Patent Application
20140031105
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. The following notice applies to the disclosure herein and to the drawings that form a part of this document: Copyright 2012-2013, Philip Paul Givant, All Rights Reserved.
This patent application relates to computer-implemented software, networked systems, and gaming systems according to one embodiment, and more specifically to systems and methods for conducting fantasy sports tournaments.
As popular as fantasy sports has been over the last decade, there has been a huge void that nobody has been able to fill. Fantasy sports tournaments have never been able to create a process where an unlimited number of people can play without creating a lottery type of effect. A lottery effect is the very undesirable result of having so many fantasy players entered in a tournament that there is no longer enough room to have them play each other in head-to-head matchups. Unfortunately, the solution for tournaments with these types of spacing issues has always been to force the entire field to compete against each other simultaneously. This is never a good thing and is very discouraging for the competitors.
There are only two general formats available on the market for participating in fantasy tournaments. Within each tournament structure there are often different variables, but when they are stripped down to their bare essence, it comes down to two options. One of them creates the aforementioned lottery effect while the other does everything possible to avoid it. The one that avoids the lottery effect creates its own set of problems unique to itself. As far as tournament play is concerned, neither is a viable way for an unlimited number of players to enter without having to play the entire field at the same time. Some of the features of these two tournament paradigms along with some of their limitations are described below.
Fantasy players are matched up against a single opponent to compete against for a given round. The fantasy player whose athletes score more combined fantasy points are declared the winner and their opponent is declared the loser. The won/lost records of these fantasy players are recorded. The better records receive special recognition. Duplication of athletes is not permitted in these tournaments. Often, leagues are actually built within the tournament structure. Fantasy players are allowed to remain in the tournament for quite some time even if they happen to be performing poorly. There is a selection process in place where fantasy players either bid on or draft athletes. Lineups are submitted from a very limited and well defined pool of athletes. They consist of athletes that a fantasy player has on their roster that they either drafted or bid on.
There are limits to the number of fantasy players that can play in these types of tournaments because of spacing issues. In other words, there are a finite number of slots available to allow people to consistently play head-to-head with each other over a relatively short season. When limits are placed on the number of people that can play, it triggers a very bad combination of events if the intent is to offer a monetary prize. The head-to-head format limits the amount of prize money that can be given out. This is because there aren't enough people paying an entry fee to support a large prize money pool. Compounding the problem is the high pricing strategy for entry fees which is often used to compensate for the limited number of fantasy players that are able to compete. This is done to create a larger pool for the prize money, but this strategy prices most fantasy sports enthusiasts out of participating.
Some tournament formats operate as a lottery style tournament because the format mirrors what a lottery does. For example, millions of people can select the number “3” in a lottery and share that number. But, the number is meaningless unless that number is selected as one of the winning numbers and the other five or six numbers that the lottery player has are also selected as winning numbers. The same thing happens with fantasy sports lottery tournaments. Three million people might have the highest scoring athlete for a given day, week or month, but how many of them have that in combination with the next five or six highest scoring athletes? This is a very unlikely combination to have and is why this style of play mimics a lottery. The lottery effect format requires hundreds, thousands or even an unlimited number of entries to play each other simultaneously. Duplication of athletes is permitted because there aren't enough athletes to go around. This is the only way millions can play each other simultaneously. Tournaments are usually structured so that running point totals of fantasy players are compared on an ongoing basis. The goal is to have the highest running point total possible in the event that hundreds to millions of fantasy players are all competing against each other. Tournament structure always forces fantasy players to compete against the entire field. Sometimes it is for one day and sometimes it is for the whole season and sometimes it is something in between. Cumulative running point total separates the fantasy players rather than a won/lost record like with the head-to-head format. The top cumulative point scorers receive special recognition. Lineups are submitted from the entire pool of available athletes with little to no restrictions.
Fantasy players compete against the entire field simultaneously. Tournament format not conducive to charging an entry fee, although some do, because fantasy players are not optimistic they can beat out hundreds to millions of players at the same time for the high score. Generally considered an inferior format to the match play method because it is nothing more than an accumulated points system over a day, week, month or entire season and forces fantasy players to compete against the entire field at the same time.
Not all fantasy tournaments have every feature described in the two formats above. However, all of them though have enough of them in combination with one another to create insurmountable roadblocks for the type of tournament the applicant believes is needed to fill the hole in the industry. The only way around them is to seek non-traditional solutions. Ultimately, the goal is to create a vehicle so that an unlimited number of fantasy players can participate, without having to play the entire field simultaneously. Again, there isn't a single format currently in existence on the market that allows this to happen. The reason for this is that there are several non-obvious features that are required to make this happen.
