Inside Ohio's new Wilson football factory that produces NFL gameday balls – The Columbus Dispatch

Wilson and the NFL have joined forces once again, and the sporting goods company will make gameday footballs ahead of the NFL regular season in September. This time, the deal comes with a brand-new Ohio-based facility.
The sporting goods manufacturer recently announced news of an extended partnership with the NFL on June 27, and with it came the announcement of a new and improved facility in Ada, Ohio. The new site will include a museum, a pop-up shop, and open tours for visitors.
The new factory is located about 88 miles northwest of Columbus and 68 miles southwest of Toledo. It replaced the previous facility with an upgraded and expanded factory that was celebrated by football greats such as Cleveland Browns running back Jerome Ford and former Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Jordan Palmer.
Here are more details about what to expect from Wilson’s new Ohio factory, by the numbers.
At 80,000 square feet, Wilson’s new Ada factory is more than twice the size of the old facility.
The number of footballs Wilson produces every day
Wilson makes 500,000 footballs every year and plans to increase its volume by 20-30% over the next few years. If that happens, the company could churn out up to 650,000 balls a year.
The number of stitches that hold together one of Wilson’s NFL gameday footballs, which are comprised of four leather panels.
According to a Wilson representative, roughly 50 pairs of hands touch the ball at some point during the production of one NFL football.
The number of steps in the production process to ensure a Wilson football meets the NFL’s gameday requirements.
The relationship between Wilson and the NFL spans more than 80 years, making it the world’s oldest factory to produce only the NFL’s game-ready footballs, according to PR Newswire.
Wilson names every gameday football The Duke, which is crafted by hand at the Ada facility. “The Duke,” according to Ryan Samuelson, vice president of consumer products at the NFL, “is at the forefront of every NFL game played since 1941,” and the multiyear partnership secures that The Duke sticks around for several more years.

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