A drone located near Baltimore’s M&T Stadium caused the game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens to be halted. The FBI issued a warning on Friday for drone pilots to stay away from the stadium airspace. The fan reaction to the drone sighting was concerning. The teams continued to play after a slight delay.
Ravens vs. Steelers Game Delayed Due to Drone Sighting Over Stadium
The Wild Card game was delayed due to a drone and fans did not like it one bit. The broadcasters on the Amazon Prime streaming services discussed the situation and tried to instill some sense of normalcy. Fans took to social media to voice their concerns.
An NFL game being delayed by a drone is the most 2025 thing I’ve heard all day
— David Grand (@sticktapguy) January 12, 2025
Another fan posted “A drone entered the Ravens stadium and stopped play? Okay we need a follow up on this.”
One more fan posted, “Flying a drone over an active event in a stadium is like a super double dog felony. Whoever did that is in for a world of hurt.”
Flying a drone over an active event in a stadium is like a super double dog felony.
Whoever did that is in for a world of hurt.
— Brett Kollmann (@BrettKollmann) January 12, 2025
Drone over the stadium? What is this madness
— Mike Coupes (@MrMikeCoupes) January 12, 2025
With 5:16 remaining in the third quarter officials announced the game would be halted due to an “administrative timeout.” After coming back from commercial, sideline reporter Kaylee Hartung explained to the streaming audience the game had been stopped due to a drone sighting.
This is not the first time that a drone has infiltrated the air space over the stadium. That is what caused the FBI to take action on Friday. In fact, this is the third time in the past 14 months that the Ravens have experienced this problem.
“Last year during the AFC Championship Game during the [Kansas City Chiefs] and the Ravens home game on January 28th of last year, we had several drone incursions into the TFR, temporary flight restrictions,” David Rodski, Special Agent with the FBI Baltimore division, said.
A reminder for Saturday’s Ravens-Steelers Playoff Game: leave the drones at home. @FBIBaltimore Special Agent David Rodski explains there is a Temporary Flight Restriction in place for M&T Bank Stadium and the area is considered a No Drone Zone. pic.twitter.com/eCSdiOg2lc
— FBI Baltimore (@FBIBaltimore) January 10, 2025
Authorities caught the pilot last season and he was ultimately forced to pay a big fine. He could have gone to prison.
“The dangers of flying a drone over a stadium – for starters – you have 70 thousand people, if that drone falls from the sky, you can injure somebody, you can actually kill somebody with a drone,” Rodski warned.
According to CBS News, “the FAA bans drones and manned aircraft from flying within three miles of a stadium that holds at least 30,000 fans for regular and postseason sporting events – starting one hour before and after games.”
Rodski said on Friday, Jan. 10, there are exceptions to the rule, for example, certain advertisers are allowed to fly over the stadium, such as the Goodyear Blimp.
“We do have drones that are what we call white listed, they’re approved to fly, so you might see a drone that’s by the stadium, it used to be a Goodyear blimp, this year the NFL is contracted with certain companies, but we’re watching all of those drones and we’ll be here,” Rodski stated.