They’ve been called the richest matches in the football world, and now the English Football League playoffs have a ball fitting of the occasion.
The EFL and Puma launched a special edition match ball on Wednesday, May 3, that will be used during this year’s SkyBet EFL Play-Offs, which will determine the final teams to be promoted to various levels of the English football pyramid for the 2023-24 season — including the third team to be promoted from the EFL Championship to the Premier League.
The Puma Orbita model — the same model used in Spain’s La Liga and Italy’s Serie A — “features gold accents celebrating the magnitude of each game and represents the ‘golden ticket’ of promotion each club is striving to achieve,” according to the EFL’s website. Puma logos on the ball fade from blue to red, while the golden triangles appear to be bursting out of jagged black-and-purple shapes.
This is the first time a special edition ball has been introduced for the EFL playoffs.
The Championship playoff final is often referred to as the richest game in football, as promotion to the Premier League can mean hundreds of millions of pounds in extra revenue for a club through television deals, sponsorship and other avenues. For last year’s playoff final winners, Nottingham Forest, promotion to the Premier League was estimated to be worth £265 million ($332.5 million US).
The Puma Orbita ball features 12 symmetrical star-shaped panels “forming the perfect sphere, with contours between panels enhanced to form deeper channels resulting in perfect ball flight aerodynamics.” The surface is made of 3D-textured polyurethane foam that improves aerodynamics and resists wear and tear. Inside, the rubber bladder and Puma Air Lock valve optimize air retention and rebound properties.
Authentic versions of the ball are available for pre-order through Pro Direct Sport for £100 ($125 US) each.
As the first- and second-place teams in the EFL Championship, Burnley and Sheffield United have automatically secured promotion to the Premier League for 2023-24. Luton Town and Middlesbrough had secured spots in the four-team playoff as of this story’s publication, with Coventry City, Millwall, Sunderland, West Bromwich Albion and Blackburn Rovers all in contention for the remaining two spots.
The four teams in the playoff will be finalized after the last Championship fixtures of the season are played on Monday, May 8. The two-legged semifinals will take place between May 13 and 17, and the playoff final will be played at Wembley Stadium in London on Saturday, May 27.
The same Puma Orbita ball will be used in other SkyBet EFL Play-Offs matches this month, including those determining which clubs will be promoted from League Two to League One and from League One to the Championship.
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