In the event of a tie, the award is shared, but the previous winner retains physical possession of the trophy.

First awarded in 1972 by President Richard Nixon, the trophy itself is jointly sponsored by the alumni associations of the three academies.

During the 1980s, for instance, President Ronald Reagan presented the award in an annual White House ceremony.

From 2003 to 2007, President George W. Bush presented the trophy to Navy teams at ceremonies in the White House.

Home games for Army–Navy are usually the result of circumstance, such as the 1942 and 1943 editions being moved to Annapolis and West Point due to World War II and 2020 at Army's campus because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In late November 2019, a group of Naval Academy midshipmen stole the CIC trophy from West Point (who had won it the previous year) and transported it to Annapolis.

The prank was revealed when the trophy was placed on display at noon meal in front of the Brigade of Midshipmen at USNA.

The design consists of three silver footballs in a pyramid-like arrangement, set on a circular base, with three arc-shaped sections cut out – one for each academy.

When Navy has possession of the trophy, it is displayed in a glass case in Bancroft Hall, the Midshipmen's dormitory.