Drone Racing League Lands $100M Crypto Deal

The Drone Racing League announced on Tuesday it has agreed to a five-year, $100 million sponsorship deal with cryptocurrency platform Algorand. 

DRL, which features drone pilots racing through courses to compete for prize money, is valued at $200 million, according to PitchBook. 

The league reaches roughly 75 million fans globally and continues to expand ahead of its sixth season, which starts on Sept. 29. 

• It secured a partnership in October with Genius Sports to bring racing to licensed sportsbooks. 
• The league released an official DRL simulator in May on Xbox, PlayStation, and Steam.
• It teamed up with T-Mobile to launch their first 5G-enabled drone, which debuted in August during MLB’s Field of Dreams game. 

DRL’s deal with Algorand marks another crypto company establishing a footprint in sports. 

Crypto exchange FTX landed naming rights in June to the Miami Heat’s arena in a 19-year, $135 million deal. The exchange also holds rights to the field at California Memorial Stadium — home of the California Golden Bears — in a 10-year, $17.5 million deal.

Earlier this week, Crypto.com secured a three-year sponsorship deal valued between $29.5 million to $35.4 million with French soccer giants Paris Saint-Germain. The platform also has deals with Formula 1 and the Ultimate Fighting Championship. 

The NFL has barred teams from partnerships with crypto and NFT-related companies as it evaluates the industries, but players are free to seek sponsorships.