Custom Football Boxes
Custom football boxes — a cube for the ball with a window, a lidded box for boots, a divided box for a full kit — in E flute printed in your colors, from 100. Dieline and price the same working day.
A round ball, a pair of studded boots and a shirt that must arrive folded
- Board
- E flute white-lined; B flute for inflated balls
- Builds
- Ball cube with window and ring cradle; lidded boot box with stud guard; divided kit box
- Sizing
- Size 5 ball about 230 mm cube; boots by size band; kit box to the folded shirt
Get a price for Football Boxes
Send the size and quantity — we reply the same working day with a price, a dieline and a date. Artwork optional at this stage.
- Free dielineThe flat drawing comes with the quote, before you commit.
- Proof before pressNothing is printed until you have seen it laid on the dieline.
- Die kept for reordersTooling is paid once. Every reorder skips straight to press.
- Quoted in four marketsUS, UK, Canada and Australia, in the delivery currency.
The three boxes
| Ball box | A cube about 230 mm a side for a size 5; a ring cradle top and bottom; a window on one face |
|---|---|
| Boot box | A lidded box with a stud guard sheet and a tissue; sized to the largest size in the band |
| Kit box | A flat box with a divider: shirt, shorts, socks each in a cell; a card slot |
Holding a ball still
A ball in a cube rolls and scuffs. A die-cut ring — a board collar at the top and bottom — holds it centered with the panel facing the window. Deflated balls ship flatter in a smaller box with a folded cradle and a "pump before use" note; inflated balls need the full cube and a stiffer board. Say which.
Boots: studs and the stack
Our sports packaging for every sport covers the formats for other games.
- A stud guard — a board sheet between the boots — so the studs do not mark the other boot or the box.
- E flute for the box, because boot boxes stack ten high in a store.
- A size panel on the end for the stockroom.
- Tissue and a silica sachet, and the box sized with them in.
Kits: keeping the shirt flat
A replica or team kit is a shirt, shorts and socks, and it is the shirt that has to arrive crease-free and badge-up. A flat box with a divider gives the folded shirt its own cell on a platform, the shorts beside it, the socks rolled at the end, and a card in a slot with the player name or the club message. Inside print on the lid — the badge, a chant, the season — is what gets photographed.
Team colors on E flute: a white liner prints any color true; a kraft liner mutes it. For a club color that must match, white.
Clubs, brands and the season
Clubs order kit boxes by the season for new signings and the club shop; brands order ball and boot boxes by the size run. The dies are kept, the print system holds the club colors, and a new season is a print change.
Football Boxes — specification
The rows that are specific to this build first, then what applies to every job we run. Anything not listed is a question, not a limit — send the brief.
This build
- Board
- E flute white-lined; B flute for inflated balls
- Builds
- Ball cube with window and ring cradle; lidded boot box with stud guard; divided kit box
- Sizing
- Size 5 ball about 230 mm cube; boots by size band; kit box to the folded shirt
- Full color in team colors on white liner; inside-lid print
- Inserts
- Ring cradles, stud guard, kit divider and platform, card slot
- Supply
- Flat; cradles and dividers flat
- Minimum
- 100 boxes
On every job
- Print process
- Digital below about a thousand, offset above it. One side or both, with spot colors where a match has to hold.
- Color
- CMYK as standard. Uncoated and kraft stocks print lighter and warmer; a spot color is the only exact match.
- Tolerance
- Cutting plus or minus 1 mm, creasing plus or minus 0.5 mm, confirmed on a plain sample before the run.
- Tooling
- A cutting die per size, made once and kept. Foil and emboss dies per artwork, also kept.
- Food contact
- Food-grade board and inks where the carton touches food, with the interior left plain.
- Sustainability
- Mono-material board wherever the product allows; recycled-content and FSC stocks; no claim printed the pack does not earn.
- Artwork
- Vector PDF or AI, 3 mm bleed, 4 mm safe area, fonts outlined. We check every file and send a proof before press.
- Dieline
- Supplied free with the quote, before you commit. Yours whether or not you order.
- Sample
- A plain unprinted sample at the finished size on request, for fit and construction.
- Reorders
- Skip the tooling and go straight to press at a lower unit price.
- Lead time
- Quoted with the price against your fill date rather than promised before we have seen the spec.
- Markets
- United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia — priced in the delivery currency, freight included.
Boards and films we build football boxes on
A folding carton is one sheet of board, so the board is the product. These are the stocks we run for cartons, what each is good at, and where it lets you down.
Natural kraft
Unbleached folding board. Warm, hides marks, costs least. Mutes color — one or two flat colors print well, photographs do not.
250–350gsm sleeves; 14–24pt cartonsWhite SBS
Solid bleached sulfate: bright, coated, the retail carton standard. Takes accurate color and every finish. Shows scuffs sooner than kraft.
14–24ptWhite lined chipboard
A recycled gray core under a white printing face. Cheaper than SBS and slightly duller; the back of the sheet stays gray.
16–24ptKraft-look coated
A kraft face over a coated inner. The natural look with a barrier behind it — the answer where oil, grease or moisture would mark plain kraft.
14–20ptRecycled-content board
Post-consumer fiber with a gray-brown cast. Right for outers and inner components; poor for bright whites and photography.
