A new, bespoke edition of the Nike Merlin has been confirmed as the official match ball of the 2019/20 Premier League season, with all 380 fixtures set to feature the eye-catching creation.

The mystical artefact through which the Premier League’s wizards will conduct their sorcery next season, the new Merlin is Nike’s love letter to English football, the product of a design process which obsessed itself with the unmatched tempo and roaring crowds of the top-flight competition.  

As Kieran Ronan, General Manager of Nike Global Equipment, explains:

“We wanted to design a ball that specifically illustrated the traits of Premier League football.”

“A ball that felt hyper-technical and precise in nature but also inspired by this English culture of living and breathing Premier League football.”


Similar to the way that the revamped A-League and W-League logos were intended to be adaptable to each team’s unique colourway, the new Nike Merlin’s modular design will experience similar experimentation throughout the course of the season, so Premier League fans could see several editions of the ball in 2019/20.

As the official match ball supplier to the Premier League since the 2000/01 season, Nike launched the Merlin to coincide with the partnership’s 20th anniversary, and the ball’s been unsurprisingly marketed as the brand’s most technologically-advanced creation yet:

  • Reduced seams = More striking surface = Bigger and better ‘sweet spot’
  • Latex bladder for superior upkeep of shape and pressure
  • Nike AEROWTRAC technology allows for consistency in ball spin
  • Raised 3D patterns on surface permit greater control in the touch
  • Better traction on all pitches and in all conditions thanks to Nike’s innovative Urban Grip technology

The 2019/20 Premier League Nike Merlin Football will be available from July 4, 2019.