The N.F.L. pays for 150 rings for the Super Bowl runner-up, but, by rule, the cost can at most be half of what the league pays for the winner’s rings. By definition, then, the N.F.L.’s conference championship rings are more modest by comparison. The Buffalo Bills have four such A.F.C. championship rings from the 1990s.

Baseball remains a sport in which the team that loses the championship often gives itself rings. Major League Baseball covers up to $1,500 of the cost of each ring for members of the World Series-winning team — for the players, coaches, manager and general manager. The team must cover any costs above that, and the price is routinely significantly higher.

But the team that loses the Series must buy all of its own league championship rings.

It is unclear when that practice started. Winning the pennant has always been a revered accomplishment in baseball, dating to the 1800s, before the inception of the American League. John Thorn, the official league historian, said the tradition of pennant-winning rings was cemented in 1995, when baseball added the division series to the postseason and made reaching the World Series that much more difficult and something to celebrate.

The owners usually decide how much to spend on a league championship ring, how elaborate to make it and who receives one. David Glass, the Royals’ owner, had three versions of their rings made, each with slight differences in the quality. In all, he gave out more than 600 rings and had two ceremonies: one for the players on opening day and the luncheon for other employees the next day. Uhlich said the total cost was in “seven figures.”

“It’s totally up to the owners,” Uhlich said, “how far they would like to go.”

Among those in attendance for the employees’ ceremony was Trevor Vance, the Royals’ head groundskeeper. Born and raised in Kansas City, Mo., he joined the organization as a part-time employee in 1985, fresh out of high school. He has worked for the Royals ever since, tending to the field during sweltering summers, rolling tarp during rain delays, working his way up in the organization.