PSA/DNA authenticates Super Bowl LII game-used footballs & more

When Tom Brady or Nick Foles touch a football for the first time on Sunday in Super Bowl LII, they won’t be the first to handle them.

Beyond game preparations and handling each ball for the biggest NFL game of the year will have been “tagged” by PSA/DNA with synthetic DNA ink. There are approximately 100 footballs prepped to be used at some point during the game and those aren’t the only items authenticated by the company, which has been doing this for the Super Bowl for more than a decade.

In addition, there will be sideline end zone pylons authenticated as well as the official coin for the pre-game coin toss. They’ll all have nearly invisible counterfeit deterrent markings that have a one in 33 trillion chance of being duplicated, according to the company.

With some of these items headed to the auction block via the NFL and then the rest to the teams, authentication is important with so few items and simultaneous big demand.

“There’s no bigger game on the planet than the Super Bowl,” said PSA/DNA VP Steve Sloan, “and nothing gets you closer to the action on the field than a game-used item.”

For more on the process, check out the video below.