sports

While drones are doing wonders across multiple industries and sectors, not everyone uses them with good intentions or with complete knowledge of airspace rules and regulations. The latter has become especially true for sporting events in different parts of the world.

The NASCAR dirt track race on Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway marked the first time drivers were allowed to pick a lane on a dirt restart. And giving a rather high-tech twist to the whole process was a drone hovering above the racing surface, carrying a bright orange LED marker to indicate the “choose” area.

If you’re a baseball fan, or just appreciate exceptional sports content in general, chances are you’ve seen or shared the viral Wrigley Field drone video that the Chicago Cubs put out last weekend. Now, catch the breakdown of all the hard work that has gone into making that video appear as thrilling as it does.

If additional evidence were needed to demonstrate the eye-popping improvements drones have made to filming the world’s best surfers carving waves, two recent videos have provided it by capturing perspectives that would have been impossible to capture otherwise. 

Ahead of Thursday night’s kickoff of the National Football League’s (NFL) 2022 season, officials stepped up to reiterate concerns about the looming expiration of legislation that allows a limited number of federal agencies to take out drones invading airspaces or otherwise posing threats during large events.

The Qatari Ministry of Interior and Safety and Security Operations Committee (SSOC) for the 2022 FIFA World Cup has decided to hire a US counter-drone specialist to secure the upcoming games. Utah-based Fortem Technologies will be present in the Arab nation this November to provide real-time airspace awareness and detect and defeat dangerous drones.

As the new and improved United States Football League (USFL) began its inaugural season on Saturday night, every attempt was made to give fans as much access to the teams and players as possible. One technology that had many viewers talking about it was the use of drones during gameplay.

A team of Japanese researchers has come up with a novel solution that enables people with low vision to play badminton. The unique concept replaces the shuttlecock with an encased DJI Tello drone and requires a special set of rackets.

Grab the popcorn and settle in, because this is rally racing that you NEED to watch. An FPV drone chased the world’s best rallycross drivers during the final 2021 World RX event at the Circuit de Lohéac in France last weekend. And the resulting footage is pretty dope!

As the US Open, a Grand Slam event, begins Monday in New York City with 100% spectator capacity, it marks a return to normalcy for the global tennis community. And so the New York City Police Department (NYPD) is taking zero chances with anyone who may be interested in getting a “unique view” of the tournament. This means no drones.

The Dallas Cowboys created quite a buzz with that stellar drone footage of their practice facility for Hard Knocks, didn’t they? Well, it was enough for Miami Dolphins to come forward with an FPV drone video of their own – showing off their new world-class sports performance facility, the Baptist Health Training Complex.

Everyone’s talking about last night’s episode of HBO’s 18-time Sports Emmy-winning series Hard Knocks. But more than the Dallas Cowboys, the spotlight is on The Star – the football team’s state-of-the-art practice facility in Frisco, Texas. And that’s because of a dope three-minute FPV drone fly-through video.

Professional baseball has gone to some extreme, and some argue self-destructive, lengths to cut the duration of both major and minor league games. One thing it hasn’t been able to rule-change into submission is rain stoppages. And now it looks like baseball may also have trouble with drone delays.

A 5G-enabled drone developed by Drone Racing League (DRL) and T-Mobile has just made its primetime debut. As one of the first racing drones in the world to have an embedded 5G module capable of live streaming video, the Magenta 5G drone gave baseball fans unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to the long-awaited Field of Dreams Game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB).

Austin FC, the newest member of the Major League Soccer, inaugurated its brand-new home, the Q2 Stadium, this month. And the club’s co-owner and minister of culture, Matthew McConaughey, could hardly contain his enthusiasm while walking fans through an FPV drone tour of the state-of-the-art $260 million facility.

Big air kiteboarding is growing fast. When the aim is to achieve maximum height with everything you do, the faster you ride, the higher you fly. And what else can fly fast and high? FPV racing drones!

Unbridled passions are part and parcel of elite international soccer, but seldom do those become so inflamed they claim innocent victims – as they did in South America this week. Rest in piece(s), noble drone felled by that burst of fútbol fury.