16–22ptMicro-flute E and F
A fine corrugated layer where a carton needs structure it cannot get from board — a large panel, a heavy product, a box that ships alone.
E 1.5 mm; F 0.8 mmUncoated and textured
No clay coat, or a linen or laid grain. Print reads softer and warmer; a deboss goes deeper. Photographs do not sit well on it.
280–350gsmMetallised and pearlescent
A metallic or pearl face for a shelf that needs to catch light. Costly, and it fights a photograph — a mark or a pattern suits it better.
16–20ptNot sure which? Say what goes in it and where it is sold — the material follows from that. Our notes on recycled, recyclable and compostable cover which claims each stock can honestly carry.
- 01
Send what you have
A dimension, a photograph beside a ruler, or the product itself. No technical drawing needed — that part is ours.
- 02
We quote and draw
A price, a dieline and a date come back together. If a different build would suit the product better, that is in the reply too.
- 03
Approve the dieline
The flat drawing is yours to check: which panel is the front, where the folds fall, how deep the cavity really is.
- 04
Artwork on the dieline
You place your design on the flat we sent, or we place it for you, and you see a proof before anything goes to press.
- 05
A sample if you want one
A plain unprinted sample at the finished size shows fit and construction — the things a drawing cannot.
- 06
Cut, printed, shipped
The die is cut once and kept, so every reorder skips the tooling and goes straight to press at a lower unit price.
Format
Vector PDF or AI where possible. Raster artwork at 300dpi at final size, in CMYK.
Bleed
3 mm past every trim line, so a fraction of drift on the cutter never leaves a white edge.
Safe area
Keep type and anything important 4 mm inside the cut and away from every fold.
Color
Convert to CMYK before sending. Uncoated stock prints lighter; a spot color is the only exact match.
Fonts
Outline them or supply the files. A missing font substitutes silently and the proof will not match.
Barcodes
On a light, matte, unvarnished patch with the quiet zone clear — a code on gloss fails the scanner.
Not set up that way? Send it anyway — fixing a file is a short conversation, and we check every one before press. Our guide to preparing print files covers each point.
Every finish here is a decision about light on a shelf, not about luxury.
Matte lamination
Reads considered, hides marks, takes a ballpoint.
Gloss lamination
Lifts color; glares under shop lighting.
Soft-touch
Velvet in the hand; shows fingerprints in a bag.
Hot foil
Real metal leaf — the most reliable premium signal.
Emboss / deboss
Shape with no ink; works in the dark.
Spot UV
Gloss shapes on a matte field.
Uncoated kraft
Warm, natural, mutes color.
Textured stock
Texture in the paper; cannot scuff off.
Not sure which suits the shelf it sells from? Say where the product is sold and we suggest one — our notes on specialty finishes show them on real boxes.
Sizing a folding carton so the die comes out right: football boxes
Measure the product, not the box it is in now. A carton is built around what has to fit inside it, assembled — cap on, lid fitted, folded if it folds — at its widest point in each direction. Send those three numbers and say which is which.
- Length x width x height
- Internal, always. External dimensions include the board and are what the carrier measures, not what the product needs.
- Clearance
- 2–3 mm a side for a snug fit; more where an insert or void fill goes in. A carton cut exactly to the product is slow to pack and transmits every knock.
- Board thickness
- Heavier board takes internal space from the product. It matters most on small boxes, where four walls of 24pt is a real share of the cavity.
- Varies between batches?
- Glass, textiles, molded parts and cured soap all do. Measure several and build to the largest.
- Cutting tolerance
- Plus or minus 1 mm on folding board. Confirmed on a plain sample before the run.
- Units
- Metric or imperial, as long as you say which. Mixing them in one spec is where mistakes happen.
Not sure your numbers are right? Send the product dimensions rather than the box dimensions and we work the box out — the full method is in our guide to measuring for a box.
Interactive · five steps · no sign-up
Build your Football Boxes in 3D
Pick a shape, type a size, choose a board and a finish. The preview on the left redraws as you go, and the spec lands with us exactly as you set it.
Frequently asked questions
Got a question about football boxes? The answers below cover what we get asked most. If yours is not here, send it with a brief, message us on WhatsApp, or call +1 503-461-4788 — we reply the same working day.
How is a ball held in the box?
By a board ring at the top and bottom that keeps it centered with the panel facing the window. Deflated balls ship in a smaller box with a folded cradle.
Do the boots need anything between them?
A stud guard sheet, so the studs do not mark the other boot or the box.
Will the shirt arrive flat?
Yes, in its own cell on a platform in a divided kit box, badge up.
Can the box be in club colors?
Yes, full color on a white liner so the color prints true.
Can I print inside the lid?
Yes — the badge, a chant, the season — and it is what gets photographed.
What is the minimum order?
100 boxes.
Do the boxes ship flat?
Yes, with the cradles and dividers flat inside.
Do I need a box per boot size?
No, two or three across the size run, each set by the largest boot in its band.
Can a kit box hold a card with the player name?
Yes, in a slot in the divider.
Is a boot box strong enough to stack?
Yes, on E flute, ten high in a store.
Can I reorder for a new season?
Yes. The dies and the print system are kept; a new season is a print change.
Do you ship outside the US?
Yes, to the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, quoted in the delivery currency.
Same range
