Helium Football

There are some omissions in the arguments and the tests carried out to verify the myth. Perhaps the most important is that a ball would be hit with a constant impact rather than with a constant velocity. A lighter ball would then fly faster.

The ball weighs about 400 grams of which the air inside weighs about 5 grams. If Helium is used instead, it weighs under a gram. In either case, most of the weight comes from the skin itself.

The ball is subjected to gravity and air drag. The drag force itself is independent of the gas inside but the deceleration would be a tiny bit more with Helium.

Therefore, a He-filled ball would have a larger initial velocity and a larger deceleration from drag. Both these changes are tiny compared to the baseline.

Verdict: No perceptible change in the distance can be expected!