SVG Sit-Down: Brad Cheney of Fox Sports Discusses the Evolution of Drone Coverage Heavier payloads, faster speeds allow more-versatile deployment By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Monday, February 22, 2021 - 1:51 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The 2021 NASCAR season on Fox Sports has been highlighted by the use of two drones, giving a new look and feel to the productions. The use of two drones is the culmination of a process that began in 2014 and has seen drones used at Supercross, golf events, NASCAR, and more. Sitting down with SVG, Brad Cheney, VP, Field Operations and Engineering, Fox Sports, discussed its evolution, key developments, and what's next for the use of drones in live sports production.
Fox Sports is using two drones for its NASCAR coverage.
Brad, let's go back to the beginning of your work with drones.
I think the amazing part is how fast everything evolves. Back in late 2014, we were launching our USGA efforts and getting ready for the next NASCAR season. And drones were on the scene because they were legalized [to fly], and that was the biggest thing for us because being able to legally fly was the biggest challenge.
What was your first use of drones?
It was at the Franklin Templeton Shootout in 2014, and it was a big, massive drone that could stay up for, like, eight minutes. It gave us beauty shots as it was really like a high camera. For a good period of time, that is how drones were used: as high-camera coverage with movement, which was still really cool.
What was that system like?
It was loud and noisy because there were more engines on that thing than on most airplanes. We took multiples of them to Supercross, and that was probably the biggest eye-opener because even the big drones were able to keep up with the bikes. The drones could do about 35 mph, and we could race along with the riders and get dynamic shots that showed the speed and agility of what those riders were doing.
That took things to the next level, where we said, How do we get the drones off the track and find places to use them? For us, NASCAR was the biggest opportunity.
https://www.sportsvideo.org/new/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/DRONE_SIZZLE_1.mp4
What was the challenge during the early days of NASCAR drones?
We still had very limited space to fly, because there are so many people and we had to have a safety zone of 200 ft. between the drone and people. But NASCAR and the racing community have always been great with us, and NASCAR and the drivers wanted to do it as much as we did.
The challenge was finding the spots at a track to fly when you have a quarter of a million people wanting to be as close to the track as possible. We managed to find some spots, flew, and it was beautiful.
What was next?
It wasn't able to get dynamic [shots], so we asked ourselves, How do we change that? We had only eight minutes to fly. How can you fly when you know it's going to matter and then come down and get back up again? You never know when somebody's going to wreck into the wall, so you're not necessarily there to catch it unless you can stay up longer. In 2018, we tethered a drone that could fly for long periods of time, but again, it was a high, wide shot as it couldn't hold a large zoom lens.
Heading into last year, there was a really big jump as racing drones started to be able to carry camera and transmitter payloads that were ready for broadcast. These pilots were flying them with goggles that gave them and us a first-person view. These pilots were amazing, using these FPV drones for promotional things like scaling a tall building, and, suddenly, we had the speed and dynamics in drones we needed for racing. We got together with Beverly Hills Aerials, who can fly the really big drones, but they also build their own FPVs. Now we had the speed and the video, so we knew it would be amazing to bring that to the Daytona 500.
What did those smaller drones bring to the show?
We had them whipping around and saw that they provided amazing shots as they were flying up to 90 mph. But they weren't able to get those beauty shots along the backstretch. And then, when the pandemic hit and everything shut down, we suddenly could fly literally everywhere but over the track itself.
That propelled this forward. We could have the access to do things like having the drone spin around the winner doing a burnout and keeping up at the same speed as the car. But we also still needed the bigger drone for the middle of the race.
How should people evaluate whether drones are good for their show?
There isn't just one type of drone, so you need to find the right one. They keep changing, and they do get twice as good each year. What you can do with them changes. At Daytona, we had a Sony P50 camera with a Canon 22X lens. That wouldn't be possible without the drone improving lift capabilities and run time.
We have massive and powerful drones and others that are very sleek and fast, so it's about being able to utilize all those pieces.
What else are you hoping to do with drones this year?
We can't wait to show you what we can do outside of racing again with the Westminster Dog Show and then later in the summer for MLB's Field of Dreams game being played in Iowa.
Where are we with respect to flight times?
It's getting a little bit better, about 10% better each year, and we're at about 14-15 minutes depending on the load and the speeds the drone flies. As for the smaller drones, they can do up to 20 minutes unless you start ripping it at 90 mph for the run.
What happens when fans get back?
Safety is the continuous conversation that exists; the laws and venue rules always change as time moves on. To that point, there are technically no laws limiting flying over people, which used to have a 200-ft.-plus buffer. It is all abo
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
13/06/2026
Latest expansion pack includes 252 presets
Devious Machines have recently introduced another expansion for their powerful multi-effects plug-in, Infiltrator...
