Someone said the cold-temperature issue had already been checked.
If the balls had been inflated at 20°C and then used at 5°C, the difference in pressure would have been less than 15/273 (also known as 5.5%). That’s not accounting for moisture condensation, which I doubt would make much of a difference.
I saw a “How do they do that?” type of show on Discovery or one of the cable channels just a couple of weeks prior to this imbroglio. The episode was on the manufacture of NFL footballs at the factory in Ohio(?).
The last thing they do before putting the balls in the carton to be shipped to the games is inflate them, inside a holder, with air from the factory supply conduits. Factory air supplies have driers, filters and in some instances coolers to remove dirt, oil and MOISTURE from the supply lines before getting to the end user. CNC machines and precision measuring machines that use air for motors are especially sensitive to oily and moist air, so I doubt there was much moisture in the balls...............
The absolute pressure would drop by that much. The gauge pressure (absolute minus 14.7 psi atmospheric) would drop by more.
(12.5 + 14.7) * (278.15/293.15) = 25.8. Subtract atmospheric pressure of 14.7 and get 11.1 psi or an 11% drop in gauge pressure.
the balls were wet also
Oh, it very much could make a big difference.
Now, is it worth digging through boxes for some college texts? Naah.