Sky Sports to give drone racing the Premier League treatment

Sky has announced that it will soon be airing elite drone racing as part of a $1 million investment in The Drone Racing League.

For anyone unfamiliar with the sport, drone racing involves pilots flying custom designed, hand built drones through futuristic three-dimensional courses whilst wearing headsets that give a first person view of the action.

The Drone Racing League already has a broadcast deal with ESPN in the US, where drone racing has already become an established and popular spectator sport, with a world championship set to take place in Hawaii in October.

Drone Racing League CEO and Founder Nicholas Horbaczewski said that his team can't wait to share the sport with "fans around the world" and that thanks to the new partnership with Sky they believe they can "truly grow a global franchise around this futuristic, high-speed racing sport."

Where we're going we don't need roads

Sky's partnership with the Drone Racing League will see live events and broadcast content coming to the UK and Ireland. Ten one-hour episodes covering five races will air from this October on the newly launched Sky Sports Mix channel.

The deal will also see the first professional drone race come to the UK in a yet-to-be-revealed London venue.

Sky's Group Business Development Director, Emma Lloyd said that the company are "thrilled" to be part of developing the sport and are looking forward to being able to work with the Drone Racing League to "bring something completely different to audiences across both TV and digital."

This isn't the first time Sky has brought alternative sports to UK audiences, having recently dipped its toes into the world of eSports and investing in the UK's first 24-hour eSports TV channel, Ginx eSports.

Not sure if drone racing is for you? Check it out below:

• How to safely and legally fly a drone