Drone-Only TFRs Over Festivals and Game Days: What Pilots Need to Know

If you fly near a big festival, a college football game or a downtown event this fall, there’s a new line item on your preflight checklist. The FAA’s temporary flight restriction list now includes a category called “UAS Public Gathering,” and as of Thursday morning, October 8, it showed 10 of them across eight states.

These restrictions apply only to drones. They come from a law Congress passed in 2024, and the local police department that requested the restriction often decides who gets in. Here’s how they work and how to stay on the right side of them.

Where these drone-only TFRs come from

The authority is 49 U.S.C. 44812, which was amended by Section 935 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024. Under that section, the FAA must restrict drone flights over an “eligible large public gathering” when a credentialed law enforcement agency asks for it. That can be a federal, state, local, tribal or territorial agency.

The law sets a fairly high bar for which events qualify:

• Stadium-style venues: The venue can’t be enclosed, it must have hosted events covered by federal special security instructions before, and the event needs an expected crowd of at least 30,000.
• Other venues: The event needs at least 100,000 expected attendees. It must also be mostly outdoors and have a fixed, defined boundary.
• Both types: The event has to be publicly advertised.

Agencies must submit requests at least 30 days before the event. The FAA, in turn, has to publish each restriction publicly at least two days before the gathering starts. So a drone-only TFR shouldn’t surprise anyone who checks before flying.

What’s active right now

The FAA’s TFR list on October 8 showed UAS Public Gathering restrictions in Austin, Cincinnati, Daytona Beach, Tampa, Raleigh, Atlanta, Auburn (Alabama), Perry (Georgia), Santa Clara (California) and North Scituate (Rhode Island). A few examples show how much they vary:

• Austin City Limits Music Festival: a 1-nautical-mile ring from the surface to 400 feet AGL. It’s active daily through the festival’s final weekend, with the Austin Police Department as the point of contact.
• Blink in Cincinnati: a much larger 5-nautical-mile ring, surface to 400 feet AGL. It runs continuously from Thursday evening, October 8, through Saturday night, with the Cincinnati Police Department as the contact.
• Daytona Beach: a half-mile ring tied to Biketoberfest, published October 8 for daily windows from October 14 through 18.

How you get permission inside one

This is the part that’s different from the security TFRs most pilots know. Under the statute, nobody may fly a drone inside one of these restrictions unless one of these is true:

• The FAA authorizes the flight for operational or safety purposes.
• The flight is for safety, security or compliance oversight and the FAA authorizes it.
• The law enforcement agency that requested the TFR approves it.

The NOTAMs we reviewed name a specific officer and phone number at the requesting agency. So if you’ve been hired to shoot a festival or a tailgate, call that contact well before the event. Don’t count on getting a yes on the day.

Don’t forget the stadium rule still applies

These new restrictions add to the FAA’s long-standing stadium restriction rather than replacing it. That rule bans drones within 3 nautical miles of the venue from one hour before to one hour after the scheduled time of Major League Baseball, NFL, NCAA Division I football and major motorsport events. On a college game day, you may face both the standing stadium rule and a separate UAS Public Gathering TFR at the same time.

What this means for drone pilots

• Check the TFR list, not just your app. Look for the “UAS Public Gathering” type on the FAA’s TFR site before any flight near an event. Then confirm the times in UTC against your local time.
• Read the whole NOTAM. It lists the radius, altitude, active windows and the agency contact you need for approval.
• Plan paid event work early. If a client wants aerials of a big event, build agency approval into your timeline and get it in writing.

Reading NOTAMs, decoding UTC times and knowing which restriction applies where are core Part 107 skills. If you’re working toward your certificate or want a refresher, our Part 107 test prep course covers airspace and flight restrictions in plain English.

The bottom line

Drone-only TFRs over large crowds aren’t theoretical anymore. They’re on the FAA’s list right now. Check before every event flight, call the agency contact if you need access, and when in doubt, keep the drone in the case.

Sources: Drone Authority; FAA TFR list (UAS Public Gathering type); 49 U.S.C. 44812; FAA: Stadiums and Sporting Events

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