NIKE T90 TRACER BALL – BEHIND THE DEVELOPMENT
Nike have given us a look behind the scenes at the development of the new Nike T90 Tracer ball that will be used in the FA Premier League, La Liga and Serie A.
NIKE TOTAL 90 TRACER BALL
NIKE have launched the Nike Total 90 Tracer ball, designed for unrivalled consistency, accuracy, touch and visual acuity. Developed in tandem with the world’s premier footballers and teams, the ball was meticulously engineered down to every detail including the bladder’s tension, hand-sewn seams and surface texture. The result is a ball that delivers superior playing benefits for players at every level.
The Total 90 Tracer ball will debut in August in the world’s leading football leagues including the English Premier League, Italy’s Serie A, and Spain’s La Liga.
During an extensive two-year testing process Nike worked closely with the Barclays Premier League, Spain’s LFP, Italy’s Serie A, with national teams including Portugal and the United States, and confederation matches throughout South America and Asia. The Nike design team also spent 18 months testing the T90 Tracer Ball at the Nike Equipment Innovation Test Lab in Oregon, USA.
“The world’s best leagues, federations and players demand the most innovative product on the market, that’s why our brief was very simple: to create the world’s best football,” said Chris Bond, Nike General Manager of Soccer Equipment. “As the game gets even faster and more competitive around the world, we’ve designed a product to exceed the demands of today’s players from the amateur to elite levels.”
The result is the Total 90 Tracer, which delivers enhanced consistency, accuracy, touch and visual science. It is the most pinpoint accurate ball in the world, helping players hit their targets with consistency. Testing shows that the Total 90 Tracer consistently hits a 3-foot in diameter bulls-eye while the leading competitor ball hits a bulls-eye approximately 6-feet in diameter, showing the Total 90 Tracer is more than twice as consistent as the competition.
“A great ball makes a real difference for a player, a team and potentially the outcome of a game,” said Sergio Agüero of Atlético Madrid. “The Total 90 Tracer always feels the same no matter where I strike it. It’s responsive and easily controlled in every situation. I can shoot with confidence, knowing it’s going to go exactly where I want it to every time.”
The Total 90 Tracer ball’s micro-textured casing regulates airflow equally across its entire surface, making it less prone to wobble and giving it a more direct, arrow-like flight. Rigorously tested at the University of British Columbia wind tunnels, the ball has less drag in flight than competitor balls and produces more precise and truer shots every time. Testing at the Nike Equipment Innovation Test Labfound that the Total 90 Tracer is the most aerodynamically efficient ball in the marketplace, meaning players expend less energy kicking the ball.
Consistent touch: Nike teams also focused on enhancing touch – often one of the most crucial elements for footballers. A unique five-layer casing and construction improves touch, giving players maximum control and greater command and presence on the pitch.
The Geo II configuration of the ball’s 32 panels evenly distributes pressure across the whole ball, offering more consistent movement and the same response wherever the ball is struck.
True control: The micro-textured casing material of the Total 90 Tracer is designed to equalize the flow of air over the ball during flight. This stabilizes the ball and allows it to fly truer – maintaining it’s intended flight path while ensuring greater control and accuracy shooting, sending or receiving a pass.
Innovative visual science: The Total 90 Tracer also features a brightly colored graphic designed to deliver visual performance benefits to players. Up to 99% of a person’s eye sight is via their peripheral vision, under 1% is considered foveal, or focused vision. Based on this, Nike designers and visual scientists explored how the human eye locates and responds to the color and design of a football while in motion. The result is Total 90 Tracer’s high-contrast asymmetrical graphic designed to generate a strong visual signal, which captures peripheral vision and focuses central vision more rapidly.
ADIDAS JO’BULANI SELLS FOR £48,200
The adidas JO’BULANI, the ball used during the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ final between The Netherlands and Spain became one of the world’s most expensive pieces of football memorabilia when it sold for £48,200. The ball, which was produced especially for the final, was auctioned on eBay and a group of Spanish fans secured the highest bid. The proceeds from the auction will be donated to Nelson Mandela’s Foundation Charity 46664.
The adidas JO’BULANI, which is perfectly round and even more accurate than ever before, has attracted a huge amount of interest from bidders following the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ final five days ago, seeing 133 bids placed from 55 international bidders.
adidas JO’BULANI used during the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final™
The ball enters the history books following a successful auction with a closing bid of £48,200, one of the highest bids ever for a football on eBay. In comparison, the adidas Roteiro ball used by David Beckham during the quarter finals of the UEFA Euro 2004™ sold for €28,050, under half the amount secured for the adidas JO’BULANI ball.
Following the successful bid, the proceeds generated from the auction will be donated to Nelson Mandela’s Foundation charity 46664 which was established to inspire individual and collective action towards a better world for everyone.
Having been confirmed as the successful bidders, the auction winners will be presented with the iconic JO’BULANI ball by a senior adidas representative in the coming weeks.
To send a donation to 46664 please go to www.46664.com or for further information on adidas products and services please visit: www.adidasnewsstream.com and www.adidas.com/football.
ADIDAS CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINALE
The World Cup has seen both players and coaches have much to say about the Adidas Jabulani ball. With that, we wait to see how they react to the new ‘Finale’ – the official ball of the 2010/11 UEFA Champions League season.
