The leading firm has partnered with future sports upstarts the Drone Racing League. Unleash the quad-copters!

UK betting exchange operator, Betfair, has partnered with the Drone Racing League (DRL), to offer sports betting services on the UK’s first ever professional drone racing event.

“Drone racing is a sport made for betting, it combines the raw thrill of short track racing with the complexity and strategy of motorsports,” commented Nicholas Horbaczwki, CEO and founder of the DRL.

“The Allianz World Championship race will be the first time a live audience will see the thrill of professional drone racing up close, and the inclusion of betting will make it that much more exciting for fans.”

Often dubbed the "Sport of the Future", drone racing has an estimated reach of 75 million fans worldwide, following DRL partnerships with leading broadcasters ESPN and Sky Sports. Highly skilled pilots fly identical quadcopters in first person view, steering with virtual reality goggles that transmit a live image of the track broadcast from their drone’s onboard camera.

“This is a great opportunity and we're excited to see how a partnership like this will play out for us in the future given the rise in popularity of the sport of drone racing,” said Stephen Mault, head of marketing at Betfair.

“Innovation and technology are the lifeblood of everything we do at Betfair and we are committed to constantly finding ways of enhancing and improving the experience of our customers.”