The primary tournaments that have either been or are currently on the market are described below. In 2004, Payday Sports offered a million dollar prize to the winner of their fantasy football tournament. The entry fee was $3,600. Analysis—The tournament failed because even though the prize money was appropriate and the competitors weren't forced to play the entire field simultaneously, the entry fee was not conducive to attracting the masses.
In 2004, the Million Dollar Fantasy League held a fantasy football tournament that offered a one million dollar grand prize. The entry fee was $2,600. Analysis—This tournament failed for the same reason the Payday sports one did. The prize money was good, they also got it right by not forcing competitors to compete against the entire field, but once again, the entry fee was way too high.
In 2008, Fanball held a million dollar fantasy football tournament where the entry fee was $125. It failed in the second year because they were unable to pay the prize money. This tournament was a much better attempt at creating an entry fee that was conducive to attract the masses, but it still wasn't low enough. Consequently, it fared no better than the others because the price was still way too high for the average player and the tournament format was so structurally flawed they couldn't go any lower. Their primary issue was that they didn't have an understanding of how to create enough space for more fantasy players to enter. This became quite apparent by their use of a league format. Instead of eliminating poor performers to make room for more entries, they allowed them to remain in the tournament. The ramifications for doing it this way (along with some other strategic mistakes) resulted in the fact that they could not go any lower on the entry fee without making all the competitors compete against the entire field simultaneously. The bottom line is that even though Fanball tried entry fees that were significantly lower than previous attempts, their faulty methodology still forced them to keep them too high to attract the masses. More importantly, even if they had been able to attract the masses with their better pricing, they still didn't have a system in place to accommodate that many entries without offering a Lottery Effect format. The Fanball fiasco is one example of why the solutions to create an effective tournament format are not obvious.
FanDuel has been hosting a tournament for two years that they hope will eventually pay the winner one million dollars (in 2012 the winner received $150,000). Their entry fee is either $10 or $109. Analysis—FanDuel is a good illustration of how big money fantasy sports tournaments struggle with trying to avoid the Lottery Effect while at the same time trying to offer a big money grand prize. What they have created is a paradigm that offers two types of qualifying tournaments for a chance to compete in a 24 person tournament that crowns the winner with $150,000. For the $109 qualifier, they limit it to 250 people each week that it is run. For the $10 qualifier they cap it at just over 2,000 entries. The intent is to minimize the Lottery Effect by capping the number of people who can participate, but it is still creates a Lottery Effect when you have to be the best score in a large field to qualify. Moreover, the prize money to the winner is compromised and can never be in the multi-millions of dollars because they are creating caps for the number of people that can enter. The FanDuel format is a good example to illustrate the problem that currently exists. Nobody has been able to figure out how to offer the multi-million dollar grand prize without forcing contestants to simultaneously play millions of people. FanDuel clearly is trying to address the issue, but because of their flawed strategies in creating their format, they offer BOTH the Lottery Effect and a less than desirable grand prize in their offering.
The National Fantasy Football Championship Primetime (NFFCP) is offering a $150,000 grand prize for the 2012 NFL season. Their entry fee is $1,500. Analysis—The prize money is not in the millions and the entry fee is way too high to attract the masses. The format limits the number of entries, because they haven't developed a tournament format that allows a large number of fantasy players to compete.
The National Fantasy Football Championship Classic (NFFCC) is offering a $75,000 grand prize for the 2012 NFL season. Their entry fee is $1,500. Analysis—The prize money is not in the millions and the entry fee is way too high to attract the masses. The format limits the number of entries, because they haven't developed a tournament format that allows a large number of fantasy players to compete.
The Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC) is offering a $200,000 grand prize for the 2012 NFL season. Their entry fee is $1,600. Analysis—The prize money is not in the millions and the entry fee is way too high to attract the masses. The format limits the number of entries, because they haven't developed a tournament format that allows a large number of fantasy players to compete.
The World Championship of Fantasy Football (WCFF) is offering a $200,000 grand prize for the 2012 NFL season. Their entry fee is $1,575. Analysis—The prize money is not in the millions and the entry fee is way too high to attract the masses. The format limits the number of entries, because they haven't developed a tournament format that allows a large number of fantasy players to compete.
In various embodiments described herein, systems and methods for conducting fantasy sports tournaments are disclosed. In general, this patent application falls under the umbrella of fantasy sports. Fantasy sports is a competitive gaming structure where participants pick real life professional or amateur athletes to fill out a personalized team. They then use this lineup that they picked to compete against teams selected by other fantasy players by comparing the accumulated statistics earned of their respective athletes. This patent application describes various embodiments of systems and processes for implementing a tournament structure for fantasy sports that has never been on the market. One reason it hasn't been available before is because the systems and methods that it uses are counter-intuitive to what fantasy players are accustomed. At the same time, these new strategies address a tremendous need in the industry.
