‘Touch Down in Newport Beach’ drone show to follow Super Bowl game in Las Vegas

An hour after the conclusion of Sunday’s Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas, a drone light show will invite all who see it to take a trip to Newport Beach and enter a drawing for a vacation package to do so, it was announced Monday by the coastal city’s marketing arm.

Roughly 1,000 drones will be deployed outside the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, honoring not only the game’s winners but also depicting some of Newport Beach’s iconography across the 12-minute show, according to Visit Newport Beach.

The theme of the show is “Touch Down in Newport Beach,” a play on words alluding to football and the fact the city is just a short flight from Las Vegas.

A QR code will be projected during the show, and those interested will be able to enter for the vacation package that includes a two-night stay at the Balboa Bay Resort, an electric boat cruise, whale watching for two, a two-hour Moke rental, $500 in food and beverage credit and a $200 shopping gift card to Fashion Island, as well as other prizes. Winners will be announced next week.

Gary Sherwin, chief executive officer and president of Visit Newport, said in a call Thursday his team started looking at plans for the show in November when it was decided they wanted to do something related to the Super Bowl.

“We were thinking, ‘What’s a clever, affordable and high impact way of doing this?’ There’s lots of ways that you could reach the market, but they didn’t necessarily have the wow factor. How could we get lots of eyeballs on this? So, we decided to do something out of the ordinary, and we know that a drone show was done during the [Christmas] boat parade by Eagle Rock Partners at the Balboa Bay Resort,” said Sherwin. “That’s when we reached out to Skyworx to see if it was even feasible.”

Sherwin said the drone show is more affordable than finding a TV spot in the commercials or getting an in-stadium advertisement. He said Visit Newport Beach will also be broadcasting commercials in hotels along the Las Vegas strip.

Those not traveling to the Super Bowl this weekend who are interested in seeing the drone show can visit watch.yurview.com/videos/visit-newport-beach-drone-light-show-on-big-game-sunday, thanks to a collaboration between the organization and COX.

“Looking at it from a 30,000-foot view, no pun intended — one of the ways we approach our storytelling from a Newport Beach perspective is to align ourselves with culturally relevant moments and trying to engage and insert ourselves ... because you want to be a part of what people are paying attention to,” Sherwin said.