All the footballs to be used in Super Bowl XXXV will be tagged with a unique strand of synthetic DNA. This will be the second consecutive Super Bowl to use this process in order to ensure the authenticity of the actual balls used in the game.

The growth of counterfeiting of all sports collectibles played the major part in this decision. In prior years only a letter of authenticity had been provided, and as a result any number of balls have been sold as Super Bowl balls that were not. "For a prestigious American sporting event such as the Super Bowl," said Chris Outwater, president of DNA Technologies, "it seems only fitting the NFL use the most reliable anti-counterfeiting technology available."

The actual marking of the balls will be done by DNA Technologies' licensee Professional Sports Authenticators using an invisible, yet permanent strand of synthetic DNA. The balls will be further protected by a tamper evident PSA/DNA label and a DNA-marked Certificate of Authenticity. Verification can be done at any time with a specially calibrated laser.