Sportsbook and technology provider DraftKings signed deal with the Drone Racing League (DRL) today to become an Official Sports Betting Partner of the league and to make drone races the first aerial sporting event available for wagering.
DRL Drone Racing Adds Extra Layer of Excitement
The partnership comes just in time for DRL’s final drone races of the 2020 DRL Allianz World Championship Season, which will kick off this Saturday and will be streamed live on NBC. Currently, Colorado, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Tennessee and West Virginia allow for mobile sports betting on drone races from the league, while several other states have regulatory measures pending approval.
“The sky is now the limit for DRL fans to get skin in the game, and we’re thrilled to partner with DraftKings to transform our high-speed race competition into the ultimate sport to bet on.”
Rachel Jacobson, President, DRL
The DRL is the professional drone racing property for elite first person view (FPV) pilots, where the digital merges with the real to utilize innovative drone technology and customized content and create a pulsating sporting event and bring excitement to fans of the sport worldwide.
“DRL is scaling their business as fast as their drone races, and we’re excited to be flying with them given DRL’s thrilling, innovative racing events are perfect for the customized wagering offerings we can create.”
Ezra Kucharz, Chief Business Officer, DraftKings
Under the terms of the deal, DraftKings acquires exclusive marketing rights related to sports betting and brand integrations, including custom gates, to promote through the culmination of the current 2020 DRL Allianz World Championship Season its pre-race wagers and in-race live bets, available to fans of the aerial races in the approved states.
“The opportunity for us to elevate our engagement through all forms of gaming and gambling will only increase as mobile betting becomes more adopted across the country.”
Rachel Jacobson, President, DRL
Educating Fans on Sports Betting Options
DraftKings and the DRL also agreed to host “Pre-Flight Shows” during which experts in sport wagering and elite drone pilots will explain to fans ahead of the races the variety of options betting-wise and how they could participate.
“Our expertise in sports betting combined with DRL’s stats-packed competition will make this a fun and seamless opportunity to engage their avid audience along with tech-savvy, adrenaline-loving sports fans.”
Ezra Kucharz, Chief Business Officer, DraftKings
The deal made the aerial races of the DRL the first sporting event to allow wagering and DraftKings strongly believes that the entirely new audience of sports fans would further boost its leadership already established through some other rapidly growing sports like motorsports and esports.
Unlike any major league sports fans, drone racing audiences are 3 times more likely to place a bet on the event, consumer research indicated, giving fans of the aerial challenges 90% higher chances to hold interest in sports betting compared to any global sports fan.
The deal is also a continuation of DraftKings free-to-play pool offering from the DRL in 2020, in which the operator saw the number of entries in the first week exceeding by more than 30% the average for new sports, with total number of entries up to date reaching 150,000.