13/06/2026
Create custom DAW/plug-in controllers using prompts
MetaGrid have recently introduced an all-new AI Builder function to their touchscreen-based control surf...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
YES Network and The Gotham Sports App will air seven Athletes Unlimited Softball...
12/06/2026
The United Football League will host its FAST Innovation Suite at the 2026 United Bowl presented by Credit One Bank on Saturday, June 13 at 3:00 p.m. ET at Audi...
12/06/2026
PTZOptics and LayerJot will present live demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 showing how natural-language AI prompting, robotic camera control, and on-device comput...
12/06/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026, featuring...
12/06/2026
Ateme has announced that Eurovision Services is using Ateme's software-based frame-rate conversion technology for international live event workflows. The de...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin and Simplestream have announced a partnership with Xperi to simplify the launch of OTT streaming services on TiVo OS smart TVs and devices. The collabo...
12/06/2026
Net Insight has announced that a multinational technology company is deploying a...
12/06/2026
MLB Players Inc., the business arm of the MLB Players Association, has announced a partnership with Athletes First to develop and sell brand partnerships across...
12/06/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D) and VuWall have announced the CommandKeyboard-Advanc...
12/06/2026
Comcast Smart Solutions announces a new smart technology deployment with Major L...
12/06/2026
Elevation Worship completed the initial leg of its Elevation Nights 2026 tour ...
12/06/2026
AJA Video Systems has announced KONA IP25 support for Colorfront Transkoder and ...
12/06/2026
Audinate Group Limited (ASX: AD8) will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7321, Ce...
12/06/2026
Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould has announced the appointment of Scott Adametz as Chief Technology Officer. The Pac-12 describes the hire as the first CTO appo...
12/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced AMPP Edge Live, a production system combining Grass Valley hardware, NVIDIA Blackwell GPU acceleration, and AMPP OS in a single platf...
12/06/2026
At one time a trailblazer with the launch of the Longhorn Network, the Universit...
12/06/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
12/06/2026
Chyron has announced PAINT 10.4, an update to its illustrated replay and sports ...
12/06/2026
SVP, Production, Mark Gross: With the new schedule, with not having every Sunday night, it has given us an opportunity to take a step back and reimagine what o...
12/06/2026
For Televisa Technical Engineering Manager Roberto N nez Ibarra and the small team of 12 technicians and two production personnel at the IBC things are already ...
12/06/2026
Simple Steps to Better Acoustics - Taming The Small Room
Most of us mix in spare rooms and small spaces, where the acoustics fight us at every turn. At Gear...
12/06/2026
Latest addition expands vintage-inspired effects palette
Meris' Ottobit pedal range draws its inspiration from vintage gaming consoles, and the latest a...
12/06/2026
Soundbox-based chamber strings series expanded
Sonora Cinematic have just announced the launch of the second instalment in their Soundbox-based chamber stri...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
AJA Announces KONA IP25 Integration with Colorfront Software
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Collaboration enables uncompressed SMPTE ST 2110 I/O ...
12/06/2026
URSA Cine 12K LF Used to Create Visuals for STUTS' K-Arena Concert
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Organic visuals projected on a giant scre...
12/06/2026
MTI FILM Acquires Mango New Edit, Expanding its Global Post-Production Services ...
12/06/2026
AI Point Tracking Speeds Up Complex VFX Tracks in Mocha Pro
Jessie Electa Petrov June 12, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic point trac...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Simplestream, a provider of OTT and broadcast solutions, and technology provider Xperi, to...
12/06/2026
Leostream Corporation, creator of the world-leading Leostream Remote Desktop Access Platform, today announced Jigsaw24, a leading B2B IT solutions provider wit...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
How Aussie indie games and screen are levelling up with IP 11 June 2026
Ari Harrison, Pro Jank Footy
Head of Games Joey Egger and Ari Harrison of Umbrella sha...
12/06/2026
AgentPerf from Artificial Analysis, the industry's first agentic AI benchmark, gives developers, enterprises and infrastructure providers a clear way to com...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils First-Look Images from Villaflor, Santiago Mitre's New Film
Entertainment
12 June 2026
GlobalArgentina
Link copied to ...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Cross the Boundaries of the Real World into the Spirit Realm i...
12/06/2026
With John Daro, DI Colourist at Warner Bros. Water Tower Color Tuesday 23 June, 10am-1pm or 3-6pm
Restar Corporation
Tokyo
Register here
John Daro is the ...
SVG Sit-Down: Brad Cheney of Fox Sports Discusses the Evolution of Drone Coverage Heavier payloads, faster speeds allow more-versatile deployment By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
