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Racing Prodigy, a ground-breaking sports, entertainment, and media property, today announced the formation of the Prodigy Racing League, the world’s first e2Real sports league. The racing league has been built to make motorsports more accessible using esports as the pathway to racing cars on real tracks. This greatly reduces the financial barriers to pursuing a career in motorsports, leveling the playing field and enabling millions to pursue their dreams.
Racing Prodigy’s CEO David Cook laid the foundation for the company’s vision. Previously, he led the first competitions at Mazda where many of the world’s best racing gamers (sim racers) competed against the company’s top real-world racers in real race cars. Cook saw first hand sim racers beating the real-world racers, revealing that the skill set from virtual racing directly transfers to real life. This realization showed that the access problem of real motorsports can be solved, creating the opportunity for seismic change in a sport that most young people only dream of pursuing.
“At Racing Prodigy, we are lowering the financial barriers to enter motorsports to the same level of traditional sports. Gamers just need a console, mobile device, or PC with a wheel and pedals to participate in esports tournaments, which is how we open the sport we love from the few to the many,” said Cook. “The PRL is the new home for racers of all backgrounds and abilities, where they can chase their motorsports dreams from the screen to the track. We believe everyone should have an opportunity to participate in motorsports, and today is a momentous step forward.”
Four game titles – iRacing, Street Kart Racing, rFactor 2, and RaceRoom – have joined Racing Prodigy to offer the opportunities of turning dreams to reality.
HOW IT WORKS
Prodigy Racing League participants will compete in esports racing tournaments among the four celebrated gaming titles across 12 tournaments from June through October.
Fifteen of the top performers will be awarded a Prodigy Pass, the “golden ticket of motorsports,” to compete in real Radical SR1 race cars at Prodigy Week. The event will be hosted October 30 through November 1 at Atlanta Motorsports Park, a two-mile racetrack designed by Formula One premier architect Hermann Tilke. Each racer will receive expert instruction on racing technique, fitness, and communication.
Following the first Prodigy Week, Racing Prodigy plans to host a second Prodigy Week in early 2024 with an additional 35 Prodigy Pass winners, creating a pool of 50 of the world’s most talented drivers from which PRL teams will draft. The plan is for those drafted to receive a paid contract to compete in PRL’s first real-world racing series in the United States, to be launched in 2024.