Cox Gets Into Drone Racing

Cox Communications has struck a national sponsorship agreement with the Drone Racing League (DRL), and will use that deal in part to tout the speeds and performance of its WiFi products. 

That sponsorship will be active during the 2018 DRL Allianz World Championship Season and extend to drone pilot Nick “WildWilly” Willard, a two-time, third place DRL winner who hails from Atlanta, Cox’s headquarters city.  

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Willard will be among 18 top pilots who will race custom-built DRL drones during the seven-event series, which will be broadcast in more than 75 countries on networks such as ESPN, Sky Sports, ProSiebenSat.1, OSN, Fox Sports Asia and Disney XD.

Financial terms weren’t announced, but Cox said its sponsorship will include a custom commercial spot produced by DRL’s media team, digital content creation, and live FPV (First Person View) freestyle events, where Willard will perform drone tricks and maneuvers while donning a branded uniform.

“The Drone Racing League is an undeniable reminder of the speed and performance excellence required by today’s connected devices. We’re proud to sponsor DRL and support millions of other high-speed applications with our nationwide network,” Mark Greatrex, executive vice president and chief marketing and sales officer at Cox, said in a statement.

In addition to participating on a Cable WiFi consortium that has deployed more than 500,000 hotspots in outdoor and business locations, Cox also markets Panoramic WiFi, a premium, whole-home WiFi offering that has more than 1 million customers on board.