Where Do All The Parts of the Super Bowl Come From?

You can be sure of one thing: It’s almost certain to be American-made. According to American Manufacturing,
the footballs, helmets, trophy and the coin for the coin toss are definitely made in the USA. Helmets (and a lot of body padding too) are made mostly by Riddell, a company in Elyria, OH, which has had a contract for providing helmets for a number of years. But approximately 40% of the players’ helmets, headgear and shoulder pads are produced by another company, Schutt Sports, which is located in Salem, IL. Patriots Matt Ryan and WR Julio Jones will be wearing Schutt helmets this Sunday.

While the jersey you bought in a sports store was probably made in Guatemala or another country, all the actual players will be wearing only American-sewn jerseys. That’s a given.

The coin? It’s made in Florida, by The Highland Mint. If you buy a replica, it’s made there too; about 10,000 of them are produced just for this game. They have serial numbers. Number 1 is the one officially used for the toss. A coin numbered 0 is also made, in case the game goes into overtime. But a 0 coin has never been used so far.

The footballs are provided by Wilson’s Sporting Goods of Chicago, as usual since 1941, with leather produced by Horween, also of Chicago. The traditional pebble texture of the football, with the tiny Ws in it for Wilsons, is baked in, as it is stamped on the leather piece as it goes into a drying oven. Finished leathers are sent to Wilsons.

Gatorade splashed over winners is also made in America, since PepsiCo’s American locations are the ones supplying the entire American demand.

Tiffany makes the trophy in their plant in New Jersey.

Jostens of Denton, TX, makes the rings. They produced rings for the very first Super Bowl in 1966, Green Bay Packers vs. Dallas, and have made the majority of rings since then. 45 people work on each ring. Note: The NE Patriots’ ring for the 2015 Super Bowl was the most expensive one made to date, each ring bearing 4.85 carats of diamonds, for a ring cost of $36,500. Rings the following year for the Broncos are estimated to have cost the same amount.

Uniforms are made most recently by Nike. When producing uniforms, Nike actually consults with physicians to determine what color matchups make it easier or more difficult for people who are colorblind. Hues are chosen for best differentiation and other factors.

Other uniform gear such as gloves, socks, and cleats are made by Under Armour. For instance, NFL star Julio Jones will be wearing their cleats.

Oh, and the players are American-made, too. For sure.