Athlete—A professional or amateur athlete that is selected from a real life sports team to represent a fantasy player's team for a fantasy game.
Actual Fantasy Points—The fantasy points an athlete accumulates from their real life athletic competition.
Adjusted Fantasy Points—A process for deducting or increasing an athlete's fantasy points based on potential bonuses and deductions.
Blind Submission Process—A process where fantasy players attempt to secure athletes for their fantasy teams by putting in their requests without knowing what their opponents requested.
Bonus Fantasy Points—Additional fantasy points that are awarded up and beyond what an athlete actually scores in their real life athletic competition. This happens when multipliers are introduced for prioritizing a given athlete over others.
Caps—The process of creating an upper bound (it can be extremely high) for the number of fantasy players that can participate in a given qualifying tournament. It is essential to coordinate the upper bounds of all the qualifying tournaments with each other so that the fixed number of seats in the Main Event tournament is not exceeded.
Contingency Lineup—When a fantasy player is required to submit a second lineup (or possibly more) from games later in the day. This second lineup is contingent upon them advancing from proceedings that happened using the first lineup (or prior lineup). The reason a contingency lineup is needed is because there is not enough time to submit a new lineup after the fantasy player advanced to the next round.
Draft Room—Place where fantasy players get together to draft athletes. This concept can be extended to a virtual draft room where fantasy players “meet” via the Internet and select athletes using their computers.
Duplication of Athletes—Occurs when two or more fantasy players select the same athlete via a blind submission process for their respective lineups.
Entry—Refers to a fantasy player that signs up to play in a fantasy sports tournament.
Fantasy Game—A game with rules that is played between two or more fantasy players to see who accumulates the better fantasy score from accumulated statistics of athletes from live sporting events.
Fantasy Player—A person that enjoys playing fantasy sports games.
Fantasy Points—What an athlete accrues based on performing positive actions in their real life athletic competition.
Fantasy Tournament—A tournament format where fantasy players compete against each other to see who emerges as the winner.
Group—Three or more fantasy players placed together to compete against each other at the same time for a given match.
Group Play—This format is used for tournaments with groups of three or more fantasy players competing against each other at the same time. A predetermined number of top finishers advance to the next round for each group involved.
Head-to-Head Method—When two fantasy players are paired against each other in a fantasy match. This is one of the two formats that is currently used in tournament play. The other is the lottery style of play.
Holy Grail Tournament—The applicant's ideal fantasy sports tournament that is currently not on the market. The format has three primary components in it that are required to appeal to the masses. First, the entry fees are nominal to make it affordable to the masses. Secondly, the grand prize is in the millions of dollars to attract the masses. Finally, the tournament format does not require fantasy players to simultaneously play against the entire field. No fantasy sports tournament has ever been introduced to the market with at least these three important features.
League—Where eight (usually no less) to twenty (usually no more) fantasy players form a league and select athletes to compete against each other in head-to head matches. Won/Lost records are recorded and the better records are rewarded at the end of the season by making the playoffs and competing for the championship.
League Format—Fantasy tournaments that run leagues within a tournament structure.
Lineup Submissions—The process where fantasy players submit the names of the athletes that they want to represent them for a fantasy match. This process can either be a one time submission or happen over several rounds of submissions.
Locked In—A term that is used to represent an athlete has been submitted and accepted into the lineup of a fantasy player competing in a head-to-head match.
Lottery Method—Tournament format where fantasy players are required to compete against the entire field simultaneously. This is one of the two formats that is currently used in tournament play. The other is the head-to-head style of play.
Main Tournament—This is the portion of a Holy Grail tournament where the qualifying tournament winners meet to determine an overall champion.
Penalties for Duplication—Point penalties that occur when the same athlete is selected by two or more fantasy players during a blind submission process.
Percentage Multiplier—A number that represents the fraction of fantasy points that a fantasy player receives from their athlete's actual fantasy score based on duplication rules that are in place. This number is multiplied by an athlete's fantasy points to recalibrate their fantasy point total to give them their adjusted fantasy point total.
Qualifying Tournament—A tournament that is held to quality fantasy players for the Main Event tournament.
Re-entry Format—A type of Holy Grail tournament format that allows fantasy players that are eliminated in a given round to buy back into the tournament. This can be done in four different ways: Players can either 1) immediately advance to the next round as if they weren't eliminated; 2) return back to the round that they were eliminated; 3) start over again in the same round they originally entered; or 4) completely re-enter under a different round structure.
Seats—The number of fantasy players that can play in the tournament before it is filled up.
