The Crazy Uses of Drones in Sports

Stealthily, secretly and, occasionally, for purposes of espionage, drones have hovered into the world of sport.

If we didn't see them coming, it's because we weren't supposed to.

On Thursday, according to a report by The Sun's Will Payne (subscription required), Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal enlisted a team of experts to monitor the sky above the Premier League outfit's Carrington training complex:

The outlet's source, as per Eurosport, explained that as the Dutchman works with "some very specific tactics" he will "go to great lengths to keep them secret."

For anyone caught unawares by the drones' arrival, such an admission will have come as a surprise.

But that doesn't mean Van Gaal's paranoia isn't warranted.

Julian Finney/Getty Images

Last winter, during the Olympic Games in Sochi, drones were used to film various alpine events. And, perhaps appropriately given the youth of the technology, various college programs in the United States have embraced their existence and broadened their use.

In a May interview with ESPN.com's Paula Lavigne, UCLA Bruins coach Jim Mora admitted to relying on drones for the gathering of advanced analytics.

"Hand placement. Foot placement. Spacing," he explained to Lavigne. "When it hovers above the line of scrimmage, you can get a real clear perspective of spacing between your offensive linemen, or differences in depth of the rush lanes of your defensive linemen."

Information, it goes without saying, that any coach or manager would prefer to keep from the opposition.

The UCLA drones typically operate about 20 feet above the playing surface—well below the 400-foot level (or Model Aircraft limit) at which Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations are widely perceived to take effect.

But the FAA, according to its official website, refers to drones as Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and holds that their operation is only authorised "on a case-by-case basis." And as the Wall Street Journal's Jack Nicas pointed out in October, the organisation "has banned all but a handful of private-sector drones in the U.S."

As reported this week by Forbes' Gregory S. McNeal, the White House is considering its policy options as a 2015 UAS legislation deadline looms, and as varying concerns ranging from privacy to the shackling of innovation force it to walk a fine line.

Its challenge, and that faced by numerous administrations around the world, is to ensure the safety and privacy of its citizens while encouraging the sort of technological development that can both serve a purpose in the marketplace (such as the unmanned product deliveries proposed by Amazon, as per the BBC) and enhance experiences such as sporting events.

In fact, the entire industry of sport—from individual teams and leagues to broadcasters—could argue that drones are a commercial matter.

Van Gaal, for example, is seeking to protect his product from compromising eyes in the sky, and Mora is arranging formations and plays from data gleaned overhead. Then there are the media companies in search of new angles for filming and photographers on the lookout for attractive, revealing shots.

Ultimately, drones can be, and will be, a central element to the sporting landscape for years to come.

If past experience with previous technologies has revealed anything, it's that coaches, athletes and television executives will make the most of what's available to them, and fans will come to see the new developments as normal.

It will be the same with drones, however unlikely it may yet seem.

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