Look out, NASCAR. There's a new racing sport on the block.
Drone racing is now poised to reach a wider audience.
ESPN and the International Drone Racing Association have struck a multi-year media distribution deal, according to a statement on ESPN's website.
IDRA went from a national drone race to a partnership with ESPN in eight months. It's a move the association's chairman is calling "a sign of great things ahead."
The 2016 U.S. National Drone Racing Championships will be their first event showcased on an ESPN network.
For these races, pilots fly their drones around a marked course. Each drone has a camera mounted on the front, giving pilots the feeling that they're actually in the aircraft. Spectators can also get a glimpse of that first person view.
The championships will be held on Governors Island, New York City on August 5 through August 7.
That event is set to be streamed on ESPN 3 and then air on an ESPN network as a one hour special.
"Drone racing is currently seeing an unprecedented rise in popularity and is poised to become the next behemoth racing sport alongside NASCAR and Formula 1," ESPN noted in a statement.
