NFL calls on Congress to address ongoing ‘threat’ of drones at games

‘The time for us to act on this is now,’ the NFL’s cheif security office said. ‘We don’t want to wait until something bad happens’

Bewildered New Jerseyans and local officials aren't the only ones worried about drones; the NFL, Major League Baseball, and NASCAR are now saying they don't want any "unauthorized" drones over their events.

The sports giants are demanding swift legislative action to give them the teeth to stop the drones flying over — and potentially capturing video and photos — of their events.

One such bill — the Safeguarding the Homeland from the Threats Posed by Unmanned Aircraft Systems Act — was blocked by the Senate earlier this year. That legislation would have provided state and local officials with the authority to intercept drones if they violated the law, FOX 5 DC reports.

"The time for us to act on this is now," Cathy Lanier, the NFL’s chief security officer, said in a statement. "We don’t want to wait until something bad happens."

Drone sightings at NFL games has reportedly spiked from 12 in 2017 to more than 2,800 in 2023. Lanier said the trend was alarming, and noted that even though the NFL has technology that can alert officials to the presence of the drones, it has no legal authority to do anything about the devices.

This photo provided by Brian Glenn shows what appears to be multiple drones flying over Bernardsville, New Jersey, on Thursday, December 5, 2024 (AP)

"We know how significant this threat is, and there’s nothing more we can do," Lanier said.

While Lanier wasn't specific about the threats, there are several reasons why flying drones over populated venues could pose a risk. The most obvious is a drone potentially falling — or being knocked — out of the sky and hitting someone on the ground. Such an impact could potentially kill or seriously injure someone.

The second is that many drones use lithium-ion batteries. If a malfunctioning or damaged drone's battery caught fire, not only could the fire potentially spread or injure someone, but lithium-ion battery fires are extremely difficult for firefighters to battle if they aren't properly equipped to handle them.

The third threat is less to physical safety and more to the bottom line of the various sporting institutions — drones typically have cameras and can be used to record events that other people have to pay premium prices to access.

“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,” Lanier wrote.

Her timing isn't coincidental with the numerous alleged drone sightings over New Jersey in recent weeks.

“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,” she wrote.

The federal government said earlier this week that the "drones" people have been seeing are a mix of hobby and commercial drones, commercial and private aircraft, and planets and stars mistaken for flying objects.

Federal officials had been mum on the issue for days, leaving some to openly theorize about the nature and origin of the lights in the sky. Some of the theories explaining the lights included discussion of aliens, a clandestine search for missing radioactive material, secret government programs, and an Iranian plot to use a "mothership" to launch the SUV-sized drones into the US.

Members of Congress were briefed about the drones during a classified meeting earlier this week in Washington DC, leaving some — like Senator Kirsten Gillibrand — skeptical that enough is being done address the craft.

She told CNN that the government was aware of a two-week "drone incursion" over the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, and of another incursion over the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, which houses the National Air and National Space Intelligence Centers as well as Air Force research and development operations.

"We need to have better authority to take these drones down," she told CNN's Jake Tapper. "I don't think we know whose these are, or even what technology they're using. It's a huge concern for me personally and for members of the [Senate] Intelligence Committee and members of the Armed Services Committee."