Molten Corporation

Molten Corporation (株式会社モルテン) is a sports equipment and automotive parts company based in Hiroshima, Japan.

Molten is mostly known for manufacturing balls for several team sports, with a range of products that includes American footballs, association footballs, basketballs, dodgeballs, handballs and volleyballs. Notably, Molten basketballs are the official balls for all FIBA worldwide competitions,[3] and numerous domestic leagues outside of North America.

Molten is also the official volleyballs producer for USA Volleyball and the NCAA men's and women's championships.[4]

History

Founded in 1958, Molten is the world's largest ball and sports equipment manufacturer. Molten USA, Inc. was established in 1983 to bring these quality sports balls to the U.S. marketplace. Originally located in

AFC

Starting from 2019, Molten will supply official match ball for all Asian Football Confederation (AFC) club and national team tournaments, including the 2019 AFC Asian Cup. The Molten Acentec was specifically designed for the Asian Cup, based on Vantaggio 5000.[7] The partnership didn't continue in the 2023 AFC Asian Cup as the AFC has appointed Kelme to supply the match ball for the tournament. However Molten still supply the match balls in other AFC-sanctioned national team tournaments.[8]

Molten's initial involvement in AFC's club competitions excluded the AFC Champions League, as Molten provides Adidas match balls (Molten are the official manufacturer and distributor of Adidas footballs in Japan).[9] However, since 2021 season the AFC Champions League are also using Molten-branded match balls after Molten extended a three-year deal with the confederation until 2024.

Bangladesh

Molten became Bangladesh Football Federation's official ball partner. The agreement was signed on 19 May 2025 in Dhaka. Balls from Molten will be used for

Bangladesh national football team

Bangladesh women's national football team

Bangladesh Premier League

Federation Cup

Independence Cup

Bangladesh Challenge Cup and Bangladesh Super Cup.

More completions running by BFF in Bangladesh

UEFA Europa and the Europa Conference League

On 23 October 2017, UEFA has announced that Molten Corporation had signed a three-year agreement to become the official match ball supplier for the UEFA Europa League -- replacing Adidas -- through seasons 2018–19, 2019–20 and 2020–21. "Molten UEFA Europa League" is the name of the official match balls of the tournament during the three-year contract. These footballs derive from the Molten Vantaggio 5000 -- a high quality FIFA and NFHS Approved match ball -- albeit with custom design resembling Europa League's branding.[10]

On 4 February 2021, Molten and the UEFA has reached an agreement to extend the three-year contract to become the official match ball suppliers for the UEFA Europa League and newly created UEFA Europa Conference League.[11] Molten's partnership in those tournaments will end at the conclusion of the 2023-24 season as Decathlon's Kipsta will take over in the subsequent seasons.[12]

Domestic leagues

In the past decade, Molten has increased its prominence in the world of football, becoming the official supplier of match balls for various leagues and domestic competitions, as well as a technical supplier for various clubs all over the world.

🇨🇱 Liga de Primera (Official match balls)

🇸🇻 Primera División de El Salvador (Official match balls)

🇬🇹 Liga Guate (Official match balls)

native name	株式会社モルテン
native name lang	ja
type	Private KK
founded	November 1, 1958
hq location city	Yokogawa Shin-machi, Nishi-ku, Hiroshima, 733-0013
hq location country	Japan
area served	Worldwide
key people	Kiyo Tamiaki (President and CEO)
industry	Sports equipment
products	* Sports equipment * Automotive parts * Building materials * Nursing and welfare equipment
num employees	3,900 (consolidated, as of 31 March 2015)
footnotes	‡R1R‡‡R2R‡
website	molten.co.jp

History

AFC

Bangladesh

UEFA Europa and the Europa Conference League

CONCACAF

Domestic leagues

Basketball national teams

External links

References