Usage of drones in sports communication

Hebbel-Seeger & Horky | Usage of drones in sports communication... | Bloomington, Indiana/USA 2018 1

Usage of drones gets increasingly relevant
(Goldberg, Corcoran, & Picard 2013)
ethical and
legal aspects
(Bocher, 2014; Gynnild, 2014)
„generation drone“
military aspects
(Roush, 2014)
journalistic
aspects
(Captain, 2012)
privacy and
data
protection
aspects
(Bocher, 2014)
environmental
aspects (Peissl, 2014)

Video drones are considered the
innovative alternatives to “real”
helicopters, crane systems, spider
cams and camera dollies.
They are more flexible in usage
and comparably inexpensive.

Video drones create less downwash, are
less noisy and are also more maneuverable
so that they can be operated closer to the
point of action…

‘Large’ helicopters
need to keep a relatively long
distance to the filmed object
which calls for large focal lengths
or zoom factors that result in
narrow angles of view.

Video drones can approach objects
closely and therefore mostly avoid
zooming.

Video drones can “interact” with stationary or flying
constructions, for example by flying underneath bridges
or through buildings.

Even visualization in
complicate environments
becomes possible, if
video drones accompany e.g.
a skier over hazards
and through obstacles…

... or follow cyclists through
the urban canyons.

Video drones succeed in an
optimum manner the staging
of sports in space.
(Hebbel-Seeger, 2016)

Drones themselves are the
subject of staging an event.
Screenshot:www.thedronercingleague.com

In sports communication, a view from
above generally provides an overview.
By observing the athletic action from a
distance from above, the spatial, tactical
and situational dimensions of sports
open up to the spectators.

Even the perspective itself implicates
the audience in the feeling of being
better informed and having more
information.

Video drones affect the equality of opportunities
when a guiding or pace making can not be excluded.

Video drones increase the
risk of external interference
such as espionage,
propaganda and
ambush marketing.

Video drones
implies a potential
physical threat for
spectators and
athletes.

“Since the application of drones in journalism
is only just emerging, it is unknown how
the public will react to their usage.”
(Goldberg et al., 2013, 24)

We asked the audience in an online survey -
announced via Facebook pages of „German Sailing
League“ and „Hamburg Year of Water Sports 2014“
(Hebbel-Seeger, Horky & Theobalt, 2017)

“If you have already experienced
the usage of video drones at a
(sports) event: Do the unmanned
aerial vehicles in action frighten
you?”
(data in absolute numbers, n=326)

“If you have not experienced the
usage of video drones at a
(sporting) event yet: Do you think
that the unmanned aerial
vehicles in action would frighten
you?”

“Which associations
with/impressions/expectations of
video drones in sports do you
generally have?”

“To what extend do you think the
application of video drones has a
positive effect on the overall
quality of sports coverage?”

“To what extend do you think the
application of video drones has a
positive effect on the quality of
sports coverage with regards to
sailing?”

A live audience can perceive a video drone
within the produced and displayed content:
visually as a flying device in the sky as well as
aurally through the noise generation of the device

Within an event context, the employed media are supposed
to contribute to the overall experience.
Whereas in distance-overcoming communication,
the media themselves become
the focal point of the experience.

We also looked for differences among visitors and
persons, which encounter the same content as part
of mediated communication.
We interviewed 58 spectators at the finals of the
German Sailing League on October 31st and
November 1st, 2014.

In total, we didn‘t find any fundamental difference
between the visitors and the online interviewees:
Expectations are practically positive.
Potential danger is estimated to be low and tends
to decrease with the experience.

Video drones open new perspectives for sports
communication and for athletic practice thanks to
their view from above in combination with the
flexible space paths:
Capabilities are wide ranged.
Potentials, opportunities and risks are not
sufficiently explored yet.

Aquatic sports (tests) | Niche sports | High-performance sports | Indoor sports, group effects
Case Studies – main video results

Prof. Dr. Andreas Hebbel-Seeger & Prof. Dr. Thomas Horky
Macromedia University of Applied Sciences
Gertrudenstr. 3 | 20095 Hamburg | Germany
ahebbel-seeger@macromedia.de | thorky@macromedia.de
@ahs_HH | @thomashorky
www.sky-hi.de
Feedback: http://spoke.at/IACS2018-ahs-th

References
Boucher, P. (2014). Civil drones in society. Societal and Ethics Aspects of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems. Luxembourg: European Union. Retrieved
from http://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/bitstream/111111111/33061/1/civil%20drones%20in%20society%20-%20online%20copy.pdf.
Captain, S. (2012). Livestreaming Journalists Want to Occupy the Skies with Cheap Drones. Wired, Retrieved from
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/01/occupy-drones/.
Goldberg, D., Corcoran, M., & Picard, R.G. (2013). Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems & Journalism Opportunities and Challenges of Drones in News
Gathering. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University: Oxford.
Gynnild, A. (2014). The Robot Eye Witness. Extending visual journalism through drone surveillance. Digital Journalism, 2(3), 334-344.
Hebbel-Seeger, A. (2016). Videodrohnen in der Eventkommunikation. In A. Hebbel-Seeger, T. Horky, & H.-J. Schulke (Hrsg.), Sport als Bühne.
Mediatisierung von Sport und Sportgroßveranstaltungen (S. 326-345). Aachen: Meyer&Meyer.
Hebbel-Seeger, A., Horky, T. & Theobalt, C. (2017). Usage of Drones in Sports Communication – New Aesthetics and Enlargement of Space. Athens
Journal of Sports, 4(2), 89-105. https://www.athensjournals.gr/sports/2017-4-2-1-Hebbel-Seeger.pdf.
Peissl, W. (2014). Drones, flying allrounders? ITA-Dossier, Retrieved from http://epub.oeaw.ac.at/ita/ita-dossiers/ita-dossier006en.pdf.
Roush, A. (2014). Up in the Air. The drone revolution isn’t coming - it’s already here. Can UT expertise help us navigate the future? Alcade, Retrieved
from http://alcalde.texasexes.org/2014/10/up-in-the-air/.

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