The Premier League has unveiled the new ball for the 2025/26 season, with the PUMA orbita Ultimate PL making its debut in the Premier League Summer Series in the USA.
It will make its Premier League debut on the opening weekend of August 16. Teams will discover their opponents when the fixtures are released at 9am on Wednesday, June 18.
Making the announcement on the official website, the Premier League explain the science behind the new ball. “The PUMA Orbita Ultimate PL features 12 evenly sized panels that ensure precise weight distribution, keeping the ball perfectly balanced,” it says.
“Its high-frequency moulding guarantees long-lasting durability with enlarged and deeper seams to improve aerodynamics and shape retention.”
The ball is the first ever made by PUMA for the Premier League. The previous 25 years have seen the balls manufactured by Nike, but that deal came to an end at the end of last season.
The start of the season will now, however, be the first time that the PUMA Orbita 1 will be used in English league football. The ball was used in the Carabao Cup last season, with both Spurs and Arsenal reaching the semi-final stage of the competition.
It was the ball that Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta took aim at following the 2-0 loss to Newcastle United in the first leg.
“We also kicked a lot of balls over the bar, and it’s tricky that these balls fly a lot so there’s details that we can do better,” he said after his team failed to score from 23 shots at goal.
“It’s just different. It’s very different to the Premier League ball and you have to adapt to that. It flies different… when you touch it, the grip is very different as well so you have to adapt to that.”
Arsenal will have pre-season to adapt to the new ball before it’s kicked for the first time in the Premier League in just a couple of months’ time.
