The Super Bowl is fast approaching, and anyone caught flying a drone over — or close to — Caesars Superdome in New Orleans from now through Sunday could face a fine of up to $75,000 and potential criminal prosecution. You’ll likely lose your flying machine, too.
With safety and security paramount, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has designated large areas around Caesars Superdome, as well as the downtown area, as “no drone zones.”
Drone flight restrictions for game day on Sunday begin at 1:30 p.m. CT and cover an area of 1.5 miles around the stadium, and up to 2,000 feet in altitude. Between 4:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. CT, the restrictions expand to a 30-mile radius and up to 18,000 feet in altitude.
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Prior to game day, from now through Saturday, drone restrictions are in place around Lafayette Square for 1.5 nautical miles up to an altitude of 2,000 feet. Specific timings for each of these days can be viewed on the FAA’s website.
With consumer drones becoming evermore popular, such restrictions for sports events big and small have been commonplace for a number of years now.
Last December, the U.S. Senate rejected a call from the National Football League, the Justice Department, the FBI, and other agencies to fast-track legislation to expand government powers to detect and destroy potentially dangerous drones when spotted flying over stadiums and other locations.
“The time to act to keep fans safe is now,” NFL security chief Cathy Lanier told a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee at the time, with Lanier’s written testimony revealing that rogue drone flights into restricted air space over sports stadiums during NFL games increased from 2,537 reported incidents in 2022 to 2,845 in 2023.
But here’s how cool it can look when a highly skilled drone pilot gets permission to fly a drone inside a huge soccer stadium.