(Ada, Ohio) Since 1969, all National Football League footballs have been manufactured at the Wilson Sporting Goods plant in the small town of Ada in western Ohio. The plant makes up to 1 million footballs per year. Of those, 264 are special.
Today, 108 special Super Bowl footballs from Ada will be available for use in the game. According to company Vice President Jerry Hall, ". . . we made 36 practice balls for each team; an extra 72 balls used for back-up; and 12 balls for the kickers." (Kickers balls have a "K" on them.) For the general public, 10,000 commemorative Super Bowl XXXVIII footballs were made and are available.
Interestingly, Hall also said:
"My guess is that each ball is in play for about five minutes before it is replaced," he said. "They use about 60 balls on average for every game. If a guy makes a touchdown, he certainly wants to keep that ball."Ada is also the source of footballs for the Arena, Canadian, European, and German leagues.
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