The 2025-26 Premier League season ended only a matter of days ago, but Puma couldn't wait to give us the grand introduction of the official match ball which will be used in the English top flight during the 2026-27 campaign.
While retaining a similar neon pink and purple colorway to its predecessor, the "Orbita Ultimate," the new "Stellar Nitro Ultimate" boasts a handful of technical advances including nitrogen-infused foam to help aid energy transfer and responsiveness (so Puma says), and a unique panel construction paired with grooved surface texturing to improve the stability of the ball while it moves at speed through the air.
Nike's long 22-year status as supplier of the Premier League match ball ended last summer, at which point Puma took the reins for the 2025-26 season. The German manufacturer also provides the official match balls for Spain's LaLiga and the German Bundesliga -- completing a hat trick of Europe's top domestic leagues.
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While the big switch from Nike to Puma didn't cause much in the way of upheaval, there have been a handful of Premier League players and managers who made comments about the Orbita ball over the course of the 2025-26 campaign, noting how light it is in comparison to the Nike balls used previously.
These comments were given extra credence when, thanks to ESPN's Ryan O'Hanlon, the Nike Flight (2024-25) and the Puma Orbita (2025-26) were tested side by side in controlled conditions by a team of sports scientists in Japan, who found that the latter generally did fly further and began to destabilize earlier.
This led to theories that the new Puma ball aided players who were willing to try their luck from distance, such as Liverpool's Dominik Szoboszlai and Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers, when it came to thumping powerful long-range efforts past opposing goalkeepers last season.
Whether the "Stellar Nitro Ultimate" continues to benefit 25-yard pot shots remains to be seen. Only three months until we get to find out...
