The footballs used in the Super Bowl have the names of the two competing teams, so they couldn’t be made until late yesterday. Like all NFL footballs, they are made in the Wilson plant in Ada, Ohio. A work crew showed up there yesterday during halftime of the game between the Patriots and the Chiefs. They had some pizza and watched the rest of the game. Then when they knew who would be in the Super Bowl they started making footballs.
They worked all night, and early this morning they were replaced by a new crew. Sometime this afternoon they will send 108 footballs to the Los Angeles Rams and another 108 to the New England Patriots.
Wilson Football Factory Tour
Hours:Tours must be booked in advance.
Phone:419-634-9901
Admission:Adults $5.
All footballs used in the NFL and NCAA are produced in this little factory in Ada. The tour is very interesting and thorough. You get a souvenir football-shaped piece of pebbled leather, and there is a “gift shop” bin of footballs at the end of the tour if you’d like to take one home. The amount of hard work, done by hand from start to finish, is amazing. Tours are given by actual factory employees and there’s lots of interaction.
