Drone soccer flies into Las Vegas with global ambitions

Drone soccer took over Las Vegas this week, with ball-shaped drones soaring through the Venetian Resort as the futuristic sport born in South Korea looks to expand its reach.

The Vegas skyline was reset last year near the iconic hotel with the addition of the Sphere entertainment venue, a massive orb with holograms, robots and performances by musicians such as U2.

The Federation of International DroneSoccer Association hopes “Sin City” will help catapult its smaller spheres to new heights this year.

The resort this week hosted CES, the consumer electronics show, featuring six drone soccer teams squaring off in exhibition matches. South Korean teams faced competitors from FIDA USA, Grossmont College in California and the American Legion, according to FIDA USA’s Tim Ingram.

As the teams prepared for the liftoff of their quadcopter drones encased in circular exoskeletons, Mr. Ingram seemed thrilled about the attention. A crowd from the show took the first glimpse of the cutting-edge commercial technology.

During a match, five players from drone soccer teams battle to fly their quadcopters through an opponent’s ring-shaped goal hanging above a netted playing surface.

Although soccer may be its nearest peer on the ground, FIDA styles the game as an inspiration from Quidditch, a fictional sport from the Harry Potter novels and films where wizards flying on brooms score points by throwing a round object through an elevated ring.

After watching a drone soccer match at CES, Digiday senior reporter Marty Swant wrote on X that the sport was “kind of like Quidditch with more tech and less magic.”

Drone soccer traces its origins to South Korea in 2016 and has produced a competitive league with 300 adult teams and 1,500 youth teams across the country.

FIDA counts 12 countries plus Hong Kong as members and is discussing adding 20 more nations, according to material provided to The Times. FIDA identified the dozen as Bangladesh, Britain, Canada, France, India, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Spain, Turkey and the U.S.

Amid the international buzz around the game, some CES attendees anticipated global growth.

Daniel McCaffrey, Omron’s vice president of digital health and software, recorded a video of attendees flying the drones through the circular goals.

“Prediction — this will take off as a competitive sport in the world and one day be an Olympic sport,” he said on X.

Drone soccer might not be ready for the Olympics, but it has conducted world championships and is planning a World Cup next year. FIDA is preparing for 2,000 athletes and officials from 32 countries to descend on Jeonju, South Korea, in October 2025 for the big event, according to FIDA’s material shared with The Times.

FIDA sees drone soccer as a bridgehead to the world for the expansion of drone companies to introduce their products globally. The group plans to ship 30,000 drone soccer balls from South Korea to the U.S. and 20,000 to Canada.

The drone soccer championship at CES “symbolizes the achievements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution by showcasing the pinnacle of advanced IT and groundbreaking innovations,” said Chung Hee-taek, president of event co-sponsor Segye Ilbo. Segye Ilbo is a Korean-language newspaper in Seoul whose parent company, like The Washington Times, is owned by the Unification Church.

Cost may prove a challenging barrier to entry for some. An individual drone can cost players more than $100.

The price tag has not stopped Americans from toying with the sport. Drone soccer spread across the U.S. to include 78 players on 15 teams as of 2023, according to FIDA.

The gamification of unmanned aviation has other benefits as well. Getting players comfortable flying the drones could be invaluable, said Park Jeong-kwon, deputy director of South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

“If World War III breaks out, we’ll have a lot of trained operators,” he joked to The Times last year.

• Andrew Salmon contributed to this report.