A ride on the Goodyear Blimp is up for auction: Here's how to bid

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Pilot Jack Branger, left, and Paul Sullivan of Sullivan Tire wave as the Goodyear Blimp prepares to take off from the Plymouth Municipal Airport on June 23, 2025. (Photo by Brett Phelps/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

The Goodyear Blimp is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, and it’s doing so by offering a ride for two on the iconic airship. 

According to the Akron, Ohio-based nonprofit Bounce Innovation Hub, the once-in-a-lifetime ride will go to the person who bids the most at the online auction. The auction is being held to benefit the nonprofit, which supports northeast Ohio innovators, entrepreneurs and startups. 

How to ride in the Goodyear Blimp

Timeline:

People who are interested can visit the nonprofit’s auction website to place their bids. 

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As of Monday, Aug. 25, the highest bid was $10,100. 

Timeline:

The auction ends on Sept. 25, at which time the highest bidder will be announced. 

Local perspective:

The flight will take off from one of three Goodyear Blimp airship bases: 

• Akron, Ohio
• Carson, California
• Pompano Beach, Florida

The Goodyear Blimp turns 100

The backstory:

The idea for the Goodyear Blimp started in the early 1900s. Goodyear tire company established an Aeronautics Department to build lighter-than-air aircrafts in 2010, and by 1912 the company had built its first balloon.

In 1930, the "Defender" blimp became the first airship in the world to carry a lit neon sign so the company’s name could be seen after dark.

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Goodyear began making airships for the U.S. Navy in 1917, and its first blimp — the first commercial non-rigid airship flown using helium — launched years later, becoming a marketing tool.

The Goodyear blimp flies over the speedway during the NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 race on June 8, 2025 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, MI.(Photo by Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

From 1942 to 1944, the company built more than 150 airships for the Navy to serve in World War II, flying patrol over warships on the seas with zero reported loss of ships when a blimp was on watch.

The Goodyear Blimp has been a regular at major sporting events since flying above the 1955 Rose Bowl. A few years later, it became a service vehicle for television coverage while simultaneously functioning as a highly visible advertising platform.

Since that time, blimps have undergone wholesale changes and improved dramatically: steering technology; safety innovations; high-definition cameras; aerial views captured with specialized systems that compensate for movement during filming, resulting in stable and smooth footage footage; and much quieter rides thanks to relocated engines and propellers.

There currently are four Goodyear Blimps — the three in the U.S. and one in Friedrichshafen, Germany.

Today’s Goodyear Blimps are semi-rigid dirigibles, meaning they have an internal frame as compared to previous eras of blimps that could be fully deflated. In 2014, Goodyear transitioned to the New Technology semi-rigid airship platform designed to allow for improved maneuverability and speed.

By the numbers:

The Goodyear Blimp is 246 feet long, which would cover about 80% of a football field. It is 58 feet high and holds three Olympic-sized swimming pools’ worth of helium.

The blimp travels more than 100 days per year, with trips ranging anywhere from three days to three weeks. A crew of nearly 20 people travel with the airship whenever it is touring. Today’s Goodyear Blimps fly between 1,000 and 1,500 feet in the air and travel at speeds up to 73 miles per hour.