What City and State is Every NFL Football Made?
Contents
Every NFL Football is made in Ada, Ohio by Wilson Sporting Goods.
Introduction
All NFL footballs are made in the United States. In fact, they’re all made in one city and one state: Indianapolis, Indiana.
The Origin of NFL Footballs
While all NFL footballs are made in the United States, not all of them come from the same city or state. In fact, the NFL has a stringent set of standards that each football must meet in order to be used in an official game.
The official football of the NFL is made by Wilson Sporting Goods and has been since 1941. The balls are made at the Wilson factory in Ada, Ohio. Each ball is handcrafted and must meet a number of specific criteria in order to be used in an NFL game.
The balls are made of cowhide leather that is tanned and treated to resist weathering and tearing. They are then laced with either nylon or polyester thread and inflated to between 12.5 and 13.5 pounds per square inch. The balls are also inspected for defects and faults before they are shipped to teams around the country.
So, while all NFL footballs may be made in the United States, they don’t all come from the same city or state. The next time you watch an NFL game, take a close look at the football – it just might have been made in your home state!
The Official Football of the NFL
As the official football of the NFL, Wilson is charged with creating the game balls for every game, all season long. The journey of a football from concept to completion is a fascinating process, one that involves consistency and the highest standards at every step of production.
So where does an NFL football come from? Let’s take a closer look at how Wilson creates the Official Football of the NFL.
Wilson’s football factory is located in Ada, Ohio. Here, a team of expert craftspeople bring Wilson’s designs to life. Every element of an NFL football is made with precision and purpose – from the hand-stitched leather panels to the butyl rubber bladder that holds air.
Creating a football is truly a team effort, as each ball requires the skills of multiple crafts people. For example, it takes two people just to sew the 32 individual leather panels together by hand. And each ball must be inflated and checked for proper air pressure 22 times before it leaves the factory.
Once a ball passes all these inspections, it gets shipped off to an independent testing lab in Dallas, Texas. Here, officials put each ball through a series of rigorous tests to make sure it meets NFL standards for size, weight, shape and inflation pressure. Only after a ball passes this final test can it be officially called “The Official Football of the NFL” and ready for game time.
The Wilson Football Factory
In Ada, Ohio, home of the Wilson football factory, every NFL football is made. Production begins with workers who cut and stitch the synthetic leather panels that are shipped from a Wilson tannery in Pennsylvania. The laces are made of waxed thread from a Wilson-owned factory in Groveton, N.H. Once the laces are sewn in, the balls are inflated and starts its journey down a conveyor belt where workers inspect them for imperfections before they’re packaged and shipped off to an NFL stadium near you.
Why are Wilson Footballs the Best?
Wilson footballs are the official balls of the NFL, and have been since 1941. They are made in Ada, Ohio, and have been since 1955. The factory can churn out over 400 footballs per day.
So why are Wilson footballs the best? Firstly, the leather used for Wilson footballs is tanned in Horween Leather Company in Chicago – a company with a long history of supplying high-quality leather. The laces are also made of top-notch materials, and are stitched on by hand. Finally, each Wilson football is inflated and inspected by hand before being shipped off.
All of these factors add up to a superior product – one that is used by the best football players in the world on the biggest stage. So next time you’re watching an NFL game, take a closer look at the ball – chances are, it’s a Wilson!
Conclusion
It is a commonly believed myth that all NFL footballs are made in the state of Indiana. However, this is not true. In fact, only Wilson footballs are made in Indiana. The other balls used in the NFL, as well as most college and high school games, are made by Rawlings in their factory located in Ada, Oklahoma.