Serpentine Draft Format—A drafting format that snakes back up from bottom to top once everyone has drafted. This is used instead of starting back up at the beginning again. For example, if four people are drafting, then the drafting order would be player A, player B, player C, player D, player D (again), player C, player B, player A, player A (again), player B, etc. This is not a new concept to the fantasy sports industry.
Single Round Elimination Tournament—A tournament structure where fantasy players are eliminated once they lose a round.
Slotted position—The ranking or priority a fantasy player gives a given athlete for their lineup. This procedure is used for tournaments where fantasy players are asked to list the athletes they covet in order of preference.
Spacing Problems—Happens when there aren't enough paths that have been created to allow unlimited numbers of fantasy players into a tournament. If the spacing problems are too severe, tournaments are forced to operate using lottery effect rules where all the fantasy players have to compete against each other simultaneously.
Super Wild Card Format—A format for conducting a fantasy sports tournament where more than one round is needed for a given live real world athletic competition or group of competitions that are running concurrently. This is not to be confused with a Wildcard Format where more than one round is needed during the same day.
Weighting Athletes—A process for giving additional or higher fantasy point values to athletes that are slotted higher.
Wildcard Format—A format for conducting a fantasy sports tournament where more than one round is needed for a given day. This is not to be confused with a Super Wildcard Format where more than one round is needed during the same game (or games running concurrently).
There are several reasons why the lottery effect continues to occur for tournaments that don't limit the number of entries. Primarily, it is because of the strong sentiment for keeping with tradition. Fantasy tournament organizers are reluctant to alter the format of the way the game has traditionally been played. This mindset has definitely helped preserve tradition, but it has come at a price. It has stifled creativity.
Tournament organizers have not been able to identify at least four key characteristics required for a Holy Grail type of fantasy sports tournament. The reason for this is because in order to develop this type of tournament, there are several non-obvious solutions for the features that have to be implemented. This is a two-step process that makes it even more non-obvious for someone to figure out. First, it is necessary to minimally identify what these four features are and then, just as importantly, provide solutions so that these features can all appear together in the same tournament—solutions that must incorporate outside-the-box thinking or the task becomes unwieldy. The various embodiments as described herein provide these features and solutions.
There are at least four key features that should be in the same tournament structure to produce an effective tournament. These features include the following: 1) entry fees must be a nominal (e.g., low cost, low risk for the consumer) cost to the consumer so the masses can afford to play; 2) the grand prize must be a multi-million dollar grand prize (it has to be life-changing money where the winner minimally becomes a millionaire after taxes) so the masses will enthusiastically desire to play; 3) participants must not be subjected to playing the entire field at the same time to discourage the masses; and 4) there must be a re-entry component that allows fantasy players an option to continue getting back into the tournament for as long as possible.
Low entry fee—A tournament with a large prize pool must attract the masses or it is doomed. Tournament organizers would much rather have 5 million people pay $1 and generate 5 million dollars as opposed to 50,000 people paying $100 and generating 5 million dollars. There is a much higher probability that more people will pay a lower cost buy-in. The key concept here is that a low risk entry point for the consumer, especially for a chance at a high reward like a multi-million dollar prize, is always more successful than a high risk entry point even if the reward is something much higher like 10 million dollars. In an example embodiment, the low risk entry point for the consumer can be considered to be a buy-in of less than or equal to $50 per fantasy player or per entry. In another example embodiment, the low risk entry point for the consumer can be considered to be a buy-in of less than or equal to $5 per fantasy player or per entry.
A Multi-Million dollar Grand Prize—A multi-million dollar grand prize guarantees that the winner will have tremendous incentive to play—especially since the buy-in cost is so low. This type of opportunity creates a frenzied climate where people start believing they have to get into the tournament, especially if the risk is low as provided by the low cost buy-in of the first element of the tournament format described herein.
Group Play—Tournaments that enable fantasy players of a fantasy sports tournament to be partitioned into a plurality of player groups thereby enabling competition in small groups where fantasy players are allowed to advance to the next round create more entries and more value, because contestants have the belief they have a chance to advance to the next round. Conversely, forcing fantasy players to simultaneously beat the entire field (which could be millions of people) is suffocating, because people won't believe they can advance so they won't enter. This is deadly for a tournament that has to cover a multi-million dollar prize pool with low cost (e.g., $5) entries.
Re-Entry Component—The only way that a tournament that charges low cost (e.g., $5) entry fees for a chance to win a multi-million dollar grand prize can be successful is if people continue to circulate back into the tournament if they get knocked out. People are much more willing to spend $200 on tournament entry fees if the fees are paid in increments of $5 and $10 dollars over a two or three month time span as opposed to a one time up-front payment. If there is no re-entry component, a potential $200 customer only gets one chance to spend $5. This is a recipe to render a high stakes fantasy sports tournament insolvent very quickly.
