During a recent home stand at Chase Field, the Arizona Diamondbacks announced that the Drone Racing League or DRL for short would be making a tour stop in Phoenix and for an evening Chase Field would host the event. I have to admit, in the 22 years I have been attending Arizona Diamondbacks games this is the first time I had ever heard the words – “drone”, “racing”, “baseball”, and “stadium” used it the same sentence.

At first, I scoffed at the notion. As a baseball purist it seemed almost sacrilegious to think that some obscure event like drone racing would take over a baseball stadium especially during the season. Chase Field has had its share of non-baseball events though so this wasn’t totally out of the blue. I mean who could forget the time they turned the stadium into a boat show or filled the stands with a Jehovah Witness convention?

Initially I discounted the notion of drone racing at Chase Field and had no interest in understanding what this event would offer. But over the course of the home stand as I sat in the stands and heard the commercials coupled with representatives from the Drone Racing League who set up a booth beyond the centerfield wall explaining the event and the “sport”. Sorry for the air-quotes around sport, it just felt like a stretch to call it that. But as the time drew nearer to this event my stance began to soften. I mean who am I to question whether drone racing is a thing or even if it is a sport.

Curiosity got the best of me and since the Diamondbacks were out of town and their game finished hours before the drone racing event would start, I figure what the heck, I should go see what this is. I bought a couple of tickets which were listed as general admission. I thought I would try and pick a seat close to where I sit for baseball games. Going online I realized that wasn’t possible. All available seats were behind home plate. I rationalized that made since as those were the seats behind the protective net during baseball.

The tickets said the gates opened at 5:30 PM. I took my wonderful wife under the auspice of this being a date night that didn’t include baseball (a rarity in our house from April through October). She was less than impressed when we arrived at the Chase Field parking garage. Technically I was right, it was a date night and did not include baseball but it was at Chase Field so it was a gray area.

The first thing that struck me was the fact that there were lines of people waiting to gain entrance to Chase Field and this was after the gates had been opened. This was a crowd normally associated with a bobble head giveaway or the famous haboob globe. I was in no way prepared to see this many people trying to get in.

The lines went fairly quickly and soon we were in the stadium. The concourse and field were eerily dark and I wondered if we had missed drone racing and entered the haunted house realm that pop up in the Phoenix area each October. My first look at the playing field was the equivalent of coming home to see that your kid had taken neon markers and drawn all over the freshly painted walls. There were gates, wild spotlights, LED rope lighting, and a stage set up just beyond the infield.

The concourse was filled with people getting food, trying out virtual drone racing, purchasing Drone Racing League merchandise from a popup store, and waiting in line to meet the pilots and get their autographs. I suddenly felt way outside my comfort zone. There were Chase Field guest relations personnel directing traffic and showing people where they could enter the seating area. We grabbed some food and went down to find a seat.

There has been a lot of talk lately about baseball extending the netting to protect the fans from errant foul balls. Many diehard fans, myself included feel the fans need to pay more attention and be responsible for watching for fouls rather than catering to the casual fan who is more likely to be on their phone than watching the game. Well for those in the camp rallying against more netting the stadium configuration for drone racing would be the stuff of nightmares. There were nets between the stands and home plate, nets to the side of where fans were allowed to sit, nets above us. It literally felt like being a bird in a cage. After watching a few drone races I totally understand why the nets were there and I was grateful for them given some of the mid-air crashes. It also made sense considering fans were asked to be involved using an app on their phones. This was the epitome of what casual fans mean and why they need to be protected.

After the national anthem performed by the Air Force color guard (how appropriate and fitting) it got down to business. The pilots were introduced and emerged from the dugout to the sounds of cheering fans. For all intents and purposes, it felt like a sporting event.

Drone racing for this event were divided into two heats of six pilots. They would race two laps around the stadium at various altitudes and navigating a multitude of brightly colored geometric figures. Each heat consisted of six races followed by a sudden death match (a rather ominously named race given that Chase Field resembled Mad Max and his fight in Thunderdome. Any of the six pilots who won 2 or more races would make the finals. The sudden death race pitted those who had not won at least 2 races with the winner also making the finals.

The racing reminded me a lot of a cross between the monster truck races that have been part of Chase Field lore over the years and pod racing from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Races last between one and two minutes. The pilots sat on the stage wearing goggles so they could see what the drone sees. For some lucky fans, there was an area where they could wear similar goggles and be in virtual the pilot’s seat. Probably as close to actually being a drone racer many of the fans will get.

The energy and size of the crowd at Chase Field was electric. They were cheering and screaming for their favorites and gasping when drones crashed on the course. The technology and logistics of these races is impressive. They bring 600 drones to an event and from the looks of things they have a full time job maintaining these racing drones. When a drone finishes (or even when it doesn’t finish) it is set aside and another take its place. The drones reach a speed of 90 miles per hour in less than a second so these are not your typical drones you see people flying around the neighborhood.

Racing was fast and furious and you could see the strategy come into play with each race either trying to win or trying to keep others from winning. The drones all were the same creating a level playing field where it was up to the pilots to navigate the course and their competitors. There were two heats of six races each plus a sudden death race in each heat. Then there was the final round where the winners of each of the heats and the sudden death winners would race six races. The culmination was a single race winner take all for the evening.

There was tremendous fan interaction. The Drone Racing League has an app you can download where you can pick the top three finishers in each race. You are rewarded points for successfully picking the winner. So the fans and their technology are active participants in the events. Full disclosure, I have to be the worst prognosticator in the world when it comes to picking drone racing winners. Where the leaderboard showed people with 1500-1900 points I struggled to get even 50 points the whole evening. Clearly I have no idea how to predict drivers and race dynamics.

The event was a lot more fun than I had expected. I walked in a complete novice not understanding anything about the event to someone who would not only go to another event but also found myself jotting down dates and times of when there are other events. I would definitely go again and recommend it to others. The crowd was diverse and it was good to see so many families in attendance. The level of fan engagement was incredible. Perhaps this is a model that baseball could follow to get the fans more involved. Of course that would require more netting or protection but may be a way to bring more fans to games.

I give credit to the Drone Racing League, they have an interesting product, what seems to be a growing fan base, and it appeals to a wide range of people. I’ll continue to watch where this is going and I recommend you try to find an event near you or catch it on television (they are partnering with NBC Sports Network to broadcast events). Maybe they’re right; maybe this is a sport of the future.