Drone programs are now “part and parcel” to sports coverage
“What are we doing for drone coverage?”
It’s a question raised at all ESPN meetings around major sporting events, said Chris Calcinari, senior vice president of production operations for Disney media entertainment distribution.
“You can’t run a modern operations department without having a drone program,” said Calcinari, who added that Disney’s internal drone department will reach seven or eight full-time staffers in the near future. “It is part and parcel to the coverage.”
Calcinari said the emphasis on drones is two-fold. Production partners and leagues expect the technology integration, while there’s also a shortage on blimps and other aerials such as airplanes and helicopters. An internal drone department allows ESPN, which marked its first foray into drones at the 2015 Winter X Games, to avoid relying on third-party vendors.
The eight-team Fan Controlled Football League, a “digital-first” startup that allows fans to vote for which play their team should select next, leveraged drone technology in its first two seasons, with “80% to 90%” of footage being live, according to Patrick Dees, co-founder and chief gaming officer. Most drone footage across the industry is live versus taped, and broadcasters expect that trend to continue.
Dees said he wanted the on-field product to be “instantly accessible in a way that ‘Madden’ is,” referring to the popular NFL video game. The FCF has deployed multiple drones during competition, hovering near teams’ huddles, trailing plays overhead, zooming in to highlight interceptions and even capturing FCF team owner and DJ Steve Aoki calling a touchdown play. Dees calls it the “hero cam.”
Drones flew almost 1,500 miles during the 2022 FCF season, at a max speed of 40 miles per hour, he said.
“Everybody loves sports because of the pace,” Dees said, “and drones feel uniquely equipped to provide that pace and that excitement.”
Sky’s the limit
In the NHL, the New York Rangers took fans on a first-person-view drone tour of Madison Square Garden that Matt Coy, vice president of event presentation at MSG Sports, referred to as a “great stepping stone” toward future drone integrations.
“It surpassed my expectations,” said Danny Meiseles, executive producer at MSG Sports. “I thought it was going to be a very cool creative to have in our in-game presentation. I did not expect that it would do as well on social as it did.” The team’s tweet featuring the drone video earned more than 1,100 retweets, one of the highest totals of the season.
Drone integration can help turn casual NHL fans into hardcore fans, said Matt Nicholson, the NHL’s vice president of production and creative development. The Winter Classic in Minneapolis on New Year’s Day showed off the technology via picturesque shots and new camera angles.
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