UK exchange betting operator Betfair has signed on to provide betting services for the UK’s first professional drone race.
On Wednesday, Betfair announced it had inked a partnership with the Drone Racing League (DRL) to offer wagers on the final race of the Allianz World Championship circuit on June 13 at Alexandra Palace in London. The event is part of London Tech Week, which runs from the 12th to the 16th.
Betfair’s marketing maven Stephen Mault called the partnership a “great opportunity” for his firm “given the rise in popularity of the sport of drone racing.” Betfair plans to offer two different betting markets at next Tuesday’s meet: individual heat winner for each of the seven heats, plus the overall Allianz World Championship winner.
DRL founder Nicholas Horbaczewski called drone racing “a sport made for betting,” given its marriage of “the raw thrill of short track racing with the complexity and strategy of motor sports.” And don’t forget the raw thrill of having your eardrums bombarbed by those annoying little engines whining like enormous mosquitoes whacked out on a mix of Benzedrine and high-fructose corn syrup, or like NASCAR with undescended testicles.
Betfair, which is part of the Paddy Power Betfair betting behemoth, isn’t the first operator to offer wagering on drone racing. Noted online sportsbook Pinnacle, which was the first major operator to offer betting markets on eSports competitions, offered its first drone wagering odds on the Drone Racing World Championships last October.
The DRL is clearly hoping that when UK punters are exposed to their first pro drone race, they’ll react more favorably than those British horses did when a drone camera operator got too close to the racing action. For those who don’t want to (a) run the risk of a an accidental drone kamikaze attack or (b) hobnob with the geeks at London Tech Week, you can follow the DRL’s 2017 season from a safe distance on Sky Sports (and bet via Betfair’s mobile app).
