The Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, US has become one of the first major sports venues to use drones to clean and disinfect the facility as part of its anti-COVID-19 measures.

Stadium operator, AMB Sports and Entertainment, partnered with Lucid Drone Technologies ahead of the Atlanta Falcons' National Football League (NFL) home opener at the venue against the Carolina Panthers on 11 October.

AMB used two of Lucid's D1 Disinfecting Drones to sanitise all stadium bowl areas.

The purpose-built D1 drones feature electrostatic spraying nozzles – allowing even distribution – and 2.5-gallon tanks, which can be filled with cleaning or sanitising solutions.

The technology will also be used for post-event disinfecting of the seating bowl, handrails, and glass partitions at the stadium.

“The process of welcoming fans back involves actively listening and responding to their concerns and we understand that proper cleaning and sanitisation protocols are top of mind in the current environment.” said Dietmar Exler, chief operating officer, of AMB.

“We have worked tirelessly to provide a safe environment for not only our associates, players and staff, but especially our fans.”

According to Jackie Poulakos, manager of AMB's building operations, the drones allow for a 95 percent reduction in time spent cleaning the seating bowl and offer the ability to redeploy staff in other areas of the stadium.

“This stadium is incredibly large and as we begin to slowly welcome fans back, these drones allow us to maximise the time between games and private events to thoroughly sanitise,” she said.

“We are always challenged by leadership to continually innovate and this new technology is the ideal solution to effectively disinfect and sanitise our stadium in an efficient manner.”