Minium: Stay in your seat at halftime of tonight's football game for a spectacular drone show
ODU Global and ODU University Communications will present a drone show at halftime of tonight's game that is not to be missed.
By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – Here’s some advice for everyone who will attend tonight’s football game between OId Dominion and Georgia Southern – stay in your seats for the first 10 minutes of halftime.
If you head out to get a hot dog, you’ll miss the first drone show ever presented on ODU’s campus. And I’ve seen an online rendition of the show, and it is not to be missed.
Maybe get that hot dog between quarters.
“I wish I could see it,” said Ricky Rahne, ODU’s head football coach, at his weekly press conference this week. “It sounds exciting.”
But, of course, he will be busy in the ODU locker room at halftime.
He said he hopes to catch the show on video. But Tyler Jack, an account executive for Sky Elements, which is putting on the show, said it won’t be quite the same.
“What you see online is nothing like you will see in person,” he said.
“If you haven’t seen a drone show, seeing one in person is a unique experience.”
The stadium lights will be dimmed and for 10 minutes, 350 drones will rise 400 feet behind the Atlantic Bay game day building on the south side of the stadium on 49th Street.
All 350 drones are remote controlled and will perform in sync. It’s more than a high-tech version of fireworks. No smoke. No explosions. Just a symphony of lights with music in the background.
The drones will pay tribute to all six branches of the armed forces, as well as a tribute to ODU and the Hampton Roads region.
The show itself will be huge. “The drones will take up an area larger than a football field,” Jack said.
The game is ODU’s annual Military Appreciation Game and is being televised nationally by ESPN2.
ODU Global, the University’s online program, and ODU’s University Communications departments are sponsoring the drone show. And if you’re interested in applying to ODU, get out your cell phone tonight. There will be a QR code at the end of the show will take you to a web site that will introduce you to the University
CLICK HERE TO SEE A SHORT INTRODUCTION TO ODU
Anyone who applies for admission before Oct. 27 can do so without paying the application fee by using the code VCAW.
Sky Elements is the nation’s largest producer of drone shows and does hundreds across the nation, from major sports games to festivals across the world. The Dallas-based company does about 65 percent of all drone shows in America.
Jack said that drone shows became a thing about five or six years ago and have become increasingly more popular.
“I think the fans there will enjoy the show,” he said. “It’s a very special tribute to the military and to that region.”
Like I said, stay in your seats.