Amid the nationwide uptick in claims of suspicious drone activity, the NFL has again called on Congress to ban unauthorized drones from “critical infrastructure and mass gatherings such as major sporting events,” i.e. from NFL games specifically.
In a statement to the Washington Post, Cathy Lanier – the NFL’s Senior VP of Security – repeated points made directly to Congress last week that there needs to be more restrictions.
“Over the past several years, an increasing number of drones have flown into restricted airspace during NFL games,” she said. “With the nation’s attention now focused on drones, we again call on Congress to protect critical infrastructure and mass gatherings such as major sporting events.”
Lanier also pointed out that the “threats, incidents, and incursions by unauthorized drones over NFL games jumped from a dozen in 2017 to more than 2,800 in 2023.” Last season, the AFC Championship in Baltimore was delayed due to drone activity – which led to felony charges.
Lanier’s most recent statement comes a week after she spoke to Congress on the topic.
“Given the growing threat of drones at stadiums and sporting events, and the longstanding and well-established flight restrictions over games and events, Congress should act now to extend counterdrone authority to state and local law enforcement agencies for the narrow, mission-specific, and time-limited purpose of protecting the sports stadium-TFRs when they are in effect,” she wrote.
Lanier concluded, “The time to act to keep fans safe is now. Even in the waning days of the 118th Congress, we urge you to take any possible steps that will start to protect more of our fans from the threats of illicit drone use.”
These types of drone safety concerns have been around for much longer than most would seem. There was a drone-related fan death during a 1979 game at Shea Stadium where a model airplane shaped like a lawnmower struck a fan who died a few days later.
