Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
Field of the Invention (Technical Field)
The present invention relates to methods, systems, and software for managing fantasy sports leagues.
Description of Related Art
Existing fantasy sports leagues applications provide no ability to make changes to rosters in real time. The present invention provides a manner in which to incorporate such abilities that is both technically enabled and useful in the context of league rules and scoring.
A method of using, computer software implementing, and a system for allowing a fantasy sports contest application to provide to a user the ability to substitute bench players for active players while a corresponding live game is in progress, comprising: establishing a position clock for each player; subtracting times from the position clocks as a stat feed entry is received; for each player, adding active points for active players and inactive points for bench players; and scoring to the user only active points at the end of the game. In the preferred embodiment, the following are additionally provided for: providing a position place holder if the user moves an active player to being a bench player without substituting a bench player for the active player's position; not adding active points for a newly substituted active player for the stat feed immediately following the substitution; adding additional time to the position clocks if an overtime occurs in the corresponding live game; allowing a position clock timer to expire even though the corresponding live game has ended; and stopping a position clock when a corresponding live game ends. The fantasy sports contest can be any sport with a plurality of players.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will be set forth in part in the detailed description to follow, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and form a part of the specification, illustrate one or more embodiments of the present invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. The drawings are only for the purpose of illustrating one or more preferred embodiments of the invention and are not to be construed as limiting the invention. In the drawings:
The present invention is of a method, system, and computer software embodied on non-volatile computer-readable media for engaging in fantasy sports activities, particularly in managing a league involving multiple players each handling a single team.
The following describes how this invention applies to fantasy sports league management systems. This assumes the framework of the current fantasy model whereas fantasy player results are derived from real world player game performances. This system will allow fantasy owners in leagues to substitute bench players for active players on their roster while the game is in progress. The present invention preferably comprises three major components: a time sync mechanism, a substitution mechanism, and a substitute scoring mechanism. These components allow owners to maximize their rosters by using multiple players to generate active points for each position. After a substitution, the owner must forfeit the points and time for that player's statistical feed. Statistical feeds include time stamps which allow the invention to create a position clock that is defined as the time a player could possibly play in a real world game for their position.
For purposes of the specification and claims, the following terms are defined as stated. Active Points: points and/or stats accrued by a player while they are active on the fantasy roster. Inactive Points: points and/or stats accrued by a player while they are on the fantasy roster bench. Position Clock: the amount of time a player could possibly play in a real world game for their position. Stat Feed: a play by play description of what occurred during the time period. Real time world clock: the time associated in real life as opposed to the time in a game for fantasy driven clock.
The present invention provides a method of playing fantasy football that allows substitutions while the game is in progress. The invention utilizes a position clock, which is defined as the amount of real world time a player could possibly play in a game. Each player's position preferably has its own position clock. The invention creates a time sync mechanism (TSM) that subtracts time from the position clock as play by play statistical game feeds come in while the game is in progress. When an owner makes a substitution they agree to forfeit time and/or points in the near future after making the substitution. When a player is active on the roster stats and points are accrued to the active stats and points of the position until a substitution for that player occurs. When a player is inactive on the roster (on the bench) stats and points are accrued to the inactive stats and points of the position. A position place holder provides a method of maintaining a valid line up if an owner decides to remove a player from an active position without a substitution to allow player minutes in that position to be saved for use at a later time.
The invention is based on the current model of fantasy football (as well as other sports) in which the player “owners” participate in an online fantasy league. The league is created by a commissioner who is also a participant in the league and acts as a league manager and oversees the league operation. The commissioner creates the league based upon a set of rules that all participants agreed to follow. These rules determine the scoring parameters as well as game play boundaries. The owners then draft real world players to their team to create what is known as a fantasy team. As the real world players participate in real world games, their performance dictates the score of the fantasy player's team based on the leagues customized scoring format. Usually, an owner in a league competes against another owner in the same league in a head to head format which produces a win loss record that determines the playoff participants at the end of the fantasy regular season. A fantasy competition is based on the accumulated points generated by each teams “active” player's statistical performance for that week. The fantasy team who generated the most fantasy points during that week's real world competition wins the head to head matchup for that particular week. It is important to take note that owners cannot make changes to their active or “starting lineup” once the real world player's real world games start. The present invention allows owners to substitute active fantasy players with inactive fantasy (bench) players from their team as the real world players participate in the real world games. This invention incorporates a regulatory mechanism that sustains the “substitution” concept as viable and equitable for the competitive interests of the participants. This affords fantasy players greater flexibility and control over the outcome of the fantasy competition greatly enhancing the fantasy gaming experience.
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
To better understand the invention, consider the following example stat feed (Table 1), which is representative of such feeds:
As a concrete example of operation of the invention for TSM, SM, and SSM, consider the following Table 2:
Next consider the following examples of scoring calculations according to the invention (Table 3). In this example, the total minutes a QB could play in a game are 60. The owner has 3 different QBs on his team defined as player 1, 2 and 3. In traditional fantasy sports you cannot change the player during the game so you will always record all of the points for that player. In our system points are only recorded for a player while he is active on the fantasy roster and not on the bench. Our system provides a method for substituting a player during the game so we must keep track of points they did earn while active and did not earn while they remove that player from the active roster.
Player 1 (11)+Player 2 (8)+Player 3 (20)=Position (39) total points
Table 4 provides a team view in respect to scoring based on the owner's decisions. Take note how each position adds up to 60 minutes. Based on the owner's decisions, not all potential points were given to the total recorded points for the owner's team.
In the preferred embodiment, and as readily understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, the apparatus according to the invention will include a general or specific purpose computer or distributed system programmed with computer software implementing the steps described above, which computer software may be in any appropriate computer language, including C++, FORTRAN, BASIC, Java, assembly language, microcode, distributed programming languages, etc. The apparatus may also include a plurality of such computers/distributed systems (e.g., connected over the Internet and/or one or more intranets) in a variety of hardware implementations. For example, data processing can be performed by an appropriately programmed microprocessor, computing cloud, Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), or the like, in conjunction with appropriate memory, network, and bus elements.
Note that in the specification and claims, “about” or “approximately” means within twenty percent (20%) of the numerical amount cited. All computer software disclosed herein may be embodied on any non-transitory computer-readable medium (including combinations of mediums), including without limitation CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, hard drives (local or network storage device), USB keys, other removable drives, ROM, and firmware.
Although the invention has been described in detail with particular reference to these preferred embodiments, other embodiments can achieve the same results. Variations and modifications of the present invention will be obvious to those skilled in the art and it is intended to cover in the appended claims all such modifications and equivalents. The entire disclosures of all references, applications, patents, and publications cited above are hereby incorporated by reference.
This application is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/156,056, filed on Jan. 15, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,474,960, which claimed priority to and the benefit of the filing of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/752,539, entitled “Fantasy Sports Method, System, and Software”, filed on Jan. 15, 2013, and the specifications and claims thereof are incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61752539 | Jan 2013 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 14156056 | Jan 2014 | US |
Child | 15331628 | US |