"Have a Ball"

18 June 2025

60s

Use it or lose it.

The Premier League has done a Wimbledon and said, "New balls please". After twenty-five years with Nike, it’s made German sportswear giant Puma the official supplier of the Premier League match ball. Cue this celebratory spot from director Samona Olanipekun, who tells viewers to make the most of the ball when they get it. Use it, as Mötley Crüe once sang, or lose it.

Take the goalkeeper who catches the ball and goes on a mazy run with it, or the five-a-side team that keeps the ball when the coach wants to go home. Possession-based tactics may bore certain fans to death, but there's still joy to be had with the ball, says Puma. The Premier League stakes are high, though—will a new ball encourage players to express themselves like those 'coached' by Olanipekun and choreographer Eddie McClements?

There'll be no time to waste, that's for sure. As one wide-eyed ball boy tells us, a Premier League players only has control of the ball for around a hundred and nine seconds a game. Less tika-taka and more ticky-tocky, then.

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