ITA and "Real Money"

Obviously, there are expenses involved in running any webgame, notably server space (the need for which expands with the number of players and with the number of things that take up space in the database - e.g. horses, jockey silks, etc.).

The goal of the ITA Racing developers is to create a horse racing game that is, among other things, free. We want the game to be playable and enjoyable even if you never spend a penny on it but we also want to be able to support the game with its own earnings. To that end, we've come up with the following system:

The game is free. No areas of the game are restricted to paying players, nor are paying players privileged in the game beyond whatever advantage they obtain from the actual purchased game items. Players have the option to purchase "tokens" (as of right now, they cost $.25, less if purchased in bulk) which enable them to do two things:

-Purchase Reports: The ITA racing database includes information (name, pedigree, race record, color, etc.) on every horse that has ever been in the game, including dead and retired horses. While some of this information is free - clicking on a horse will allow a user to see its pedigree and race record, for example - some of the information has to be purchased with tokens. What we envision is something similar to what is available on real life thoroughbred race/pedigree databases Equineline or BRISnet - users could look up mare's produce records, more extensive pedigrees, sales histories on horses, race records on dead or retired horses, pedigree "nicks" and stallion progeny reports, each for the cost of one token. Once a report is purchased, it can be saved or printed.

-Purchase Game Money: Players who go bankrupt and don't want to sit around waiting for money to re-accumulate, or players who just want more money in the game, have the option of turning tokens into game money.

So readers and potential players, what do you think of this system? Do you think this is fair? Do you see yourself being interested in either use of real money?