Wilson Football Factory

Recently, I visited the Wilson football factory for a group tour with the American Marketing Association. In case you weren’t aware, Ada’s factory produces all of the footballs used in the NFL. This is a pretty big deal for such a small town.

Our tour offered a lot of information and there was a lot to see. We first were able to see the leather before it is cut and shaped into a football. There are only two options for colors, and that includes the classic orange or a maroon. All of the leather is dyed and marbled by a manufacturer before being shipped over to the factory.

We were told that all of the leather has small imprints of the letter w to prove that it is a Wilson football. So, next time you are playing a game, make sure to find the hidden letters.

What surprised me most about this small factory was how many manual laborers were on the floor. I was expecting the factory to be completely run by machines, but I was surprised to find out how many people it takes to physically make a football. It seemed like a hundred people were on the floor at once, and they were working nonstop the entire time.

I was also shocked to find out that all of the NFL footballs must meet a very specific weight requirement. Our tour guide explained how every single ball must be weighed and carefully inspected before being shipped. The organic nature of the leather material will sometimes cause the weight to differ, so several footballs become defects.

All of the footballs are made very far in advance. For example, the 50^th Super Bowl ball was already being produced, and we got to see a top-secret sneak preview! Not to mention, a lot of the balls are custom orders. Every NFL football has the date printed on the leather, so every ball is unique.

It was a very unique experience to check off of my ONU bucket list, and I would recommend everyone to take a tour. You can buy discounted balls, and the tour is entirely free. It may be one of the coolest things Ada has to offer.