Since 1941 Wilson has been making NFL game balls by hand. The Chicago based company has employees from their Ida, Ohio factory setting up shop in New York City at the NFL Shop At Draft Store starting April 19th, and running through draft week until April 30th.
The NFL Draft kicks off on Thursday April 26, with the first round. Rounds two and three will be Friday, and the final rounds of 4-7 will take place on Saturday, April 28. The 77th Annual NFL Draft will take place at the Radio City Music Hall for the 7th consecutive year, and it annually brings in many football fans for the festivities.
This year for the first time ever, fans can visit the store in New York City to see how the balls are made. They can also purchase customized footballs with their name, signature, team logos, and more on NFL regular season game balls, and special Commemorative NFL Draft and Super Bowl game balls on-site.
From their press release;
“Our team takes great pride in producing each football used in every NFL game,” says Dan Riegle, Wilson Factory manager. “We could not be more proud to have this opportunity to take a piece of football history to the biggest city in the United States where we’ll demonstrate the skill and craftsmanship that go in to the making of the NFL game ball.”
For more information on Wilson’s involvement in the NFL and how the game ball is made you can visit www.wilson.com/football and Facebook.com/WilsonFootball.