A sports ball (10), such as a football (12), has outer panels (14) of leather. The outer panels (14) have embossed pebbles (16) to enhance grip. Each outer panel (14) is formed by embossing the pebbles (16) on a segment (54) forming one or more of the outer panels (14) after the segment (54) has been cut from the unembossed full hide or half hide from which it comes. This provides great advantages in flexibility and consistency of manufacturing in addition to improved performance such as grip and aerodynamics.