[4] The history and prestige associated with the America's Cup attract the world's top sailors, yacht designers, wealthy entrepreneurs, and sponsors.

The race was witnessed by Queen Victoria and the future Edward VII and won by America.

Including the original 1851 victory, the NYYC's 132-year reign was the longest (in terms of time) winning streak in any sport.

[8] Early matches for the cup were raced between yachts 65–90 ft (20–27 m) on the waterline owned by wealthy sportsmen.

After a long legal battle, the 2010 America's Cup was raced in 90 ft (27 m) waterline multihull yachts in Valencia, Spain.

The 2017 America's Cup match was sailed in 50 ft (15 m) foiling catamarans,[9] after legal battles and disputes over the rule changes.

[10] The Cup, also known as the Auld Mug, is an ornate sterling silver bottomless ewer crafted in 1848 by Garrard & Co.[11] Henry William Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey, bought one and donated it for the Royal Yacht Squadron's 1851 Annual Regatta around the Isle of Wight.

£100 Cup', awarded in 1851 by the British Royal Yacht Squadron for a race around the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom.

Today, the trophy is officially known as the "America's Cup" after the 1851 winning yacht, and is affectionately called the "Auld Mug" by the sailing community.

The deed then allows for most of the arrangements for the match to be made by negotiation and mutual consent, but provides a backstop in the event agreement is not reached.

[14] The New York Supreme Court and the New York Court of Appeals have held that this means the challenging club must in fact "have held at least one qualifying annual regatta before it submits its Notice of Challenge to a Defender and demonstrate that it will continue to have qualifying annual regattas on an ongoing basis" and not merely intend to hold its first annual regatta before the envisaged America's Cup match.

[18] Under the deed, the defender and challenger "may by mutual consent make any arrangement satisfactory to both as to the dates, courses, number of trials, rules and sailing regulations, and any and all other conditions of the match, in which case also the ten months' notice may be waived".

[25] The 1988 parody film Return of the Killer Tomatoes included background TV coverage of "Full Contact America's Cup" yacht racing.

In 2021, Australian psychedelic rock band Pond released a single titled America's Cup.