Dave & Buster’s in Tempe launches weekly indoor drone racing night

Dave & Buster’s in Tempe put weekly indoor FPV racing on the board, with Indoor Drone Racing! listed for 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 16 at 2000 E Rio Salado Pkwy Suite 1100, Tempe, AZ 85281. A separate listing for July 9, plus another for Aug. 27, showed the same idea was not a one-night experiment but a recurring Thursday slot.

The pitch leans on the racing, not just the venue. One listing calls guests to “Join us every Thursday at 7PM at Dave & Buster's for Indoor Drone Racing Night!” and promises to watch high-speed drones “twist, dive, and zoom through our indoor course” while people kick back with “great food, cold drinks, and all the arcade action you love.” That mix turns FPV into a close-range show where the action is compact enough for casual spectators to track every line, bounce, and missed gate.

For Tempe pilots, the weekly cadence is the real story. A fixed Thursday window gives beginners a first entry point and gives regulars a place to stack laps, test setups, and stay sharp between bigger outdoor events. In a sport that usually builds its best racers through parking-lot meets, league nights, and one-off qualifiers, indoor repeatability matters because the same corners, gates, and lines can be attacked again and again. That is how a casual night starts to look like a ladder.

The venue has already shown it can host repeat drone-racing programming. Tempe Marketplace event pages listed Dave & Buster’s drone-racing viewing events in April 2026, and search snippets referenced a “weekly whoop race” at Dave & Buster’s Tempe Marketplace. Put together, those listings point to a local setup that can pull arcade foot traffic into FPV, then keep the same pilots and spectators coming back every Thursday. For a niche sport, a reliable indoor slot at a familiar entertainment venue can matter more than a one-night showcase.