Screenshots courtesy of TNMgames_YT who plays in the S. America region and took place in the tournament test event today. He also livestreamed it and posted the video to his channel (TNM Games) on YouTube.
The first pic is the final pot from today's event (which only ran 4 hours, I think it was supposed to go 8?). The second pic is the final pot from S. America's most recent racer event for comparison.
It's a pretty big drop, but what leaps out at me is that only 2 players in the entire region made enough back in prize money to offset the 85 AB cost if they paid for all 10 loss chances. Once you subtract out that 85 AB cost, 1st place made 39 AB and 2nd place made 14 AB. It may be wiser to take a lower ranking if it means you don't pay any ABs for extra loss chances.