The eSports gaming industry has been booming since the last decade with the emergence of live streaming and a host of virtual and gaming technologies. Since the start of the COVID-19 epidemic, there’s been a massive growth in gaming audiences, with over 728.8 million people worldwide competing against friends and strangers alike. A growing chunk of this population is professional gamers making a fortune by participating in popular competitions. For instance, did you know that the winner of the Fortnite World Cup Finals 2019 won a whopping $3 million?
Insane, right?
Fortnite isn’t the only eSport as preferences vary from audience to audience. However, if there’s one sport making some serious noise in the industry, it’s sim racing. This growing concept entails accurately simulating auto-racing with real-world variables, graphics, events, and physics. Due to its immense popularity, it now has its branch of professional competitions, such as the F1 2020, Gran Turismo Sport, and iRacing, that allow drivers to earn real money.
So, if you’re pondering the question, “Can you make some money sim racing?,” you have your answer. Instead, you should be asking how much you can make with sim racing or what other ways can you make money from it apart from professional competitions?
Don’t worry. We’ve got you covered on both ends!
In this post, we’ll share six ways you can turn this highly lucrative recreational activity or hobby into a profession and make money from it.
Let’s get started!
How Much Money Can You Make With Sim Racing?
Professional sim racers can easily make anywhere from a few thousand dollars a year to hundreds of thousands, depending upon:
- Their method(s) or medium(s) of making money with racing simulation
- The game they play or competition they compete in
- Their performance
- Other related revenue streams (streaming, sponsorship deals, business, etc.)
All these factors combine to scale a professional sim racer’s salary. However, you should note that there is no lower or upper limit to their pay scale. Therefore, you have to be realistic in terms of expectations and gauge your options according to your capabilities and experience.
6 Ways to Make Money With Sim Racing
Without further ado, let’s check out six great ways to make money with sim racing:
1. Competing In and Winning Sim Racing Competitions
If you’re new to this lucrative eSport or the industry for that matter, the best way to make money with sim racing is by winning competitions and championships. Today, there are dozens of racing simulation competitions worldwide, and most of them offer some serious prize money for winners and runner-ups.
However, to make money by competing, you have to perform professionally and constantly improve and maintain your skills, especially if you plan on doing this for a living. Here are a few examples of some of the most popular sim racing championships worldwide, along with their prize money:
- The F1 eSports (F1 2022) – $500,000-$750,000
- The FIA Gran Turismo World Championship – $250,000
- iRacing eNASCAR Coca-Cola series – $300,000
- ADAC GT Masters eSports Championship – €70,000
- 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual (RFACTOR 2) – $250,000
- eSports Racing World Cup by VCO – $50,000
- Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup – $200,000
2. Racing Simulation Coaching
Another great way to earn money consistently with sim racing is by offering one-on-one or group coaching lessons. However, you need to have a certain level of teaching experience along with extensive knowledge of simulation technology and real-world racing variables, such as fuel usage, suspension, tire wear and grip, and suspension. Simply put, you have to be good at a particular game to teach it to others.
With digital learning at its peak, you can also set up lessons on Discord or upload a dedicated video course on YouTube, Udemy, or other services. If you’re looking for proof that sim racing coaching is a viable option, you can check our Williams eSports Academy, where you can get training from some of the best professional sim racers in the world with packages starting at around $50 an hour.
3. Live-Streaming
Thanks to platforms like YouTube, Twitch, and even TikTok, you can broadcast your racing and amass subscribers to tune into your videos regularly. After a certain number of views or subscribers, you can monetize your sim racing account and become a full-time digital influencer.
You can also land some mutually-beneficial PR and marketing opportunities from different brands trying to reach your specific audience. Depending upon your viewership and subscribers, you can make hundreds of thousands of dollars every year. However, getting to that level requires creativity, consistency, hard work, and plenty of luck.
4. Sponsorships and Affiliate Deals
Like in real-world racing, there are thousands of sponsors in eSports that offer professional sim racers and teams an additional revenue stream. These include drinking companies like Coca-Cola and Redbull and other consumer products that may or may not be associated with sim racing or a particular event. Depending on your playing level and experience, you can earn hundreds or even thousands of dollars in a single race. Similarly, you can land affiliate deals from different brands to promote their goods and services if you build enough exposure.
5. Joining a Professional Team
If you don’t like playing alone, you can join a professional sim racing team to make money. However, this is less common than the other earning methods as most professionals often opt for the solo route. Plus, getting into a professional team competing in elite competitions can be extremely difficult, and you’d have to split the prize money (not always equally).
6. Donations
Using platforms like Patreon, you can opt for in-streaming donations and accept small amounts of money per video or stream from fans. It’s similar to a premium YouTube channel but without advertising, although you can advertise different products, services, or even tournaments. However, to get donations from fans, you’d have to be seriously good at sim racing or incentivize them with an equally good value offering related to the eSport.
Conclusion
Can you make money sim racing? Yes, you can. Will you make money from this incredibly popular sport? Now that depends on you. We know for sure that with the information in this post, you have five great earning methods you can try out according to your skill level, experience, and other expertise. However, it would be best to remember that making money with racing simulation won’t happen overnight. You’ll have to put in the work and improve every day to reap the lucrative rewards on offer.
