The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum is unveiling a new limited-edition bobblehead celebrating the Kentucky–Louisville football rivalry, better known as the Governor’s Cup.
The release comes ahead of Saturday’s 37th meeting between the Wildcats and Cardinals in Louisville.
The design features Kentucky mascot The Wildcat and Louisville mascot Louie the Cardinal standing side-by-side on a football field base—one end zone reading WILDCATS, the other CARDINALS. Both mascots are wearing team uniforms, holding a football with their school logo and giving the No. 1 gesture. A miniature replica of the Governor’s Cup Trophy sits centered between them, and each base displays both team logos.
Only 2,025 bobbleheads have been produced, each individually numbered. They will be available exclusively through the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum’s online store, which went live late Thursday night. The cost is $50 with an $8 flat-rate shipping fee per order, and shipping is expected to begin in May.
Museum co-founder and CEO Phil Sklar says the bobblehead is a tribute to one of the state’s most tradition-rich matchups and a collectible Kentucky and Louisville fans can be proud to display. He called it “the perfect way for Kentucky and Louisville fans, alumni, students, faculty, and staff to show off their school and state pride.”
The football rivalry stretches back to 1912, but the Governor’s Cup wasn’t awarded until play resumed in 1994 after a 70-year break. Kentucky currently leads the series 20–16. Louisville won last year’s matchup, while Kentucky claimed the previous five.
The game has traditionally closed the regular season since Louisville joined the ACC in 2014, aligning it with other ACC-SEC state rivalries over Thanksgiving weekend. The game’s MVP receives the Howard Schnellenberger Award, named after the coach who helped restart the series in the ’90s.
The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum opened in 2019 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, producing licensed bobbleheads for schools, fans, teams and organizations nationwide.
For more information and to view images of the new Governor’s Cup bobblehead, visit the museum’s online store.
