The city’s new law invokes a half-mile no fly zone around large event venues.
Santa Clara is home to the new Levi’s Stadium, where the 49ers play, and the Santa Clara University Stadium. The law leaves some room for interpretation by also including “any sporting and/or large venue special event.”
Violation of the new law will be treated as a misdemeanor and allows local authorities to confiscate the drone.
You will still see broadcast blimps overhead as the new regulation does allow for the "broadcast rights holder" of stadium events to enter the no-fly zone with permission.
Recently, the City of Cincinnati reminded baseball fans attending the MLB All Star Game to not fly drones. In New York City, a man was arrested following a drone crashing into the stands at the US Open tennis tournament back in September.
With Super Bowl 50 being hosted at Santa Clara’s Levi’s Stadium, it is safe to say that the city and the NFL want to avoid any drone incidents. Remember the power outage a few years back?
Further reading on Santa Clara’s drone ordinance can be found here.
Image Credit: By Jim Bahn (Flickr: Levi's stadium opening) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons