Some New Info on Private Leagues

[vendsale]

John Henry -

"There is something else in the works here that will affect us slowpokes.

As you Private Leagues are coming next season. A lot of discussion has taken place internally within iRacing about their structure. Design issues are going to dictate some of the initial structure so nothing I write here should be taken as gospel.

I don't know if anyone from iRacing has written about how PL is evolving.

One major change we are contemplating is getting rid of the limitation(s) on PL. I think the term Private Leagues may turn out to be a misnomer. I believe we are going to be moving more toward "Hosted Racing" where a member decides to "Host."

The Host will pay $1 (we want each hosted race to have a value so races aren't posted willy nilly). The Host can password or not-password. The Host will have various options including fixed setups/track/vehicle/time. I believe (not 100% sure this is the case) he can set a minimum license or SR. We should include a minimum and maximum iRating."

Sounds like there is going to be a lot more freedom than previously thought. I guess I'm reading it as it costs the host $1 for each race. If it was a league you would probably only race once a week so it shouldn't be to hard to get league members to cover the cost.

[TimCollier]

Also, you could have lead up practice race sessions on one or two nights that lead up to the race, shorter distances, etc. that even though they cost a dollar extra would be worth the use.

This is sounding better and better....hope they allow Host Races to use any car/track/distance. It would definitely open up their service for those who eschew the current "race with everyone" configuration.

Of course, I'm sitting here contemplating re-signing with iRacing and getting back into it again...time is the real enemy now, but then, isn't it always?

[Rickypro]

This sounds like it could be good! I am cautiously optimistic for sure!
I will pay the dollar and only let all the people slower than me get in!!

[davidan]

Sounds encouraging!!!!

[vendsale]

Even more information from John Henry:

I had some give and take with iRacing today to find out what they're working on with what has been called "Private Leagues" and most recently "Hosted Racing."

Here's the scoop. And we're interested in what you think knowing that people disagree all over the place when it comes to most subjects - especially this one. Building consensus is more difficult in sim racing than in American politics.

Caveat: this is just a discussion and what the current thinking is. Development issues will dictate a number of the final features of Organized iRacing and the first season will be different than following seasons. Nothing set in stone here presently.


As we've repeated repeatedly, we are not going to do anything to harm the existing service. We have a couple of things in mind to protect the Official Races of iRacing. However, we want people to be able to do what they want to do here. Therefore it is imperative to try to give the people who want Organized iRacing a strong, broad menu of options.

The plan currently is to implement a service called Organized iRacing. These are unofficial races that do not count in iRacing outside of the Organization you choose to race in.

First, we are considering charging each member who wants to organize races & leagues $9 per season. This will ensure that iRacing is not overrun by organizers who aren't serious about what they are doing.

A member can become an Organizer by purchasing an iRacing Organization ("Org" for short) prior to a season for $9 (an annual iRacing Organizer can purchase an annual iRacing Org for $25). Organizers can purchase as many Orgs as they want.

An iRacing Org is essentially a "league" that can be passworded or not. It is a "hosting" service run by an iRacing Organizer. The Organizer sets his schedule, track, car(s), race length, yellows or no yellows, SR min/max, iRating min/max, set ups (fixed or not). The Organizer can make his races Open (no password) or Closed (password only).

There is no cost for any member who wants to join an Org. The only charge is the $9 per season to become an iRacing Organizer and the Organizer also pays $1 for every race he schedules. This should serve to limit Orgs to Organizers - members who are serious about their Organization(s).

[Note: an Organizer is going to be free to charge anyone anything they want outside of iRacing. So if an Organizer who is popular and good at running an Org puts together an Org and finds 30 people who will pay or contribute $1 per month or whatever he wants to charge them to be a participant in his Org -- that is not our business. We can't be responsible for transactions members may make between themselves.]

An Organizer can create a website for their Org, but iRacing - as part of the Org service - will provide a dedicated Org page including all results and stats for that Org. The dedicated page service will probably not be available until season after next.

The second thing we are going to do to ensure continued participation in our official series is the iRacing Participation Plan. The Participation Plan should increase participation in official races of iRacing because we intend to offer iRacing Credits to members who participate in at least 8 Race Weeks in a particular official iRacing series.

A member who participates in at least 8 Race Weeks in a particular official series (ORGS ARE UNOFFICIAL) next season receives a $7.50 iRacing Credit after the season ends. If a member accomplishes this in two separate series during a season, such member will receive a $15 iRacing Credit after the season ends. $15 is the maximum Credit a member may obtain through this Participation Plan in any season.

If a member takes full advantage of the Participation Plan, he will save an additional $60 per year. Right now an annual subscription is $156. Therefore, the annual cost could become as low as $96. That essentially reduces the cost from $13 per month to $8 per month! But you have to participate in official iRacing series as explained above. The Participation Plan will be evaluated each season.

I doubt the official series will die off with these significant two plans in place to both protect the official series and to increase everyone's ability to get what they want out of iRacing.

So, once again, none of this has been announced by iRacing. But this is what is being discussed currently. You're all so passionate about what is happening here at iRacing - about what you like and don't like - about what you want to see and don't want to see -- well, you should be part of the discussion process.

[Troy Dalton]

This is great information!

[TimCollier]

Need to get Mr. Henry on SRR....

[Troy Dalton]

Need to get Mr. Henry on SRR....

Yes, indeed!

[davidan]

cool stuff!!!! CMS will definitely be able to iRace as a group soon it appears!!!

[Troy Dalton]

cool stuff!!!! CMS will definitely be able to iRace as a group soon it appears!!!

I agree. I love the concept and I really like the idea of being able to reduce your overall cost by participating in regular Iracing events. It's really a win win in my opinion. I certainly going to talk about this in next weeks podcast.