Sport Balls Having Seam Reinforcing Strips

A method of manufacturing a sport ball comprising:

• providing a plurality of casing panels;
• abutting edges of the casing panels together thereby forming a casing, the edges abutting at a plurality of panel interfaces forming seams between casing panels;
• affixing a plurality of reinforcing strips to the casing at a substantial majority of the panel interfaces by applying each reinforcing strip to surfaces of adjacent casing panels such that each reinforcing strip extends across the interface between the abutting edges of the adjacent casing panels;
• and
• orienting the casing to have a first external exposed casing surface and a second internal casing surface, the plurality of reinforcing strips being affixed to the second internal casing surface.

A method of manufacturing a sport ball comprising:

• providing a plurality of casing panels;
• abutting edges of the casing panels together, the edges abutting at a plurality of panel interfaces forming seams between casing panels;
• joining the abutting edges of the casing panels together by at least one of welding and stitching, thereby forming a casing, wherein the casing panels are oriented such that the casing is in an inside-out configuration, having a first casing surface facing outward and being exposed and a second casing surface facing inward and being concealed;
• pressing a first side of the casing radially inward to form the first side of the casing to be concave, thereby forming a substantially bowl-shaped configuration;
• affixing a plurality of reinforcing strips to the first casing surface at a substantial majority of the panel interfaces by applying each reinforcing strip to a surface of adjacent casing panels such that each reinforcing strip extends across the interface between abutting edges of adjacent casing panels;
• and
• orienting the casing to have the second casing surface exposed and the first casing surface facing radially inward and concealed, the plurality of reinforcing strips being affixed to the second internal casing surface.