Why the Goodyear Blimp Is at Every Major Sports Event

The Goodyear Blimp, which celebrated its 100th anniversary this week, was in the sky at the first Super Bowl, has covered several Olympics, and has flown over the Indianapolis 500. But its purpose wasn’t originally sports broadcasting.

The Akron-based company launched an aeronautics department in 1910 and 15 years later the blimp took its maiden flight. The airship first employed a crucial marketing tactic—a neon sign at night—in 1930, and during World War II, Goodyear produced more than 150 blimps for the U.S. Navy. In 1955, the blimp debuted in sports at the Rose Bowl.

Goodyear works primarily with TV networks—not leagues or tournament organizers—and there is almost never money exchanged for the blimp’s services, a spokesperson tells Front Office Sports. The blimp provides aerial coverage, while networks promise Goodyear publicity in the form of in-game graphics for at least 10 seconds per hour, in addition to occasional ground shots of the blimp flying above.

“It’s invaluable,” Steve Milton, lead director for golf on CBS, tells FOS, noting a typical tournament broadcast can use 100 or more shots from the blimp. “Once we had the blimp as an asset week-to-week, it opened our eyes to the fact that an overhead perspective is essential for the viewer to really capture where balls end up if they’re not ending up on the fairway,” he said.

The blimp’s main function is to provide marketing for Goodyear tires. (Hence one of the brand’s popular merch taglines: “Blimps are cool. Buy tires.”). So, the company can be selective, using a financial formula to determine whether covering an event is worth it.

If a typical sporting event is three hours, Goodyear will consider what it might cost to buy a 30-second commercial, and compare that against its cost of operating the blimp. (The company would not provide specific monetary details.)

Goodyear—which currently has deals with the College Football Playoff, Cotton Bowl Classic, NASCAR, and the National Hot Rod Association—doesn’t entirely have freedom of choice, as it must fulfill sponsorship obligations that require the blimp’s presence. 

There are three U.S.-based blimps (and one in Germany), stored in Akron, South Florida, and Southern California. 

They are identical in size—246 feet long and 58 feet tall—and can travel up to 73 miles per hour at 1,000 to 1,500 feet in the air. Because it takes a crew of 20 people who travel in the air and on the ground with each blimp, they typically won’t fly more than 300 miles in a day. Each blimp has two pilots on board, and Goodyear employs 10 full-time. (Yes, there is a bathroom onboard.)

Operating a blimp during sporting events can be quite the experience for the pilots, even if they are 1,000+ feet above the action taking place on the ground. Jerry Hissem, a Goodyear Blimp chief pilot, cited NHRA drag racing—which has cars reaching speeds over 300 mph—as one of the most unique.

“The cars are so loud, they kind of shake the blimp when they go,” Hissem told FOS. “And the Top Fuelers, they’ll be maybe a third down the track or half down the track before you hear the noise in the airship because of the speed of sound. That’s a very unique perspective from the blimp.”

Recent appearances for the blimp included the PGA Championship and Coca-Cola 600, and upcoming plans include the College World Series, several more NASCAR races, and a PGA Tour event in Greensboro, N.C.

The Goodyear Blimp has also been to non-traditional sporting events like the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest on July 4th, and has even made its way to a recent pickleball tournament.

Moving forward, Goodyear wants to keep expanding the blimp’s presence outside of sports, too, taking it to other major gatherings like concerts and music festivals.

—Jeremy O’Brien contributed reporting.