RSE Ventures, a venture-capital firm co-founded by Dolphins Owner Stephen Ross, is providing $1M to the "first round of funding for the Drone Racing League," a N.Y.-based startup that is "planning its first public race later this year," according to Emily Nonko of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. The league "intends to make money through sponsorships, media and ticket sales." DRL is "targeting a growing audience: videogame players and other technology-oriented types." The venture "hopes to re-create the success of live videogame competitions." The league earlier this summer "held a nonpublic trial race" inside an abandoned power plant in Yonkers, N.Y., where six pilots standing on the power plant floor "controlled their drones as they flew down the warehouse’s hallways and through open windows." There are "typically five to seven participants per race." Racers "wear virtual-reality goggles that make it feel as if they are in the 'cockpit' of the drone, which translates to video content" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 8/12). RSE Ventures co-Founder & CEO Matt Higgins said, "We backed it because it has all the makings of a modern-day sport, Twitch meets Formula One." DRL CEO Nick Horbaczewski said that the sport "will first be presented on television and then evolve to having spectators in the stands." He added that the league is "hoping the sport will take on a NASCAR-type competitiveness" (ESPN.com, 8/11).
