Drone Racing League the First Sport to Stream in the Metaverse

by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian M. Crosby

Professional drone racing platform the Drone Racing League (DRL) will be airing its 2022-23 DRL Algorand World Championship Race Finals on Saturday, April 8th at 3pm EST on NBC, Youtube, Twitter, TikTok, Twitch, Instagram and Facebook. As metaverse sports are speculated to become an $80 billion industry by 2030, DRL is heralding this revolution in digital sports, with its inaugural “DRL Metaverse Marathon” to be the first ever property to debut its entire season in the metaverse immediately after the broadcast.

Constantly exploring new entertainment formats, DRL is committed to providing its fans with the most immersive, inclusive and accessible sporting content. Fans will be able to take part in the DRL Metaverse Marathon, a two-day viewing party of DRL’s entire Algorand World Championship Season that offers a chance to relive the races from different perspectives without the need for special equipment.

Developed by AI and Metaverse company MeetKai, the DRL Metaverse Marathon will exhibit 13 levels of real-life and esports drone racing in a digital twin of the DRL SIM video game’s MegaCity map. Using only a mobile device or computer, fans will simply click a link to enter the virtual world as avatars, where they can watch DRL through more immersive views, interact, and meet the recently clinched-DRL Algorand World Champion Pilot MCKFPV (South Korea) and top DRL Pilots such as hollywood drone-filmmaker Vanover (USA) and gamer-turned-pro-racer Halowalker (Germany).

“You’ve seen leagues scratch the surface with games and events in the metaverse, but as the most accessible and inclusive sport, the Drone Racing League will become the first property to stream an entire season in the metaverse, giving our fans more access than ever and new meaning to DRL as a real-life video game,” said DRL CMO Anne Marie Gianutsos.

The Metaverse Marathon will take place after the DRL Algorand World Championship Race finale on NBC and DRL’s social channels, in which the world’s six best drone pilots will fly 90 mph racing drones throughout an aerial course around Miami’s loanDepot park. The Finale will treat viewers to a high-octane drone racing competition, DRL’s inaugural “First Flight” tradition, featuring the NFL’s Tyreek Hill, as well as immersive experiences from partners such as Algorand, the United States Air Force, Google Cloud, T-Mobile, Draganfly and Pointskash during the race.

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Ian attended Dominican University of California, where he received a BA in English in 2019. With a lifelong passion for writing and storytelling and a keen interest in technology, he is now contributing to DroneLife as a staff writer.