phoenix Union High School (6-0), the Phoenix Indian School (6-0) and the University of Arizona (11-2). The first “Big Game” against the University of Arizona was played on Thanksgiving Day, November 30, 1899 at Carillo Gardens field in Tucson before a vocal and enthusiastic crowd of 300 fans. Newspaper accounts suggested this was the University team’s first game and that the Normal squad was physically larger and better conditioned. The atmosphere was one of genuine sportsmanship as the University students met the Normal team at the train station, entertained them at a campus dormitory and hosted a post-game Thanksgiving feast.

Arizona State University records do not document an award ceremony after the first Big Game on Thanksgiving Day in 1899, and the early whereabouts of the cup remain a mystery to this day. A newspaper clipping from ca. 1980 suggests the cup was found in the basement of a church adjacent to the ASU campus, and staff from the ASU Alumni Association recall seeing it on display at the Alumni Association headquarters in Mariposa Hall at that time. Sometime between 1980 and 1983 the cup was transferred to University Archives, then under the jurisdiction of the late Alfred Thomas, longtime ASU Registrar and Director of Admissions. The cup was again placed on display at the University Archives Building (now the Piper Creative Writing Center) until approximately 1992 when the archival exhibits were remodeled.

In 2001 then ASU President Lattie Coor ordered that the Territorial Cup be shared with the University of Arizona such that the winner of the Big Game takes custody of the cup for the ensuing year. President Coor and then UA President Peter Likens signed a protocol governing use of the cup and assigning responsibility for the cup to specific offices at each university. Each year the tradition of the rivalry and the Territorial Cup is celebrated at a pre-game reception for ASU and UA boosters.

The cup itself is silverplate over britannia base metal and was manufactured by Reed and Barton of Taunton, Massachusetts. It was a standard style priced at $20 in Reed and Barton’s 1910 catalog. The inscription reads “Arizona Foot Ball League 1899 Normal”.