Renting vs. Buying Simulators for Corporate Events

Why Renting Makes Sense

When planning a corporate event or brand activation, one of the most common questions that comes up is whether it makes more sense to rent simulators or purchase them outright. While buying can appear attractive at first glance, real-world experience shows that renting simulators—especially through a full-service provider like Ricmotech Events—results in a smoother, more flexible, and more impactful activation for most brands.

One of the biggest advantages of renting simulators is flexibility. Every event is different. Some activations may call for a compact setup with just a few simulators, while others benefit from a larger footprint with many simultaneous participants. When simulators are purchased, the client is locked into a fixed quantity, which can be inefficient for smaller events and limiting for larger ones. Renting allows the simulator count to scale up or down depending on the venue, audience size, and goals of each activation.

Renting also simplifies logistics significantly. Event venues vary widely in their requirements, from convention centers with strict move-in schedules and advance warehousing to outdoor festivals that require just-in-time delivery. Some locations require equipment to be crated, while others have no space to store empty crates during the event. When simulators are rented, these logistical details are handled by the rental provider, ensuring that the equipment arrives in the correct format, at the correct time, and in compliance with venue rules. This removes a major burden from the client and reduces the risk of costly delays or complications.

Maintenance and reliability are another major factor. Racing simulators are complex systems made up of computers, motion hardware, controls, displays, networking, and software that all need to work together seamlessly. When renting from Ricmotech Events, all maintenance, testing, and software updates are completed well in advance of deployment. This avoids the risk of last-minute updates or field repairs right before an event goes live. In contrast, clients who own simulators often delay updates for entire seasons to avoid breaking a working system, which can limit functionality and long-term performance.

As part of this preparation, Ricmotech Events always travels with spare critical components. This is a built-in safety net that allows issues to be resolved quickly on-site, often without attendees ever noticing a problem. For a rental provider with a large fleet, maintaining spare parts is cost-effective and expected. For a client who owns a small number of simulators, maintaining and transporting equivalent spares can become prohibitively expensive and logistically complex.

Staffing is another key consideration. Even when simulators are owned by the client, it is strongly recommended to have an experienced simulator technician on site. These systems are technology-driven and are often deployed in challenging environments, such as outdoor venues with heat, humidity, and frequent transport. Issues commonly arise when equipment is reassembled after storage or connected to unfamiliar power and network infrastructure. Ricmotech Events provides trained technicians as part of its rental services, ensuring smooth operation and rapid troubleshooting. The same staffing expertise is also available to clients who own simulators but want professional support.

Renting from Ricmotech Events also includes access to IntRAX, the company’s proprietary activation management software. IntRAX handles lead capture, scoring, performance metrics, and integrates directly with photo capture and photo sharing systems. This software is exclusive to rentals and is not available for purchased simulators. Clients who buy simulators are limited to off-the-shelf simulation titles, some of which carry recurring licensing costs and lack the marketing-focused features that IntRAX provides.

Branding and customization are possible whether simulators are rented or owned. In both cases, simulators can be wrapped in a brand’s logo and color palette, and the in-game experience can be customized with branded car liveries and reskinned trackside billboards, banners, and flags. However, changing that branding between events is far more practical when simulators are rented. With rentals, all graphics and in-game configurations are prepared in advance under controlled conditions. Attempting to rewrap or reconfigure client-owned simulators on site introduces additional stress, requires backup materials, and increases the risk of last-minute issues. As a result, owned simulators often keep the same branding from event to event, while rented simulators can be tailored precisely to each activation’s theme—whether that’s Formula One one weekend and NASCAR the next.

There is also a common misconception that buying a lower-cost simulator for a single event and giving it away as a prize is a cost-effective alternative to renting. In practice, this approach rarely delivers a positive outcome. Lower-cost components result in an underwhelming experience that lacks the polish of a professional activation. Someone must assemble, configure, and operate the system on site, and the end result is often little more than a seat, wheel, and pedals running a consumer racing game. Logistically, giving the simulator away creates inconvenience for the winner, who must transport or ship a large, used piece of equipment. From a branding perspective, presenting a used simulator as a “grand prize” can feel like giving away leftover equipment rather than delivering a premium reward. A far better approach is to rent high-end simulators for the activation and, if desired, award a brand-new, unopened simulator shipped directly to the winner after the event.

Buying simulators can make sense in certain situations, particularly for organizations that use them very frequently throughout the year. However, the threshold where ownership becomes more cost-effective must factor in annual tune-ups, replacement parts, technician time, and the logistics required to perform that maintenance. When these real-world costs are included, ownership typically only makes sense for very heavy usage. For most corporate events and brand activations, renting remains the more practical choice.

Ultimately, renting simulators from Ricmotech Events delivers a more polished, reliable, and flexible activation. Clients benefit from expert logistics, trained staff, spare components, proprietary IntRAX software, and the ability to tailor both the physical and in-game experience to each event. The result is a high-end activation that runs smoothly, scales easily, and leaves a lasting impression—without the long-term complexity and risk of ownership.

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Ricmotech Simulators and Events
6135 NW 167th Street | Suite E21 | Miami Lakes, FL 33015
Phone: (305) 417-9241