DRL Expands into France With Media Partnership and New Race Venue

The Drone Racing League (DRL) has announced further expansion plans that include a new media partnership, a new race venue and further support from title sponsor Allianz.

The new race will take place on Saturday, June 16, at the Allianz Riviera stadium in Nice, France. The French theme continues with the announcement of a new media partnership with national broadcaster Groupe AB.

In a big vote of confidence for DRL and drone racing in general, German insurance giant Allianz has also committed to another five years of sponsoring the DRL Championship Race Series.

The sponsor was no doubt crucial in securing Nice’s Riviera stadium for the event in June – Allianza also has a partnership with Nice football club and naming rights over the team’s stadium.

The deal with French broadcaster Groupe AB, will add to an already huge list of media distributors. DRL is currently shown in more than 75 countries around the world.

Marking Level 5 of the 2018 DRL Allianz World Championship Season, the Allianz Riviera race will air on Groupe AB and other leading broadcast networks like ESPN, Sky and ProSieben this fall.

“We’re incredibly excited to extend our partnership with Allianz, who has a proud history of supporting innovative sports and auto racing, and to expand the reach of pro drone racing in collaboration with Groupe AB, the predominant racing media company in France. We look forward to kicking off our presence in France with the first professional drone race at the Allianz Riviera, home to the most competitive football matches in the country,” said DRL CEO & Founder, Nicholas Horbaczewski.

Read more: BMW and DRL Want to Build the World’s Fastest Racing Drone

“After the excitement of Allianz’ first season as title sponsor of the DRL Allianz World Championship, we knew we wanted to extend our partnership to five years and continue this amazing growth journey together,” said Allianz Head of Group Market Management and Distribution, Jean-Marc Pailhol.

“DRL has been a perfect strategic partner for Allianz. Going forward we will continue working with DRL to expand the Allianz World Championship and present this spectacular new sport to additional audiences around the world. It will be a pleasure to host with the support of Allianz France the elite DRL pilots for the Level 5 race at the Allianz Riviera and we look forward to many future collaborations with DRL in our eight stadiums around the world.”

“Groupe AB is thrilled to announce its partnership with the DRL for the broadcast of the competition on AB1. We are convinced that this new partnership will help reinforce our offer for the youngsters, with this particularly entertaining and innovative content,” said Richard Maroko, VP Channels, programming, acquisitions at Groupe AB.

Groupe AB will begin premiering DRL’s 2016 and 2017 DRL Allianz World Championship Seasons in France on AB1 (and on ABXplore in Belgium).