If you weren’t one of the millions of people who watched Super Bowl 51 last night, you missed out on a record setting game and a halftime performance featuring the most innovative light show the Super Bowl has ever scene.
By Sunday night, everyone had heard whispers that Lady Gaga might be entering through the roof of the Huston Texan’s NRG Stadium for her halftime performance. The surprise came when hundreds of drones illuminated the sky behind her while she sang “God Bless America.”
The familiar looking drones were supplied by Intel, the same group who recently brought drone light shows to Disney World and created the Guinness World Record setting “500 Drone Light Show” in 2016.
Spokespeople from Intel told USA Today that they had been given special waivers through the FAA to fly above 500 feet; at night; and in a No Fly Zone. The Intel production team worked with Lady Gaga, Pepsi, and the NFL’s creative team for several weeks on the logistics and choreography.
Intel told reporters that the light show was shot over several days with the shoot we saw taking place on January 30th. Why pre-record the event? They say wind, weather, and airspace restrictions left too many question marks for a performance of that magnitude, but Intel assured reporters it could be done live.
If it was pre-recorded, why wasn’t the story leaked? USA Today reported there were low flying helicopters over those “rehearsal” and “shoot” dates for security reasons, but no one knew the secret operation that would be unveiled just a few days later.

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Other AirVūz News stories feature Intel drones:
AV News: Guinness World Record Drones
AV News: Drone 100