The Jacksonville Jaguars become the first NFL team to activate active drone defense technology this weekend, as the league faces more than 10,000 stadium airspace violations and new federal power to stop them.
The Jacksonville Jaguars will switch on a counter-drone system at EverBank Stadium on Sunday before their game against the New England Patriots, marking the first public deployment of that kind of mitigation gear by an NFL club. The team announced its deal last month with Sentrycs, a firm owned by Ondas, to control the skies in and around the stadium on game days and guard against interruptions or security threats.
CNBC reported the system will run for the first time as the NFL sits in Week 3 of its 2026 regular season. For years the league could identify and track drones near its 30 stadiums. Now clubs are moving to seize control of the aircraft and land them safely before a careless flight pauses a game or worse.
Jaguars Director of Events and Facilities Security Bobby Lyle put the shift in plain terms in an August news release.
"As drones become increasingly accessible, we recognized the importance of moving beyond detection and adding an effective mitigation capability to our security strategy,"
That is the core change. Detection alone no longer meets the risk. The common hazard is still annoyance and interruption, not explosives or chemical payloads. But the volume of illegal flights has grown large enough that fans, players, and operators can no longer treat the problem as background noise.
Between 2021 and 2025 the NFL recorded 10,852 drone violations near stadiums. Only a few of those flights disrupted games. The ones that did left a mark.
In 2025 a Ravens-Steelers playoff game in Baltimore was paused because a drone flew overhead. A similar incident hit the same market in 2023. Those stoppages turned abstract airspace rules into real delays for packed crowds and national television audiences.
Jason Moore, Sentrycs general manager for the U.S. and Canada, described how fast the threat moved from fringe concern to standard security file.
"Nobody worried about this a few years ago. Now everyone has to worry, and it's happening very fast."
Moore also explained the practical fix the Jaguars are buying. The system lets an operator detect a drone, take over its controls, move it out of the way, and land it safely. Radio frequencies help locate the pilot so police can respond. Response time from detection to officers at the operator’s location can run as little as two minutes, according to Ondas founder and CEO Eric Brock.
Sentrycs has already signed deals with two other NFL teams. CNBC could not confirm which clubs. The company also held a contract for FIFA World Cup drone defense across 104 matches in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
The World Cup offered a live stress test. The FBI reported about 700 instances of intercepting a drone during the four-week tournament. Brock said the volume itself surprised his team.
"What surprised us the most was the sheer number of drones in the air at one time."
Federal officials had already put money on the table. Before the tournament the federal government provided state and local authorities about $250 million for drone defense. Multiple firms, including Sentrycs and Robin Radar USA, were contracted to keep the skies clear.
Kristian Brost, general manager of Robin Radar USA and a Marine Corps veteran of the 2003 Iraq invasion, said most operators are not terrorists. They are still a problem.
"In most cases drones are operated by people either not paying attention to or ignoring the rules."
Brost added that most drones were not nefarious, yet they still pose a threat and must be detected and taken down. He called the work a team effort that needs sensors, software, radar, and a safe way to bring the aircraft down without hurting anyone on the ground. Robin Radar already operates equipment at two dozen European airports.
For years the legal gap matched the technology gap. Mary-Lou Smulders, a longtime drone defense executive now working as a consultant, summed up the mismatch.
"Regulations were built for [Boeing] 747s and 727s, passenger aircraft, not drones."
Congress closed part of that gap. Lawmakers passed the Safer Skies Act in December. President Donald Trump signed it. The law took effect July 1. It is designed to give state and local authorities permission to bring down drones that encroach on airports and major venues. Operators of these defense systems must complete special federal certification classes.
That authority matters. Earlier this month the NFL and Major League Baseball sent a joint letter to the Department of Homeland Security. The leagues argued that more resources are needed to protect fans and players. One line captured the shared view of the two biggest American sports properties:
"Unauthorized drone activity presents an ongoing and growing challenge."
Smulders warned that waiting for visual confirmation is already failure. If you see the aircraft with your eyes before it appears on a radar or sensor screen, you are already too late. She also noted the trade-offs in radio-frequency tools. Cutting the link to a rogue drone can interfere with legitimate frequencies. “It is a delicate dance,” she said.
Stadiums are not the only crowded places under pressure. About a dozen large European airports temporarily suspended flights last year because of drone incursions. Israel Weapon Industries markets a device called Arbel that fits automatic rifles, including the AR-15 platform, so trained teams can shoot drones down. The company says it is part of defense setups at 20 European airports and 10 U.S. sites. It declined to name the American locations.
New York airspace saw two incidents this past summer. A United Airlines flight had a near-miss near Newark Liberty International Airport. A JetBlue plane was hit on landing at John F. Kennedy International Airport. No injuries were reported in either case. The pattern is the same one sports leagues now face: cheap aircraft, open sky, and slow official response until someone installs real tools.
The Jaguars move is therefore less a novelty than a practical answer to a measurable failure. More than ten thousand violations near NFL stadiums in five years. Multiple game stoppages. Hundreds of intercepts at a single global tournament. A new federal statute that finally lets local authorities act instead of watching. Sunday’s activation at EverBank Stadium puts hardware and trained operators on the field where paper rules and passive tracking fell short.
Fans show up to watch football, not to wait while someone decides whether a hobby drone is a stunt or a threat. Secure the perimeter, land the aircraft, and keep the game moving. That is basic order, and it is overdue.