Meet the next sport of the modern age: Drone racing
Once again his quadcopter drone, a buzzing machine roughly the size of a loaf of bread, zooms daringly around obstacles and through hairpin turns; once again, it meets its demise.
Welcome to drone racing, a would-be sport in which men, and a few women, fly remote-controlled drones against competitors at up to 80 miles per hour along looping courses with hairpin curves and drops.
Fans sit on bleachers behind protective mesh, passing around antenna-equipped goggles to see the pilot's view.
Big-screen TVs show off unique camera angles while glowing copters whizz by, emitting the high-pitched hum of weed whackers on steroids.
While high-profile races such as the World Drone Prix, held in Dubai last March, pay out as much as $250,000 to the winning pilot, such affluence feels very distant here in the shell of the Hawthorne Plaza mall.
The fast-talking 35-year-old helped turn "Tough Mudders," a quirky half marathon in which people pay to slog through artificial quagmires, into a $100-million-plus business as its chief revenue officer.
Paintball thrived for several years, airing its own show on ESPN3 and drawing sponsors like Budweiser, Monster energy drinks and the U.S. Army.
Multirotor Superstore, a Santa Cruz, California-based online retailer of drone parts, already sponsors pilots like Loo with discounts and access to new gear at grassroots events.
[...] owner Michael Silviera says he spent $20,000 sponsoring the IDRA's U.S. National Drone Racing Championships last year, to disappointing results.