The 2018 FIFA World Cup was an exciting event to watch. With such great performances from teams like Argentina, France and others, the event stood out from the earlier FIFA world cups. But, there was one more thing that make this world cup kind of special. We’re talking about the usage of drones in this world cup series. The world cup was covered with drones and you could see sky viper drones and other types of drones all around the event.

Let’s take a look at some of the drone applications that companies applied in FIFA world cup 2018.

Significance of using drones in big events

Drones were designed to capture footage videos and photographs of events, calamities etc. They also used to regulate traffic and other things across the world. The best part about the drones is that they are compact little devices that can be controlled via a remote and the option to have a camera on the drone is phenomenal.

These drones can be used in order to keep an eye on the event location’s security and even to use the footage to display the event videos from different creative angles. There have been talks about using a drone to deliver products to consumers but to make this a reality, we will need to wait for sometime when it becomes mainstream.

Take a look at the following points that explain how a drone can be used at big events like FIFA world cup.

• For security: Drones can be a big thing to keep a big event’s location secure since these devices can provide a view and look at the event that normal CCTV cameras cannot.

• Footage capture: Drones can be used to capture fast paces footage in sporting events that might not be possible with a traditional camera that requires a cameraman.

• For streaming: The drones can be configured to capture and stream an aerial view of the sporting events which is definitely a treat to watch and adds to the watching experience.

• For adding better phone & WiFi reception: Anyone who has went to a large sporting event knows how bad the phone reception gets when the place is crowded with people using phones. This can be fixed using drones that can act as temporary antennas that provide better phone and WiFi reception to the visitors.

• For analytical purposes: Drones can be used to gather analytical data since they have all the important tools like a camera, and they work discreetly thereby not interfering with the watching experience for the visitors.

Budweiser – Light Up the World Campaign

Budweiser, the official sponsor of the 2018 FIFA World Cup started a Light Up the World Campaign which extensively used drones and drone footage. The campaign was targeted towards promoting Budweiser beverages towards people watching the world cup matches at the stadiums or from their homes or bars from around the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzObnrQwycE

The one-minute ad clip shows multiple DJI Inspire 2 drones delivering beer to soccer fans. The campaign was a huge hit and people around the world loved it for sure. The ad showed these drones delivering Budweiser beer bottles and kegs being delivered to the fans.

The ad was shot in multiple locations across the world starting from St. Louis in USA and then moving on to places like Rio De Janeiro, Shanghai, London, Lagos, Moscow, and then finally to the stadiums where the match was taking place. It is definitely impressive how Budweiser used the drones to create this ad.

Drone footage tour of FIFA 2018 Stadiums

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVgVa3hms10

A group of Russian photographers known as AirPano captured photos and 360-degree videos of the stadiums that were going to host the world cup matches. A total of 12 stadiums in 11 different cities across Russia were assigned to be the match locations for the world cup. The video and photos of these stadiums were captured using various different drones to give the public an idea of what the stadiums look like and what they can expect.

Security Surveillance during FIFA 2018

Russia’s National Guard used drones for security surveillance purposes at the FIFA 2018 world cup. This was done in order to keep an eye on security and even to identify the “aggressive fans” as mentioned by Sergey Melikov who is the deputy director of National Guard in Russia.

The drones were used in order to control the crowd since the world cup event attracted a lot of fans and public from around the world.

Verdict

The FIFA 2018 world cup marked its name in history not only due to the matches that were played but also due to the use of latest pieces of technology. With companies like Budweiser using drones to showcase their products and then the National Guard using drones for security, the future is looking bright for drone usage. We have just started with the drones and with the right combination of tech, drones actually might prove to be useful in a lot of places.