Sky invests $1m in air Drone Racing League in the UK

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Sky said today it has invested $1m (£757,600) to bring drone racing to its new channel next month, as it announced plans to launch the first professional drone race in UK.

The distribution deal with organiser The Drone League (DRL), whose competitions allow pilots to fly drones through three-dimensional racecouses, will enable the broadcaster to put on live events and screen content to the UK and Ireland.

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The 2016 DLR season will air as 10, one-hour episodes from October on the newly launched Sky Sports Mix channel. The series will cover five races, including a winner-take-all world championship to crown the best drone pilot.

Sky and DLR also announced plans to stage the first professional drone race in the UK at an undisclosed iconic venue in London.

DRL chief executive and founder, Nicholas Horbaczewski, said : "Having a distribution deal and strategic partnerships with Sky will bring DRL to tens of millions of viewers.

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"With their expertise and our industry leading technology, media production and development of the best competitive racing, we believe we can truly grow a global franchise around this futuristic, high-speed racing sport."

Emma Lloyd, group business development director at Sky, added: "We're really looking forward to working with the team at DRL to grow the sport and to bring something completely different to audiences across both TV and digital."