The ball returns with the Champions League star motif – this time in what Adidas call ‘White/Satellite/Night Sky’. It is the eleventh ball Adidas have created for the UEFA Champions League and boasts technology such as “revolutionary Thermal Bonding Technology” which means it has no stitching nor seams.
The Champions League has provided some very entertaining football over the years and we hope that with the new Finale 11 we will see plenty of goals come the new season.
ADIDAS JABULANI – FEEDBACK FROM THE BALL SCIENTISTS
Following some complaints from players participating in the 2010 FIFA World Cup about the Jabulani Match Ball, adidas invited their ball scientists from Germany to provide some insight on how the ball is made as well as on some of it’s technical features.
ADIDAS CUSTOMIZE WORLD CUP BALLS
Adidas will – like the World Cups before – customize every ball used in the World Cup fixtures. Here is a look at the one which will be used in the opening game between South Africa and Mexico at Soccer City in Johannesburg.
ADIDAS FINALE MADRID
Recently we revealed the new Adidas ball that will be used in the UEFA Champions League Final; the Finale Madrid.
Bayern Munich’s Arjen Robben and Inter Milan’s Diego Milito hold aloft the official adidas final match ball “Finale Madrid ” ahead of the 2010 UEFA Champions League final on Saturday 22nd May 2010.
UMBRO NEOPRO BALL
Umbro introduces their new ball the: NeoPro. Constructed from 14 panels and cut using laser technology to create a true flight – the NeoPro will be used for the first time in the FA Cup Final tomorrow.
MITRE TENSILE: THE WORLD’S MOST ADVANCED FOOTBALL
Mitre, the world’s oldest football brand, today launched the brand new TENSILE ball – the most advanced football in the world.
The TENSILE is a revolution in football design and technology, comprised of just 10 panels and has over 30% less stitching. This optimises power and efficiency, improving airflow and reducing drag on the ball. This increases the average speed of a shot, making it a strikers dream. The ball is the first of its kind and will be used in all Football League and Scottish Premier League (SPL) matches from the beginning of the 2010/11 season.
TENSILE’s graphic design is completely unique; with each of the 72 Football League clubs and 12 SPL Clubs for the new season each having their own TENSILE matchballs printed in club colours and their club badge .
Mitre’s heritage and reputation for making the world’s best footballs is unrivalled, with the TENSILE being another example of Mitre’s innovations in football over nearly 200 years. The TENSILE’s revolutionary design delivers a greater transfer of energy, superior efficiency, stability and aerodynamics than ever before, and will retail at £74.99.
Nick Crook, Marketing Manager for Mitre, said, “Mitre are committed to ball performance, we are very proud of the TENSILE and the innovation and technology used to create the ball underlies what Mitre has been associated with for nearly 200 years. The TENSILE is a players ball , uses the very latest technology and we’ve no doubt it will add to the excitement and spectacle of the new season – and hopefully more goals!”.
ADIDAS WORLD CUP FINAL BALL: JO’BULANI
Golden adidas “JO’BULANI” Official Match Ball for the Final of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™
adidas designs special Match Ball for the World Cup final
Today adidas launched the Official Match Ball for the final of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ in South Africa. The adidas “JO’BULANI” is a unique gold-coloured version of the “JABULANI”, the Official Match Ball of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ and its name is a tribute to Johannesburg or Jo’burg, the City of Gold. While the ball still features the iconic South African inspired design, the main colour of the “JO’BULANI” is gold.
This is the second time that adidas has designed a special ball for a FIFA World Cup™ final, the first final ball was the golden “TEAMGEIST BERLIN”, which was used on July 9th, 2006. The “JO’BULANI” will be available in retail from April 20th onwards.
The “JO’BULANI” also features the newly developed “Grip’n’Groove” profile which provides the best players in the world with a ball allowing an exceptionally stable flight and perfect grip under all conditions. Comprising only eight, completely new, thermally bonded 3-D panels, which for the first time are spherically moulded, the ball is perfectly round and even more accurate than ever before.
The name ”JO’BULANI” is inspired by the name “JABULANI”, which means “to celebrate” in isiZulu, one of the eleven official languages of the Republic of South Africa, which is spoken by almost 25% of the population. The name “JO’BULANI” is also a tribute to the host city of the final, Johannesburg, or Jo’burg as people may call it. The “JO’BULANI” is designed in white and gold, as a tribute to both the colour of the FIFA World Cup™ trophy and the “City of Gold”, the nickname of Johannesburg.
adidas always involves world-class athletes in the development and testing of its products. For the adidas “JABULANI”, adidas partners AC Milan, FC Bayern München, the Orlando Pirates and Ajax Cape Town tested the ball in 2008, contributing to improvements in the surface structure and material composition. The involvement of our players will continue to help bring the best football products to market going forward.
In the future, adidas will continue to use innovative technology to extend its world-leading position in football production and thus strengthen its position as the authentic symbol of high-performance sporting goods for professionals and amateurs alike. adidas also intends to unveil more revolutionary innovations in match ball production for future UEFA, FIFA and CAF competitions. The adidas innovation team (ait.) is already working on innovations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™.
