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Ada

Dayton At Work and Play: Wilson Football Factory

January 21, 2019 By Bill Franz

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

217 N. Liberty St., Ada, OH

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.

 

Filed Under: Community, The Featured Articles Tagged With: Ada, NFL Footballs, Wilson football factory

Super Bowl Footballs Made in Ohio

January 22, 2018 By Bill Franz

The footballs used in the Super Bowl have the names of the two competing teams, so they couldn’t be made until late yesterday. A work crew showed up at the Wilson factory in Ada, Ohio during halftime of the second game. They had some pizza and made a little TV party out of it. Then when the game was over and they knew who would be in the Super Bowl they started making footballs.

They worked all night, until five or six this morning when a new crew came in. By the end of today they will overnight 100 footballs to the Philadelphia Eagles and another 100 to the New England Patriots.

The N.F.L. is the only major sports league whose balls are manufactured in the United States. World Series baseballs come from a factory in Costa Rica. Basketballs in the N.B.A. finals first bounced on the floors of factories in China.

Wilson football factory, Ada, Ohio

Tours conducted by factory employees, ready to answer your football manufacturing questions can be booked in advance by calling 419-634-9901 for $5/adult.

217 N. Liberty St., Ada, OH
Directions:
From Hwy 235/N. Main St., turn east at the stoplight onto E. Highland Ave. Drive three blocks. You’ll see the parking lot for the little factory on the right.

Filed Under: Community, The Featured Articles Tagged With: Ada, footballs, ohio, Wilson football factory

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