Indoor and Arena FPV Drone Operations
Air Views Media flies FPV and micro drones indoors and inside stadium bowls, where the ceiling, the lighting rig and the audience are all close to the aircraft. Inside the Sphere in Las Vegas, we flew custom-built, sub-100-gram livestream drones and sent the FPV picture from the drone goggles straight to the Sphere's interior screen. At Truist Park we flew inside the stadium for the Atlanta Braves, and at Davis Wade Stadium we fly live feeds to the video boards for Mississippi State football. We are based in Augusta, Georgia, with a second location in Lynchburg, Virginia, and we take indoor and arena work anywhere in the US.
Inside the Sphere: goggles to the interior screen
The Sphere job set the bar for how small an indoor live aircraft can be. We built sub-100-gram livestream drones in house so they could fly inside the venue, above the audience, with as little visual footprint as possible. The live path was deliberately short: the FPV picture went from the drone goggles to the Sphere's interior screen, one of the largest screens in the world, so the room saw the same move the pilot was flying. See the FPV inside the Sphere case study.
What carries over to other venues is the approach, not the building. The aircraft is treated as a show camera, the receiver position is chosen and tested before doors, and the director knows exactly when the aerial is available and when it is not.
Inside the bowl: Truist Park and Davis Wade Stadium
At Truist Park, we flew inside the stadium for the Atlanta Braves and sent live drone feeds to two places at once: the TV broadcast and the stadium video board. See the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park case study.
For Mississippi State football's 2026 season, we fly live drone feeds to the video boards at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, inside the stadium. The board operator takes the drone like any other camera for entrances, crowd moments and features. See the Mississippi State video board case study and our page on live drone feeds for stadium video boards.
Arena concerts and venue shows
In a Seattle arena, we flew drones inside the building to film content at a Paramore show. Arena work like that means a pilot and a visual observer for each drone, aircraft built to fly near people, and flight paths agreed with the venue and the band's production before the doors open. Our venue work also includes drone content at a DJ Snake show in New York and Live Nation events, and on-stage and over-crowd FPV at festivals is covered on our concert and festival FPV page.
Ships, hotels and tight interiors
Indoor flying is not only arenas. For a MrBeast video we flew aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, and at EDSea we flew aboard Norwegian Joy, where decks, railings and moving water shape every flight path. In Charleston, we flew one-take hotel fly-throughs for Vive Media, threading a micro drone through lobbies, stairwells and dining rooms in a single continuous flight. See the MrBeast aerials case study and our one-take micro drone fly-through tours.
Why we build our own micro drones
Off-the-shelf drones are built for open sky. Indoors, the lightest aircraft that still delivers a clean picture is usually the right one, because a smaller airframe is quieter, less visible to the audience, easier to keep clear of trusses and speaker hangs, and carries less energy if something goes wrong. We build our micro FPV drones in house for that reason, and we match the camera and transmitter to the job: goggle-to-screen for a venue display, or a broadcast camera and COFDM transmitter when the feed has to go to a truck.
Indoors there is usually no satellite positioning, so the aircraft does not hold position on its own. Our FPV pilots fly manually the whole time, which is why indoor and arena work goes to experienced FPV pilots rather than to a camera operator on an autopilot drone.
The indoor safety plan
Every indoor or arena job starts with a walk-through or a set of venue drawings. We map the ceiling height, the rigging, the lighting and pyro positions, the LED surfaces, the seating and the exits, then agree flight corridors and no-fly zones with venue operations and the show's production manager. Visual observers watch the room so the pilot can stay on the shot, the pilot is on show comms, and every move is rehearsed with the director before the audience is in.
The rule we fly by is simple: if a move cannot be flown safely on cue, it is not flown. A fully enclosed room is generally outside FAA airspace rules, so the venue's own safety requirements and insurance become the main approval. Open-roof stadiums are outdoor airspace and need FAA authorization like any other site. We hold FAA Part 107 waivers including Part 107.39 (operation over people) and Part 107.35 (multiple aircraft), and we plan to each waiver's conditions where they apply.
Live feeds to LED walls, IMAG and the broadcast
An indoor drone shot is most useful when it goes somewhere live. We hand the feed to your switcher, LED processor, IMAG system or broadcast truck at an agreed point. For broadcast work, a COFDM transmitter on a micro FPV drone carries a PROTON 4K FLEX camera, and the truck shades it through Cyanview RCP so it matches the other cameras. We coordinate frequencies with your RF coordinator and measure end-to-end delay with your team in rehearsal. More on our FPV drone live broadcast setup and our live broadcast drone work.
Insurance and paperwork
Venues, leagues and networks ask for coverage before anything flies indoors. Insurance: $10 million aviation liability standard (optional up to $25 million). Certificates naming the venue or production are issued before the job, along with the flight plan and safety brief your operations team needs.
Related
Sphere case study | Braves at Truist Park | Mississippi State video boards | Stadium video board feeds | EDC Las Vegas | All locations
FAQs
Can you fly an FPV drone inside an arena or venue?
Yes. Inside the Sphere in Las Vegas we flew custom-built, sub-100-gram livestream drones, and we have flown inside a Seattle arena at a Paramore show. Every indoor flight is planned with the venue's operations and production teams.
Can an indoor drone feed go live to the screens?
Yes. At the Sphere, the FPV picture went from the drone goggles to the interior screen. At Truist Park our live feeds went to the TV broadcast and the stadium video board, and at Davis Wade Stadium they go to the video boards.
Why use such small drones indoors?
A sub-100-gram or micro drone is quieter, less visible and easier to keep clear of rigging and people. We build our micro drones in house to be as small as the job allows.
Do indoor drone flights need FAA approval?
A fully enclosed indoor space is generally outside FAA airspace rules, so the venue's safety rules and insurance are the main approval. Open-roof stadiums are outdoor airspace and need FAA authorization.
What insurance do you carry for indoor work?
Our coverage is the $10 million aviation liability standard (optional up to $25 million). Certificates naming your venue or production are issued before the job.
Request a Quote
Tell us the venue, the date, the ceiling and rigging situation, and whether the feed needs to go to a screen or a truck, and we'll come back with a flight plan and a quote. Call 706-284-8364 or Request a Quote.