Tennessee Titans receive FAA exemption for drone use

Facing the undefeated Carolina Panthers in Week 10, the Tennessee Titans are going to need every advantage possible if they hope to deal the Panthers their first loss.

And the Titans have done exactly that — in the form of drones.

The Titans have successfully received an exemption from the Federal Aviation Administration to fly drones at their practice facility in Nashville.

In doing so, the Titans have become for the first North American professional sports team to utilize drones for competitive purposes. This is big news, seeing as the FAA had previously investigated possible illegal drone use by NFL teams. The Titans don't have to worry about that.

The idea behind using the drones is to gain unique aerial footage that end zone and sideline cameras aren't able to capture. The Titans used drones to do exactly that during June mini-camps, with recently fired head coach Ken Whisenhunt saying at the time that the drone footage gave the team additional insight into running back depth, line play with stunts and wide receiver splits.

With the Titans off to a 2-6 start, it will be interesting to see if the addition of drone footage from practices pays off at all come Sundays.