ADA, Ohio – When the Browns and Bengals take the field in downtown Cleveland this weekend, another product from Ohio will join them on the grass: a handmade leather football from tiny Ada, about an hour south of Toledo.
Every football used in the NFL is made in Ada, population 5,300. That’s about 600 balls per team per year, nearly 20,000 in total -- and that’s just for the pros.
The Wilson Football Factory in Ada also makes footballs for college, high school and pee-wee leagues, and does finishing work on basketballs, volleyballs and soccer balls.
And you can watch it all happen during a factory tour of the 80,000-square-foot facility.
The story of how the country’s premier football manufacturer ended up in small-town Ohio goes back nearly a century to the founding of the Ohio-Kentucky Manufacturing Co., which opened its original sporting goods factory in Ada in 1938. The company, which changed names in the 1940s to Sonnett Sporting Goods, was purchased by Wilson in 1955.
Wilson, meanwhile, became the official producer of the NFL football in 1941.
“A Wilson football has scored every single point in the league’s history,” according to a timeline on the wall outside the factory floor.
And as the 2025 season kicks off this week, a Wilson football – made in Ohio -- will score every point in every regular season game, plus all 13 playoff games, including the Super Bowl.
“It’s a fun place to work,” said warehouse manager Keaton Vandemark, who leads the tours. “You get to wake up every morning and make footballs.”
Wilson Football Factory
Wilson opened a new football factory in Ada, Ohio, in 2024.Susan Glaser, Cleveland.com
Wilson Football Factory
Warehouse manager Keaton Vandemark looks through pieces of leather that will become footballs at the Wilson Football Factory in Ada.Susan Glaser, Cleveland.com
Wilson Football Factory
A Nick Chubb game ball from 2021 on display at the Wilson Football Factory in Ada.Susan Glaser, Cleveland.com
A new factory opens
In June 2024, Wilson debuted a new factory, nearly tripling the size of the production floor to about 80,000 square feet. Tours are offered twice a day on most weekdays (once on Fridays), and encircle the floor where as many as 170 people make 2,500 balls every day.
Our group started in graphics, where visitors can see some of the hundreds of specialty logos and imprints that are transferred onto ball panels via special order. On display here: a game ball presented to Nick Chubb for his role in clinching a Browns’ Wild Card berth in the Jan. 3, 2021, win over Pittsburgh; and a game ball presented to Myles Garrett for his role in the Sept. 10, 2023, victory over Cincinnati.
And for non-Browns fans: There’s a Super Bowl LIX game ball on display, a Sunday Night Football Game ball and a University of Notre Dame National Championship ball from earlier this year (Ohio State, alas, gets its balls from Wilson competitor Big Game USA in Texas).
From graphics, we moved to cutting – where piles of leather hides were waiting to be transformed into oblong-shaped projectiles.
The leather is sourced from Horween, a Chicago tannery that gets its material from North American cattle, then dyes and imprints it with a pebbly texture and tiny embedded W’s.
Each hide is the rough equivalent of half a cow and produces between 10 and 14 balls, according to Vandemark. Four identically sized pieces of oblong leather are used in each ball.
There are different grades of leather for the NFL, college and high school, Vandemark said.
Kicking balls are smoother, he said. And more than half of the NFL balls – those that are used during games -- are embedded with sensors that can track the ball’s location, velocity and other factors.
From cutting, we walked past stamping and decals, where graphics are added. And then we watched as a worker carefully smoothed and shaved the back of the leather panels to create pieces of uniform weight and width.
Cutting, turning, lacing and inflating
Wilson Football Factory
An uninflated NFL football at the Wilson Football Factory in Ada.Susan Glaser, Cleveland.com
Wilson Football Factory
On the Wilson Football Factory floor in Ada, Ohio.Susan Glaser, Cleveland.com
Wilson Football Factory
Every football used in the NFL is made in Ada, Ohio.Susan Glaser, Cleveland.com
The factory has a collection of Singer sewing machines, which are used by employees to add stripes and provide reinforcements for the laces. Holes are inserted for the polyurethane bladder (many years ago, pig intestines were used inside the balls – hence the term “pigskin,” said Vandemark).
After the four panels are sewn together -- inside out to hide the stitching -- the balls have to be “turned”; that is, flipped right-side in by hand.
“It’s not an easy job,” said Vandemark. “And lacing is just as tough.”
Lacing is done by hand using an awl, a pointed metal tool that helps pull the lace through the holes in the leather.
Then it’s time for molding and inflating. Balls are overinflated to 120 pounds per square inch, then deflated to 13 psi.
“They all leave here at 13 psi,” said Vandemark, who was circumspect when asked about Deflategate, the controversy involving the New England Patriots and quarterback Tom Brady, who was alleged to have known about the deflation of team balls during a playoff game against Indianapolis in 2015.
“I don’t know if a deflated ball would affect the score that much,” he said. (The Patriots beat the Colts 45-7 during that cold January contest.)
After they’re inflated, the balls are inspected and then packaged for shipping.
Tourgoers can also stop and watch quality control on Wilson basketballs, which were being tested inside a dribbling machine on a recent visit.
The basketballs, volleyballs and soccer balls aren’t made here – they’re shipped to Ohio from overseas – but they are tested and embellished here, with graphics, team logos and other adornments.
Some of those balls make it only as far as the gift shop, where visitors can buy any number of Wilson items, including an official NFL “Duke” ball ($159.95), an official NBA game ball ($199.95) -- even a mini Wilson volleyball from the 2000 film “Cast Away.”
A small museum in the lobby showcases early Wilson gear, including primitive helmets, pads, cleats and other equipment.
Another exhibit explains how the NFL ball came to be known as “The Duke”: Tim Mara, founder of the New York Giants, was instrumental in arranging the agreement between the NFL and Wilson in the early 1940s. In gratitude, his fellow NFL owners named the ball after Mara’s son, Wellington Mara, who was named after the Duke of Wellington. “The Duke” is now imprinted on every NFL ball.
There’s also a display of game balls from every Super Bowl ever played, from 1967 (Green Bay vs. Kansas City) to 2025 (Philadelphia vs. Kansas City).
The Browns, alas, are not featured on that wall, having never made it to the Super Bowl.
But a piece of Ohio has made it to every one.
Wilson Football Factory
Wilson balls for sale in the factory gift shop.Susan Glaser, Cleveland.com
Wilson Football Factory
Tribute to "The Duke," the official NFL football, made in Ohio.Susan Glaser, Cleveland.com
Wilson Football Factory
Vintage helmets on display in the lobby of the Wilson Football Factory in Ada, Ohio.Susan Glaser, Cleveland.com
If you go: Wilson Football Factory
Where: The factory is located at 517 E. Highland Ave. in Ada, Ohio, about 150 miles southwest of Cleveland, easily accessible off U.S. 30 or Interstate 75.
When: Factory tours are typically offered twice a day, at 9 a.m. and noon, Monday through Thursday, and 9 a.m. Friday. Reservations are required and frequently fill up in advance.
How much: $15; first responders and active and retired military free.
More information: wilson.com/en-us/explore/football/ada-ohio-factory
Nearby: Ada, home to Ohio Northern University, has a small downtown with a handful of restaurants and shops. We had a tasty lunch at Tavern 101, with subs, pizza and burgers on the menu.
Wilson Football Factory
Commemorative game ball made for Myles Garrett in 2023.Susan Glaser, Cleveland.com
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