In the various embodiments described herein, a re-entry component only has meaning when a tournament has a progression of rounds so that players can either immediately advance to the next round as if they weren't eliminated, return back to the round that they were eliminated, start over again in the same position they originally entered or completely re-enter under a different round structure. The FanDuel tournament is a good example to illustrate what is NOT a re-entry format. FanDuel has 24 different one round qualifying tournaments that they use for people to get into their Main Event. This would not be considered a re-entry type of tournament because it doesn't have a progression of rounds.
Creating a Spacing Mechanism—The inability to create a spacing mechanism that allows millions of people to play in a fantasy sports tournament while not subjecting them to a Lottery Effect has been a significant roadblock to holding an effective tournament for the fantasy sports industry. The embodiments described herein create a spacing mechanism that now makes it possible to hold fantasy sports tournaments where people can enter for a low cost entry fee (e.g., under $100 or even less than $5) and win a high value (e.g., multi-million dollar) grand prize. There are two important features that the embodiments described herein provide to allow this spacing to happen in a sports fantasy tournament. These features are: 1) group play within a tournament, and 2) advancing instead of winning. These features are described below.
The feature of group play within a tournament—No other fantasy sports tournament in existence uses group play (as a matter of fact, group play doesn't exist for any fantasy sports contests—tournament or no tournament). Yet, group play is the only way to create the spacing that allows a low entry fee while at the same time not forcing fantasy players to compete against the entire field simultaneously. The reason for this is that group play allows tournament organizers to create ratios other than the standard 2:1 ratio where one person advances per two people playing. Nobody has ever introduced a group play format for fantasy tournaments.
The feature of advancing instead of winning—Meeting a minimum threshold to advance (as opposed to having to win to advance) is an important feature that no other tournament format uses to create the right ratios for spacing. Group play allows participants the opportunity to advance without necessarily having to win to move on in a tournament. For example, a group of 12 can permit the top 3 players to advance.
A high stakes fantasy sports tournament involving millions of players cannot operate using a traditional draft. It simply takes too long which is lethal for what is needed to make the tournament successful. Long drawn out drafts means fantasy players won't have the time to purchase multiple entries. Multiple entries are an important element to support this type of tournament format. There is no way a tournament that charges a nominal entry fee and awards a multi-million dollar grand prize can survive unless a large number of players are buying multiple entries. This makes it important to eliminate traditional drafts. The high stakes fantasy sports tournament format described herein can eliminate the need for a traditional draft. There are five features listed below that are employed in various embodiments described herein to eliminate traditional drafts. Each of these features involve a blind submission process where the participants in a group or match play event don't know what their opponents have submitted
Duplication Penalties Feature—In an example embodiment, fantasy players are penalized points (e.g., the players' point totals are reduced) from their athletes' actual fantasy points earned based on how many other fantasy players in their group selected that athlete. For example, if a fantasy player is the only one to select a particular athlete, that fantasy player gets the particular athlete at 100% of the athlete's fantasy point value. However, if three other fantasy players in the group also submit/select that particular athlete, the three other fantasy players in the group would all get that particular athlete for their lineup, but each of the three fantasy players may only get 75% (or some other percentage less that 100%) of the actual fantasy points earned by the particular athlete.
Multipliers Feature—Athletes are selected based on desirability. The higher a fantasy player values the athlete, the higher the multiplier is for their fantasy points. If there are five athletes selected, the first slotted athlete might get five times their fantasy points, the second slotted athlete might get four times their fantasy points, etc.
Feature for Slotting Athletes on a Percentage Continuum—Athletes can be selected and slotted on a scale ranging from any percentages that a tournament organizer decides. For example, the first slot can be for 100%, the second slot can be for 85%, the third slot for 70%, etc. This allows fantasy players to select the same athletes, but the fantasy players might have their athletes valued at different percentages.
Feature for Disqualifying Athletes that are Duplicated—Disqualifying athletes that are duplicated is an especially effective feature in head-to-head matches. If both fantasy players in a match submit the same athlete, that athlete is disqualified and cannot be resubmitted.
Blind Percentage Bid Feature—Fantasy players are required to not only submit an athlete, but also a bid specifying a percentage of their fantasy points they will get for the match. For cases when both fantasy players select the same athlete, the bid is used by the example embodiment to decide who gets the athlete. The fantasy player who bids the lower percentage of fantasy points gets the athlete. For example, if fantasy player A is willing to take a given athlete at 73% of their fantasy points and fantasy player B is only willing to take the given athlete at 98% of their fantasy points, then fantasy player A would receive this athlete, but would only receive 73% percent of the fantasy points that athlete scored in the match. If both fantasy players bid the same percentage, nobody would get that athlete.
