Pay $3,000 to win $1,000 back – if you’re lucky. New RaceRoom tournament comes with strange price policy.
Photo credit: RaceRoom Twitter
A new tournament in RaceRoom asks for several thousand dollars in registration fees. But only the winners of the event receive enough money to then be in the black again.
Malaysian television channel eGG Network teamed up with sim racing platform Axle Sports to host a new tournament in the Asia Pacific region. The RaceRoom event is called E1 Championship, takes place from November 18 – January 13 and offers a prize pool of $15,000 (USD) to 24 drivers which are grouped in 12 teams. Esports racers from 16 countries in the Asia Pacific region are eligible to participate.
The event consists of eight rounds that always take place on a Wednesday across the three months from November 2020 – January 2021. All races will be broadcast on TV to 8 Southeast Asian countries. For more information on the tournament, you can check out the official page of the E1 Championship.
Win the tournament or lose your money
The tournament comes with comparably high registration fees. When opening the official registration form, a fee of $2,000 per individual driver is marked. For a team of two drivers, the fees are $3,000. There is no information on what these fees are required for.
These costs are especially surprising considering the prize pool and its distribution. The winning team receives $5,000, the second place $4,000, third place $3,000 and so on. So if a team registers as two racers, they need to achieve at least a podium finish to stay even. Individual drivers have to aim for second place at least, or they lose money.
High entry fees are often point of discussion in the esports racing scene, which usually gets praised as a more affordable and cost-efficient alternative to traditional motorsports. For example, a German tournament organizer was under fire from all sides earlier this year when asking for a total of €357.
We at OverTake reached out to the organisers for a statement regarding these fees, but did not yet receive an answer.
GERMAN CHAMPIONSHIP ORGANIZER REDUCES FEES
Who are the tournament organizers?
eGG Network
eGG Network is a TV channel from Malaysia with a focus on broadcasting esports. In the past, they have been involved with various titles such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive by broadcasting the PGL Krakòw Major 2017, League of Legends and the World Championship, FIFA, Hearthstone and more. Their main content is Dota 2, where they not only aired several Majors, but also were directly involved in organizing the Kuala Lumpur Major in 2018.
Axle Sports
Axle Sports was founded by Malaysian motorsports icon Alex Yoong. He was the first representative of his nation in Formula One with Minardi at the 2001 Italian Grand Prix. His sim racing platform Axle Sports aims to provide a training ground for esports racers. They host tournaments and offer a driver academy with coaching sessions. Their flagship tournament series is the eRacing GP, or eRGPSEA, which is a global virtual racing championship aiming to provide a platform for professional sim racers to become motorsports drivers.
What do you think about the high fees for the tournament? Tell us on Twitter at @overtake_gg!