ArrowData, a Las Vegas-based unmanned aircraft system operator, received FAA approval this spring to operate its drones for commercial use. The company is working with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, to capture images of events at the school’s Sam Boyd Stadium.
But ArrowData vice president Jim Fleitz is particularly excited about another location for drone use: arenas.
“Drones provide the fifth angle for sports,” he said. “There are huge possibilities at events like monster truck shows and motocross because there is dead airspace on the indoor courses.”
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An Arrowdata drone flies in Las Vegas’ Thomas & Mack Center.
Photo by: ARROWDATA |
Fleitz said drones can hover on the edge of such courses without interfering with the participants or vehicles.
The FAA does not control indoor airspace, so arenas are not subject to the regulations that outdoor facilities face.
The AFL this summer hired ArrowData to capture and share live high-definition footage of a Las Vegas Outlaws game with the league’s television partners, ESPN and CBS
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Drones are a good fit for “monster truck shows and motocross,” Arrowdata’s Jim Fleitz says.
Photo by: ARROWDATA |
Sports, as well as for fans inside Thomas & Mack Center.
Fleitz said that regardless of whether ArrowData drones are inside or outside, the company has launched an in-venue app through its Front Row Cam division that allows fans to watch the live view from the drone itself.
The Pac-12 Conference contemplated using ArrowData drones during its men’s basketball tournament this past March, held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The initiative began just a couple of weeks before the tournament, and plans could not be completed in time, Fleitz said.
