For the majority of sim racing drivers, the end goal is to turn their home simulator setup into a full-time career.
But while turning pro is the dream, it’s not always easy to achieve.
There are a number of different ways to make money from sim racing, and today we’re going to take a look at five of them.
So whether you’re looking for a new way to make some extra cash or you’re just curious about how people make money from sim racing, read on!
Here’s our top 5 list for making money in sim racing:
- Being The BEST and winning Money prizes
- Offering 1-1 coaching
- Sponsorships & Affiliate Deals
- Streaming subscriptions on Twitch
- In-streaming Donations (i.e. Patreon)
But before diving right in, here some interesting stats for you regarding some of the latest sim racing money prizes:
- FIA Gran Turismo World Championship had a money prize fund of $250,000
- F1 Esports Pro Series by Aramco has a money prize of $750,000
- iRacing eNASCAR Coca Cola series gave away $300,000 cash to sim racing drivers during 2020
- The Porsche TAG Heuer Esports supercup gave away $200,000 worth of money prize
That’s about 1.5 million dollars in total…
Isn’t that so exciting??
The yearly earn out of a pro sim racer can range from a few thousand dollars to hundreds of thousands, depending on their experience level, the game they play, but most importantly his skills level and amount of time spent racing.
How Much time Does A Professional Sim Racer Work?
Well, here’s the thing. Most professional sim racers do not have a day job.
They typically spend 6-8 hours per day, six days a week practicing, training and analyzing their performance data.
I know that sounds crazy but that’s what you need to do in order to stay on top and win the most prestigious esports championships.
You need to put in the hard work and clock in some laps to improve the pergormance on new cars and track or to adjust and make the car setup as quick as possible.
Dealing with a day job or with school is surely not easy for professional sim racers and can take away some of the precious time they need to practice, but there are a few drivers out there who manage to do it.
So here’s the list of the 5 ways to make money in sim racing.
Being the BEST and winning Money prizes
So the first way for a sim racer to earn money is by simply being the best and winning esports championships.
The best sim racer in the world can win some serious money prizes.
Just take a look at the FIA Gran Turismo World Championship for example.
The prize fund was $250,000 and the winner walked away with a cool $100,000.
And that’s just one championship. There are dozens money prizes and esports leagues out there and you can bet your bottom dollar that they pay pretty well.
The only thing I would recommend is to practice thoroughly and get yourself a really good steering wheel, pedals set, and cockpit.
You surely can’t win iRacing series by playing with a joystick on your sofa! 😉
Offering 1-1 coaching
The second way for a sim racer to earn money is by offering one-on-one or group coaching lessons.
Now let me be clear, this is not the easiest best way to make money as a sim racer since it will require you to be very good at teaching and explaining things to people.
In fact, I would only recommend doing this if you’re really good at the game and have a lot of knowledge to share.
But if you can offer quality coaching services, there’s no reason why you can’t make a few bucks here and there.
Just be sure to charge a fair price and always be open to negociations.
Also, try and set up lessons on Discord for a more convenient time scheduling.
Sponsorships & Affiliate Deals
So the next way for you to earn money as a sim racer is by getting sponsorhip or affiliate deals.
In other words, you need to find companies or brands that are willing to help you out with some money in exchange for some advertisement.
This can be a great way to make some extra cash but it will require you to be good at networking and promoting yourself.
In this case your social media followers and youtube subscribers will play a big role for you.
So keep your social media channels updated, share your content on reddit and other forums, but most importantly try to produce top notch content for people to enjoy.
If you manage to get enough exposure, sooner or later sponsors will come knocking on your door!
Be sure to attend all the major esports events and try and meet as many people in the industry as possible.
This is a long-term strategy and it will require some time and effort, but if done correctly, you can make a lot of money from it.
Streaming subscriptions on Twitch
Next comes one of the most fun and scalable ways for you to make money from sim racing.
This one relates to selling Twitch subscriptions where your viewers will pay you anywhere from $4.99 to $9.99 or even $24.99 a month per subscriber!
That sounds pretty awesome, right?!
Of course capturing a large enough sum of subscribers to allow you replacing your 9-5 job is not an easy task, though.
It requires you to be good at streaming, entertaining the viewers and always come up with new ideas for your stream.
If you manage to do so people will eventually pay for your subscription and you’ll be able to make some serious money out of it!
Just 150 subscribers on a $9.99 plan could mean an extra $1499 per month for you!
In-streaming Donations (i.e. Patreon)
The final way for a sim racer to make money is through in-streaming donations through platforms like Patreon.
This method is becoming increasingly popular with content creators on platforms such as Twitch and Youtube.
Essentially, it works by allowing viewers to donate a small amount of money per video or stream.
And while this may not seem like much, if you have a large enough following, these donations can quickly add up.
In fact, many content creators make a full-time living by just relying on in-streaming donations!
How Old Do You Have To Be To Be A Professional Sim Racer?
I think the age doesn’t really count for sim racing. You can be a pro at any age.
The only thing that really matters is how good you are and if you have the determination to make it big.
Here’s another article on how to turn you into an eSports champion in no time!
If you’re still at high school, you can start by setting up a Twitch account and stream some of your online races.
This will help you start building a following and once you have a decent sized audience, you can start pitching yourself to sponsors.
If you’re already working or have a family, then coaching may be the way to go for you.
Can I Become A Professional Sim Racer?
I think you can mate, with tons of practice and some quality hardware to race on.
It just takes a lot of time getting good at it but then once you’ll be racing at the top 1% level, the sky is the limit.
Time to wrap up:
So, as you can see, there are a few different ways for you to make money from sim racing.
It will require some effort on your part but if you’re willing to put in the work, the rewards can be quite lucrative.
Just keep in mind that it’s not going to happen overnight and it will take time and dedication to achieve success.
But if you’re willing to put in the effort, anything is possible!
I hope this article was helpful and I wish you the best of luck in your quest to become a professional sim racer!
As always, happy racing!