NEW YORK and BOSTON, Jan. 8,
2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Drone Racing League (DRL), the
global, professional drone racing property, today announced a deal
with DraftKings Inc. (Nasdaq: DKNG) to make the sports technology
and entertainment company an Official Sports Betting Partner of
DRL. Upon completion of this deal, DRL drone races became the first
aerial sporting event upon which fans can wager. Mobile sports betting on DRL drone races is
currently legal in Colorado,
New Hampshire, New Jersey, Tennessee and West
Virginia with regulatory approvals pending in additional
states. DRL's final drone races of the 2020 DRL Allianz World
Championship Season will kick off this Saturday, January 9th at 4:30pm ET on NBC, Twitter and Facebook.
"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,"
said DRL President Rachel Jacobson.
"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."
DraftKings is a leader in the rapidly growing motorsports
and esports sportsbook categories and believes DRL will bring
an entirely new audience of fans to gaming. Consumer research
indicates drone racing fans are three times more likely to place a
bet than fans of major sports leagues and 90 percent more likely to
be interested in sports betting than the average global sports fan.
After initially introducing DRL drone races to customers as a
free-to-play pool during the 2020 season, DraftKings saw over 30
percent more entries in its first week than the average for new
sports, totaling over 150,000 entries to date.
This deal gives DraftKings exclusive marketing rights around
sports betting and branding integrations, including custom gates,
through the culmination of the current 2020 DRL Allianz World
Championship Season. Both pre-race wagers and in-race live bets
will be available for fans in approved states to engage before and
during the high-flying action.
"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," said Ezra
Kucharz, Chief Business Officer, DraftKings. "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."
In the lead up to DRL's final drone races of the season,
DraftKings and DRL will host "Pre-Flight
Shows" ahead of the live events, including tonight at
7pm ET on Twitter, where expert
sports bettors and elite drone pilots will educate fans on how to
participate.
Fans can learn more and check out DraftKings' Drone Racing
League offerings by downloading DraftKings Sportsbook via iOS and
Android here.
About Drone Racing League
The Drone Racing League is
the global, professional drone racing property for elite FPV (First
Person View) pilots. Merging the digital with the real, DRL
combines innovative drone technology, custom content, and visually
thrilling racing across live sporting and esports events to create
the new playing field. Founded by Nicholas
Horbaczewski in 2015, DRL is a privately held company
headquartered in NYC. For more
information, visit www.drl.io. To join the conversation, follow DRL
on Facebook at facebook.com/thedroneracingleague, on Twitter
@DroneRaceLeague, and on Instagram @thedroneracingleague.
About DraftKings
DraftKings Inc. is a digital sports
entertainment and gaming company created to fuel the competitive
spirits of sports fans with products that range across daily
fantasy, regulated gaming and digital media. Headquartered in
Boston, and launched in 2012 by
Jason Robins, Matt Kalish and Paul
Liberman, DraftKings is the only U.S.-based vertically
integrated sports betting operator. DraftKings is a multi-channel
provider of sports betting and gaming technologies, powering sports
and gaming entertainment for 50+ operators across more than 15
regulated U.S. and global markets, including Arkansas and Oregon in
the U.S. DraftKings' Sportsbook offers mobile and retail betting
for major U.S. and international sports and operates in
the United States pursuant to
regulations in Colorado,
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,
Mississippi, New
Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee
and West Virginia. DraftKings' daily
fantasy sports product is available in 8 countries internationally
with 15 distinct sports categories. DraftKings is the official
daily fantasy partner of the NFL, MLB and the PGA TOUR as well as
an authorized gaming operator of the NBA and MLB and an official
betting operator of the PGA TOUR.
Media Contact
DRL: Melanie Wallner, Director of Communications,
melanie@drl.io
DraftKings:
media@draftkings.com; @DraftKingsNews
Forward Looking Statements
This press release
contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended,
including, without limitation, statements regarding our
expectations regarding the deal between DraftKings and DRL, the
legalization of mobile sports betting, including the potential for
future regulatory approvals, and our strategy, business plans and
focus. The words "may," "will," "could," "would," "should,"
"expect," "plan," "anticipate," "intend," "believe," "estimate,"
"predict," "project," "potential," "continue," "target" and similar
expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements,
although not all forward-looking statements contain these
identifying words. Any forward-looking statements in this press
release are based on management's current expectations and beliefs
and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and important
factors that may cause actual events or results to differ
materially from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking
statements contained in this press release, including, without
limitation, those risks and uncertainties related to the mobile
sports betting and other risks identified in our SEC filings,
including our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended
September 30, 2020, and subsequent
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We caution you
not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements,
which speak only as of the date they are made. We disclaim any
obligation to publicly update or revise any such statements to
reflect any change in expectations or in events, conditions or
circumstances on which any such statements may be based, or that
may affect the likelihood that actual results will differ from
those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Any
forward-looking statements contained in this press release
represent our views only as of the date hereof and should not be
relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date. We
explicitly disclaim any obligation to update any forward-looking
statements.
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SOURCE Drone Racing League