Sports ball with staggered surface features

An inflatable sports ball comprising:

• an interior bladder;
• a cover disposed about the interior bladder, the cover comprising an outer substrate that defines an exterior surface of the inflatable sports ball, wherein the outer substrate further comprises four adjoining panels coupled at a plurality of panel edges via a plurality of seams, wherein each panel comprises twenty-seven edges and the cover comprises fifty-four seams, and wherein each panel further defines:
• a plurality of interior channels, wherein each interior channel has a channel terminus that is radially spaced apart from the exterior surface, in a first radial direction, by a channel depth, and wherein each interior channel extends along a channel length that is less than 4.5 centimeters;
• a plurality of plateau sections disposed between the interior channels;
• wherein each panel edge extends along an edge length that is less than 4.5 centimeters;
• and
• wherein the edge length and the channel length are substantially identical.