Wilson football factory video

Why would you go to a tiny college town in northwest Ohio to tour a factory? Because it’s the Wilson Sporting Goods football factory, and for 70 years and counting, Ada, Ohio, has been the only place in the world where the National Football League’s official game ball is manufactured.

Opened in May 2024, the modern, $15 million factory upholds a tradition of craftsmanship that began in 1955, when the Chicago-based Wilson company moved its NFL football-making operation from the Windy City to a small leatherworks it had acquired in Ada.

Fast-forward to the current facility and its skilled employees, who proudly make top-quality footballs by hand that meet the NFL’s exacting standards.  

“We produce 27,000 footballs for the NFL every season,” says factory manufacturing engineer Mike Springer.

Although it was built to increase productivity and customized football options for youth, high school