Specific Re-entry Strategies of an Example Embodiment—The only way that a high stakes fantasy sports tournament can charge a nominal buy-in fee and offer a high value grand prize is if there is a re-entry component that allows fantasy players an option to continue getting back into the tournament for as long as possible. The various embodiments described herein provide at least two re-entry features that have never been used before. These re-entry features are described below.
Re-entry Feature for Paying More Money to Play Fewer Rounds—When a fantasy player is eliminated and their opponent moves on, it would be inherently unfair to let the loser back in unless a fair accommodation was made. One method for letting somebody back in is to create another qualifying option that has fewer rounds (because there isn't as much time left until the tournament concludes), but charges the person a re-entry fee that is at a higher cost level than their opponent had to pay for their entry. For example, a fantasy player might only pay $5 to play in a 10 round qualifier and another fantasy player might pay $500 to play in a three round qualifier.
Re-entry Feature for Creating New Qualifiers with the Same Number of Rounds—This feature allows a fantasy player to continue playing in a new qualifier, but creates new paths to duplicate the same number of rounds that fantasy players who are still playing are required to play. This process is not as simple as it may sound; but, the capability is highly desirable, because it allows people to re-enter at very low prices and retains the fairness of the tournament. To create the new paths, an example embodiment can hold multiple rounds in the same day or even multiple rounds in the same game. This is because the qualifying tournament sometimes has only one day to duplicate the many rounds that another player took many weeks to complete. The various embodiments create new qualifiers to duplicate the same number of rounds by manipulating a smaller time period to create the same number of rounds thereby enabling the re-entry price to remain fixed.
Creating a Format for Condensed Seasons and Events—Many real life sporting seasons and events are so condensed that the only way to hold a viable high stakes fantasy tournament is to hold two or more rounds on the same day. For example, it is difficult to hold a high stakes fantasy tournament for the Olympics, World Cup of Soccer, or even the NFL playoffs where millions of fantasy players can play for a low entry fee, win a high value prize, and still play in groups. The various embodiments described herein provide a format that supports these condensed seasons and events. At least two features provided by an example embodiment enable these types of tournaments to be feasible. These features are described below.
Feature for Contingency Lineups—Fantasy players must submit two or more lineups during the same day for events that are happening throughout the day. Any lineup other than the initial one is a contingency lineup and only goes into effect if that fantasy player has advanced to the round where the contingency lineup becomes relevant.
Feature for Group Play throughout the tournament—In most cases, it is desirable to hold qualifying tournaments that involve group play to qualify fantasy players for the main tournament. During the main tournament, because there will be a fewer number of players, the tournament format can revert to the more traditional match play where fantasy players compete against a single opponent. Sometimes, it is simply not possibly to have any match play (e.g., head-to-head play), because the time frame is so short (like the Olympic Games). In cases like these, the feature for group play between fantasy players as described herein is used exclusively for these condensed tournaments so that the tournaments still can have the four essential ingredients that a thriving fantasy sports tournament must have as described herein.
The various embodiments as described herein provide the systems and methods (solutions) required for a fantasy sports machine or program that allows an unlimited number of fantasy players to enter a fantasy sports tournament without requiring them to play the entire field at the same time. The various embodiments as described herein are not tied to a particular fantasy sports game. Rather, the various embodiments provide a how-to guide for the features required to create a tournament format that is not currently available on the market. Before going into detail, some background information is helpful to understand some key practices that have created barriers for this new type of format.
Fantasy sports has become a multi-billion dollar industry that continues to grow exponentially. Emerging from this incredible growth has been a culture that has created certain expectations for how a fantasy tournament should look. Unfortunately, these expectations have not always been conducive for progress and have actually hindered the development of new types of formats. Factors that have contributed to this mindset and impeded progress include the common practices, beliefs and expectations that are described below.
Once such common practice is the practice of fantasy players competing against each other in a head-to-head format whenever possible. This is a by-product of how real life sports teams compete. The reasoning seems to be that you don't see three football teams competing against each other in the same game; therefore, you shouldn't have three fantasy players competing against each other in the same fantasy match. The only exception to this rule occurs when lottery type of tournaments are played. During lottery tournaments fantasy players are strictly vying for the high point total often against millions of others over the course of a given time period, which means they are all playing each other at the same time—a very discouraging method of competing.
Other factors impeding progress include the tendency of fantasy tournament organizers to preserve the tradition of league play within the tournament structure. League play is where anywhere from eight to twenty fantasy players form a league to compete head-to-head in order to determine which person has the best overall record. This is an extremely entertaining format; but, it is a disaster for fantasy tournaments that seek to crown an overall champion. The problem is that once leagues are formed, inferior fantasy players are kept in the tournament far too long which creates spacing problems.
