Vegas Strip Gets a High-Speed, Neon Makeover

Next year's CES, the Consumer Technology Association’s banner event for all things technology, has a new opening act to kick off the show. The Drone Racing League (DRL), will close out their 2021 Algorand World Championship Season on the infamous Vegas Strip itself, in Las Vegas Nevada.

The DRL is a perfect companion piece for the event, as the world watches the newest advances in consumer technology, the core of the racing series. Unlike traditional sports, the equipment takes center stage, with the rapid pace of UAV advancement bringing continuous upgrades to each race. This year, 5G networking was offered to the drones, allowing for near instantaneous first-person view for the operators on the track and audiences at home. With the custom, high-spec drones weaving and sprinting through the course at 90+ miles per hour, the pilots need all the responsiveness they can get. 

DRL President Rachel Jacobson says their race is the perfect starter for a world famous tech expo. The Vegas strip will get a high-tech makeover, with thousands of LED lights marking the tight, winding confines of the neon-colored race course. 

"Our Championship Race will showcase the incredible collaboration between T-Mobile and the Drone Racing League on the greatest stage for the world's top technology leaders. Our must-attend event will unveil groundbreaking technology, cutting edge sports competition and visually stunning entertainment," she said.

Combined with the customized, high performance drones, and first-person POV, the series is the perfect start to CES. Earlier this year, she spoke with reporters about the perfect marriage that drone racing creates for the tech industry. "We’re the only sports property that we’re embedding technology in literally our ‘ball’ when you think about our drones. We have the athletes like every other sport but we have the drones, and when you think about 5G and T-Mobile or other elements we build our drones, it’s a really endless opportunity when we’re speaking with technology companies that we’ve become a real-world case study and showpiece for all of their products.”

The DRL Vegas Championship Race will start on January 5, 2022, with broadcasts of the race airing on NBC and Twitter on February 20. 

FMI: www.drl.io