The Drone Racing League and DraftKings Take Flight with Official Sports Betting Agreement Ahead of Season Finale Races

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Landmark Deal Broadens Engagement Opportunities and Introduces Fans to Entirely New Category of Sportsbook Offerings

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Jan 08, 2021, 07:00 ET

NEW YORK and BOSTON, Jan. 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Drone Racing League (DRL), the global, professional drone racing property, today announced a deal with DraftKings Inc. (Nasdaq: DKNG) to make the sports technology and entertainment company an Official Sports Betting Partner of DRL. Upon completion of this deal, DRL drone races became the first aerial sporting event upon which fans can wager. Mobile sports betting on DRL drone races is currently legal in Colorado, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Tennessee and West Virginia with regulatory approvals pending in additional states. DRL's final drone races of the 2020 DRL Allianz World Championship Season will kick off this Saturday, January 9th at 4:30pm ET on NBC, Twitter and Facebook.

"The sky is now the limit for DRL fans to get skin in the game, and we're thrilled to partner with DraftKings to transform our high-speed race competition into the ultimate sport to bet on," said DRL President Rachel Jacobson. "The opportunity for us to elevate our engagement through all forms of gaming and gambling will only increase as mobile betting becomes more adopted across the country."

DraftKings is a leader in the rapidly growing motorsports and esports sportsbook categories and believes DRL will bring an entirely new audience of fans to gaming. Consumer research indicates drone racing fans are three times more likely to place a bet than fans of major sports leagues and 90 percent more likely to be interested in sports betting than the average global sports fan. After initially introducing DRL drone races to customers as a free-to-play pool during the 2020 season, DraftKings saw over 30 percent more entries in its first week than the average for new sports, totaling over 150,000 entries to date.

This deal gives DraftKings exclusive marketing rights around sports betting and branding integrations, including custom gates, through the culmination of the current 2020 DRL Allianz World Championship Season. Both pre-race wagers and in-race live bets will be available for fans in approved states to engage before and during the high-flying action.

"DRL is scaling their business as fast as their drone races, and we're excited to be flying with them given DRL's thrilling, innovative racing events are perfect for the customized wagering offerings we can create," said Ezra Kucharz, Chief Business Officer, DraftKings. "Our expertise in sports betting combined with DRL's stats-packed competition will make this a fun and seamless opportunity to engage their avid audience along with tech-savvy, adrenaline-loving sports fans."

In the lead up to DRL's final drone races of the season, DraftKings and DRL will host "Pre-Flight Shows" ahead of the live events, including tonight at 7pm ET on Twitter, where expert sports bettors and elite drone pilots will educate fans on how to participate.

Fans can learn more and check out DraftKings' Drone Racing League offerings by downloading DraftKings Sportsbook via iOS and Android here.

About Drone Racing League
The Drone Racing League is the global, professional drone racing property for elite FPV (First Person View) pilots. Merging the digital with the real, DRL combines innovative drone technology, custom content, and visually thrilling racing across live sporting and esports events to create the new playing field. Founded by Nicholas Horbaczewski in 2015, DRL is a privately held company headquartered in NYC. For more information, visit www.drl.io. To join the conversation, follow DRL on Facebook at facebook.com/thedroneracingleague, on Twitter @DroneRaceLeague, and on Instagram @thedroneracingleague.

About DraftKings
DraftKings Inc. is a digital sports entertainment and gaming company created to fuel the competitive spirits of sports fans with products that range across daily fantasy, regulated gaming and digital media. Headquartered in Boston, and launched in 2012 by Jason Robins, Matt Kalish and Paul Liberman, DraftKings is the only U.S.-based vertically integrated sports betting operator. DraftKings is a multi-channel provider of sports betting and gaming technologies, powering sports and gaming entertainment for 50+ operators across more than 15 regulated U.S. and global markets, including Arkansas and Oregon in the U.S. DraftKings' Sportsbook offers mobile and retail betting for major U.S. and international sports and operates in the United States pursuant to regulations in Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and West Virginia. DraftKings' daily fantasy sports product is available in 8 countries internationally with 15 distinct sports categories. DraftKings is the official daily fantasy partner of the NFL, MLB and the PGA TOUR as well as an authorized gaming operator of the NBA and MLB and an official betting operator of the PGA TOUR.

Media Contact
DRL: Melanie Wallner, Director of Communications, [email protected]

DraftKings: [email protected]; @DraftKingsNews

Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, including, without limitation, statements regarding our expectations regarding the deal between DraftKings and DRL, the legalization of mobile sports betting, including the potential for future regulatory approvals, and our strategy, business plans and focus. The words "may," "will," "could," "would," "should," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "intend," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "project," "potential," "continue," "target" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Any forward-looking statements in this press release are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and important factors that may cause actual events or results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements contained in this press release, including, without limitation, those risks and uncertainties related to the mobile sports betting and other risks identified in our SEC filings, including our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2020, and subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We caution you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. We disclaim any obligation to publicly update or revise any such statements to reflect any change in expectations or in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements may be based, or that may affect the likelihood that actual results will differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release represent our views only as of the date hereof and should not be relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date. We explicitly disclaim any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

SOURCE Drone Racing League