The Drone Racing League (DRL), the global, professional drone racing circuit, and FanDuel today announced a fantasy partnership for the 2020 DRL SIM Tryouts Finals, the world’s only player-to-pilot esports tournament. As DRL’s first-ever partnership with a fantasy sports provider, FanDuel will have access to official DRL SIM data, along with league marks and logos to create official daily fantasy contests for the 2020 DRL SIM Tryouts Finals.
The virtual drone racing showdown live-streams tonight at 9pm ET on DRL’sTwitter,Twitch andYouTube. Thousands of FPV (First Person View) pilot hopefuls from 75 countries entered the fourth annual DRL SIM Tryouts, battling it out across more than 136,000 heats during twelve qualifying tournaments on the DRL Simulator, the true-to-life drone racing sim on Steam — all for the chance to compete tonight and go pro. Tryouts participation skyrocketed by 90% since last year and nearly 2 million fans have already watched the online competitions.
Fans tuning into the 2020 DRL SIM Tryouts Finals can enter a free contest on FanDuel for the chance to win a share of $3,000 in FanDuel site credit. The contest follows FanDuel’s standard daily fantasy format, and racers will earn points for winning, finishing second or finishing third in each heat as they navigate virtual DRL drones on a supercharged, 3D track. The champion will earn a professional contract in the league and fly as the DRL SIM Pilot in the 2020 DRL Allianz World Championship Season, as watched by tens of millions of fans on NBC, Twitter, Sky and other leading sports networks around the world.
“At a time when fans want access to sports competition more than ever, we’re thrilled to live stream the 2020 DRL SIM Tryouts, a unique esport that transforms gamers into pro drone pilots overnight, and reward fans with prizes through our exciting new partnership with FanDuel,” said DRL CEO and Founder, Nicholas Horbaczewski.
“We remain as committed as ever to our fans and we’re currently working to develop new and entertaining games for them to engage with,” said Kip Levin, President, FanDuel. “Partnering up with The Drone Racing League allows us to collaborate with an innovative league as we give our fantasy customers more ways to play.”
Merging the virtual with the real, the Tryouts winner will race against the most elite pilots on earth during the 2020 Season, flying custom-built DRL Racer4 drones at 90 MPH through complex courses in iconic venues around the world. Last year, Minnesota native, Christopher “Phluxy” Spangler, was crowned the Tryouts winner and flew in DRL; he made podium three times and even won a level event, showcasing how DRL bridges the digital with the real.