Drone Racing League sells out first US-based live drone race at Chase Field
PHOENIX – On Sunday night, September 8, the Drone Racing League (DRL), the global, professional drone racing circuit, hosted their first-ever live drone race in the US. During the sold-out 2019 DRL Allianz World Championship Season event at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona, 4,207 fans cheered on the 12 elite DRL pilots racing ultra-fast drones through a neon-lit track around the home of Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks.
Accelerating from 0 - 90 MPH in under a second, the world’s best FPV (First Person View) pilots flew custom-built DRL Racer4 drones in a fierce battle for first place. The brightly lit drones zipped past cheering fans packed behind home-plate, darting through large-scale gates in all sorts of shapes -- including pentagon, diamond, and even a watch-shaped Swatch Gate -- taking wide, sweeping turns and making sky-high dives directly over and around the cheering audience. Throughout each minute-long heat, fans bet on their favorite pilots for points and prizes on DRL’s newly launched gamification app, DRL Drone Duels, available for free download on iOS and Android. They also raced virtual drones through the DRL Simulator, engaged in VR experiences with Allianz, immersed themselves into the U.S. Air Force through games, shopped for the limited-edition Swatch x DRL co-branded watch and DRL swag, and chowed down on DRL Loaded Droneless Wings.
“We are thrilled to have hosted our first official live race at Chase Field, immersing thousands of fans into the speed, crashes and non-stop action of professional drone racing. People around the world can experience the visually stunning event on broadcast networks including NBC and Twitter on December 29th.”
The DRL race at Chase Field will premiere on Sunday, December 29 at 4:00 p.m. (EST) on NBC, NBC Sports and Twitter. To date, more than 85 million fans have watched recent DRL Allianz World Championship Seasons.
ABOUT DRL
The Drone Racing League (DRL) is the global, professional drone racing circuit for elite FPV (First Person View) pilots. A technology, sports and media company, DRL combines world-class media and proprietary technology to create thrilling 3D drone racing content with mass appeal. The 2019 DRL Allianz World Championship will stream on Twitter and air worldwide on top sports broadcast networks including NBC, NBC Sports, Sky Sports, ProSieben, and Groupe AB. The league recently launched the Artificial Intelligence Robotic Racing (AIRR) Circuit, the premier autonomous drone racing series. Founded by Nicholas Horbaczewski in 2015, DRL is a privately held company headquartered in NYC. For more information on DRL, visit www.drl.io and follow DRL on Twitter @DroneRaceLeague, and Facebook and Instagram at @TheDroneRacingLeague.