The NFL’s Super Bowl LIII took place over this past weekend in Atlanta, Georgia, with the New England Patriots winning the big game and taking home the Lombardi Trophy.

But while the game took center stage as well as yet another controversy involving the halftime show, flying drones made a big impact inside for entertainment purposes as well as behind-the-scenes where the machines were used to patrol outside for potential dangers.

Intel used 150 enhanced Shooting Star drones for the Pepsi Halftime Show during the Maroon 5 performance choreographing the flying machines to form the words “one” and “love” during one of the band’s songs.

The Shooting Star drones were designed to resemble floating lanterns and were pre-programmed for a closed stadium environment without GPS. Intel said this set a world record for the most drones used at an indoor event — the company previously held the title with 110 drones used indoors at CES 2018.

Meanwhile, Skyfire teamed with the Georgia World Congress Center Authority, the Georgia Emergency Management Agency and security experts to deploy two tethered drones above Atlanta, overlooking the events in case of an emergency.

Skyfire said this is the first time that drones have been used to secure a large, tier 1 event after the company received approvals from the FAA, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security to operate at the event.

The drones operated just a few hundred feet below Black Hawk helicopters that were deployed at the Super Bowl for security and just a few hundred feet above the stadium.

"Real-time, actionable information for the guys on the ground is essential and allows you to respond much more quickly to a critical incident than you could having to rely on traditional aviation assets," said Mike Briant, a counter-terrorism specialist from the Skydas Group working with Skyfire. "The drones allow security specialists to spot unusual behavior long before they reach the main venue."

The drones used were DJI Matrice 210 aircraft equipped with a Zenmuse Z30 zoom camera and a FLIR Zenmuse XT2 thermal imaging camera. Each drone flew to an altitude of 200 feet and were powered using a tethering system. Video feeds were streamed to law enforcement command centers in a dozen locations around the event.

Skyfire said this is the first of many large-scale events the company intends to secure and plans to work with the FAA to demonstrate how the aircraft can be used effectively around massive crowds.

"This technology is game-changing and although big federal agencies have a slew of helicopters with many of these same sensors, there are areas that are just too small or unsafe for large manned aircraft," said Matt Sloane, CEO of Skyfire. "Drone technology is the perfect adjunct to helicopters and allows us to exponentially increase security flights without adding significant cost."