Another factor is the reluctance to eliminate fantasy competitors early on in the tournament—even when they are doing poorly. As a general rule, fantasy players consider fantasy sports to be an entertainment outlet for the entire season. Early elimination from a tournament runs counter to this fundamental expectation.
Another factor is the practice of fantasy players exclusively owning their athletes. Once again, this mirrors how the real world of sports works. You don't see more than one team in real life sports share ownership of the same athlete, so the reasoning is that it shouldn't happen in fantasy games either. The only exception in the fantasy arena, once again, is with lottery style tournaments where the sharing of athletes is permitted out of necessity. This is due to the fact that there are not enough athletes to go around when the entire field of competitors are simultaneously playing one another. However, even though lottery tournaments allow sharing, they still don't have a system in place that penalizes fantasy players for duplicating athletes.
Another factor is the limited strategy inherent in submitting lineups in conventional tournament formats. In standard formats, what one fantasy player submits has no bearing on what their opponent submits in terms of potential bonuses or penalties. This creates a relatively stress free process, but may also create inefficiencies.
Another factor is the inability of many fantasy enthusiasts to differentiate between the actual fantasy games that have created a cultural phenomenon (and frankly don't need to be changed) and separate them from the flawed tournament structures that need an overhaul.
The solutions to address these barriers are not obvious. Some of them run counter to deeply entrenched beliefs on how fantasy sports games should be played. If they were obvious, people would be holding Holy Grail tournaments using the format described herein. There would be scores of tournaments where competitors could enter for a $5 entry fee, win a multi-million dollar grand prize, not be subjected to the daunting parameters of having to compete against the entire field at the same time, and also have an opportunity to re-enter the tournament without creating a competitive disadvantage for any of the players. However, in currently used tournament formats, the opposite of this is true. There isn't a single tournament on the market that has all of these features.
It is difficult to quantify how big this void is in the fantasy sports industry by not having a Holy Grail tournament structure. In many respects, the lack of an effective tournament format has been devastating for the industry. There has been so much interest in fantasy sports events, but current structures have not been an effective vehicle for delivering an all-corners tournament.
In the various embodiments described herein, there are at least four features that when combined together create a fantasy sports tournament that can attract the masses. These features include the following: 1) a low entry fee (buy-in); 2) a multi-million dollar grand prize; 3) not forcing fantasy players to play the entire field at the same time; and 4) a re-entry component.
In the previous section, six common practices were discussed that have impeded the progress for a Holy Grail tournament as described herein. Each of these common practices along with their non-obvious solution(s) is described in more detail below. It is important to note that these solutions don't have to appear in a particular order. Not all of them even need to be present to operate a successful Holy Grail tournament; although, the more solutions that are incorporated into the tournament structure, the more effective the tournament will be.
A first common practice in traditional tournament structures is the practice of fantasy players exclusively competing against each other in either head-to-head or lottery type formats. The various embodiments described herein provide a non-obvious solution or feature to address this common practice. In an example embodiment, fantasy players compete in small player groups of three or more in the same match. This feature of the example embodiment runs counter to what fantasy players think should happen. Fantasy players are used to their sports teams competing head-to-head so they expect the same from their fantasy matchups. As implemented in the example embodiment, a group is not the same as a league. A player group is defined as a small cluster of fantasy players who are put together to compete against one another in a single match. Leagues have groups of fantasy player competing against one another in head-to-head matches. This format only allows two fantasy players to compete against each another at the same time. For the purposes of this patent disclosure, a group is defined as three or more fantasy players who compete against each another at the same time. This format of the example embodiment with groups of three or more creates much needed spacing that allows more fantasy players to enter without subjecting them to the Lottery Effect.
A second common practice in traditional tournament structures is the tendency of fantasy tournament organizers to preserve the tradition of “league play” within the tournament structure. The various embodiments described herein provide a non-obvious solution or feature to address this common practice. In an example embodiment, a solution is implemented to eliminate the under-performing participants in a consistent and timely manner. In an effective tournament structure, it is simply not possible to keep low performing fantasy players in a tournament that looks to crown an overall champion, especially when there are millions of entries in the tournament. It creates a spacing nightmare, because nobody goes away until it is too late. There is no way to whittle millions of fantasy players down to one overall champion if the tournament format doesn't eliminate the participants in a consistent and timely manner. Current formats tend to start their elimination process way too late in the tournament. In one embodiment, a solution paradigm is to create single elimination fantasy sports tournaments. This format requires fantasy players to meet a minimum expectation for every round in which they play or they are immediately eliminated. It doesn't matter if it is the first round, the last round or any round in between. The expectation might be that they have to beat a single opponent in a head-to-head format or the expectation might be that they have to finish in the top four of their player group to advance. Whatever it is, there has to be a minimum expectation to remain in for every round. A single elimination type of format is common in sports and can be found in tennis, the NFL playoffs and the NCAA college basketball playoffs.
