The Drone Racing League has announced a long-term partnership with the blockchain platform Algorand.
According to various reports, the deal is said to be worth US$100 million for five years. It will be the racing league’s largest sponsorship agreement to date.
As per the agreement, the DRL will be launching blockchain-enabled ticketing services, fan transactions, collectibles and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Algorand platform.
Additionally, Algorand would also be launching hackathon events being staged at DRL races globally and will be inviting programmers, coders and crypto developers from around the globe to participate.
As part of the deal, Algorand will receive the title rights to the DRL’s World Championship circuit. The drone racing series will also build a Digital Drone Racing championship into Algorand’s network.
Commenting on the partnership, Rachel Jacobson, DRL President, said, “The Drone Racing League’s global, tech-obsessed fans love that our sport constantly evolves, and blockchain was the next ground-breaking technology in our sights.”
He further added, “Algorand shares our values of speed, innovation, and inclusivity. As the largest partnership in DRL’s history, we have ambitious plans to deliver a unique sports experience in the metaverse.
“We are incredibly excited about how this partnership will change the game for sports fans, technologists and the blockchain community around the world.”
The NFT platform will also be receiving additional exposure through branding across the DRL’s social media, broadcast and gaming platforms throughout the deal.
DRL features drone pilots racing through courses to compete for prize money. With a global reach of about 75 million fans, the league is valued at $200 million.
The league also recently announced partnerships with Genius Sports and T-Mobile and had also released an official DRL simulator in May on Xbox, PlayStation, and Steam.
The sixth season of the league is all set to commence from September 29.