The 2017 Portuguese Cup took place this weekend and one official made headlines after he came in to give the match ball to the referee, while riding on a drone-style hoverboard vehicle.

In the Benfica vs. Vitoria Guimares match, the official (seen in the video below) stunned the crowd when he came flying in on the hoverboard in order to deliver the match ball.

He was said to be flying an Omni Hoverboard

The Omni Hoverboard is a project that was designed over several years, by Canadian software engineer Alexandru Duru.

It's been referred to as the first real hoverboard.

Could this become a viable transportation method that we start seeing a lot more of in the future? The referee sure made flying on it look rather easy.

The Omni isn't the only hoverboard on the market either. There are plenty of others out there like the Lexus Slide, Hendo, ArcaSpace, and more. The Omni is estimated to cost somewhere around $20,000 or more.

They could just become an expensive toy for some, but they also have the potential to make their way into different areas of the market in order to help boost efficiency in various professions.

We can expect that we might start to see more hoverboards make their way into areas like sports, policing, and the military, aside from possible urban transportation and recreational usage. They might some day be used to help save people from dangerous floodwaters, or could be used to help inspect bridges, and more.

But First...

Of course there are plenty of regulatory hurdles in the way before people can just start flying around a bunch of hoverboards, we can't just allow that sort of chaos to unfold.

Could you imagine? Letting people fly hoverboards without the proper permits and restrictions in place, why it might spell the end of the species as we know it.

Depending on those restrictions, we might never see them become as prevalent as some might like to see. They are well on their way to developing this technology, but exactly what sort of freedom will exist surrounding the usage of these hoverboards isn't clear yet.

Pics:
USA Today
imgflip
Imgur

Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/football/video/2017/may/29/portuguese-cup-final-ball-delivered-by-man-on-spider-like-drone-video
http://www.cbssports.com/soccer/news/watch-man-flying-on-a-hoverboard-delivers-game-ball-to-ref-in-european-cup-final/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4551618/Portuguese-Cup-final-ball-delivered-referee-drone.html
https://www.sportswallah.com/lifestyle/football/man-riding-flying-drone-delivers-ball-to-match-referee-at-portuguese-cup-match
http://www.popsci.com/finally-hoverboard-that-actually-flies
http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/20/tech/future-of-adventure-flying-hoverboards/
http://omnihoverboards.com/
https://www.theverge.com/2015/12/24/10663228/arcaspace-arcaboard-hoverboard-skateboard