The winner of an upcoming drone racing championship will receive $100,000, CNBC reported.
The DRL Allianz World Championship begins Tuesday on ESPN and pits 16 racers against each other in a competition that takes place around the world in venues such as NFL stadiums and abandoned malls.
"We are a small part of a multibillion-dollar growing drone industry," Drone Racing League CEO Nicholas Horbaczewski told CNBC's "Power Lunch" on Monday. "What we find is, everybody these days either has a drone, they want a drone, they're learning how to fly them, and people are finding commercial and consumer applications for them.
"And we're just a piece of that. We're a great outlet, a good reason to go out and fly drones."
Horbaczewski said pilots were selected from amateur drone racing competitions and through a video game where their skills were evaluated virtually. The drones used cost anywhere from $500 to $1,000 and can rev up to 90 miles per hour.