A third common practice in traditional tournament structures is the reluctance to eliminate fantasy competitors early on in the tournament, even when they are doing poorly. As a general rule, fantasy players consider fantasy sports to be an entertainment outlet for the entire season. Early elimination from a tournament runs counter to this fundamental expectation. The various embodiments described herein provide a non-obvious solution or feature to address this common practice/problem. As described above, a single elimination tournament structure helps to address the problem of slow elimination of under-performing players. However, this solution does not address the finality of getting eliminated quickly in the tournament. In an example embodiment, a solution is implemented to offset this problem by creating NON LOTTERY EFFECT qualifying tournaments that are staggered throughout the beginning of a given sports season and that provide a re-entry component. This allows the tournament to immediately eliminate or disqualify fantasy players that lose during a given round, but also provides an opportunity for them to opt back into the tournament by paying a new entry fee. The end result of this paradigm is that fantasy players can play in the tournament for quite some time like they traditionally have, but it also creates a format to hold a single round elimination tournament where fantasy players are eliminated if they lose a particular match. Some fantasy tournaments may appear to offer a re-entry component, but they really aren't. Each week they are holding a new lottery with the winner gaining a seat into the main tournament. In contrast, the embodiments described herein provide a system and method enabling fantasy players to have the opportunity to buy their way back into a tournament and still compete in small player groups without penalizing the players who advanced from the previous round(s). There are two ways to do this. First, fantasy players can pay higher fees to replace the rounds that they skipped to buy back into the tournament. Secondly, a method as disclosed herein is provided to allow fantasy players back into the tournament for the same price, yet replicating the same number of rounds that contestants who signed up earlier, and have already advanced at least one round, are required to play. In this manner, re-entry players do not gain an advantage over players who advanced from the previous round(s).
A fourth common practice in traditional tournament structures is the practice of fantasy players exclusively owning their athletes. This is a universal practice in traditional tournaments with the exception of lottery effect tournaments. The various embodiments described herein provide a non-obvious solution or feature to address this common practice. For tournament play, it is not practical to have a draft before every round. Moreover, if group play is a feature of the tournament, there has to be a system in place where athletes are selected quickly. The best way to do this is to permit duplication of athletes similar to what is done in lottery tournaments; but only if duplication of athletes comes at a price. There must be penalties for duplication of athletes. The way to accomplish this is to have a blind submission process where the more a given athlete is duplicated, the fewer fantasy points everyone in the player group that selected that athlete receives.
A fifth common practice in traditional tournament structures is the limited strategy that currently exists with submitting lineups. With current formats, what one fantasy player submits has almost no bearing at all on what their opponent submits in terms of potential bonuses and penalties. The various embodiments described herein provide a non-obvious solution or feature to address this common practice. As mentioned in the previous point, the example embodiment penalizes fantasy players for duplication of athletes. This is not the only way to penalize them though. The example embodiment is also configured to penalize fantasy players for not valuing a given athlete highly enough. This will force fantasy players to evaluate athletes not only on merit, but also on the likelihood that several other competitors in their player group might potentially select the same athletes. Also, the example embodiment is configured to offer bonuses by weighting the athletes. This can be done by requiring fantasy players to submit lineups with a listing of athletes in order of preference. The higher the athlete is ranked or “slotted”, the more potential bonus points the player will receive. This will create strategy where fantasy players really have to think about where their athletes should be placed on the lineup and create a climate where competing fantasy players try to out-think each other.
A sixth common practice in traditional tournament structures is the inability of many fantasy enthusiasts to differentiate between the actual fantasy games that have created a cultural phenomenon (and frankly don't need to be changed) and separate this from the flawed tournament structures that need to be fixed. Fantasy sports games are so compelling that it makes it less likely that people will look to find out-of-the-box solutions for fixing flawed tournaments formats for fear of incurring the wrath of fantasy players. As a result, the status quo remains in place. In contrast, the various embodiments described herein provide a non-obvious set of solutions or features to address the failures of the traditional tournament structures.
The various embodiments are illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which:
In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the various embodiments. It will be evident, however, to one of ordinary skill in the art that the various embodiments may be practiced without these specific details.
The various embodiments of systems and methods for creating a Holy Grail tournament are described herein. The tournament format in an example embodiment utilizes a two tiered structure. First, qualifying tournaments are used to qualify fantasy players that feed directly into a main event tournament. Secondly, a main tournament is used to determine an overall winner as well as other top finishers. It is important to note that individual features within each of these two tournament formats don't necessarily have to be in the order described. Some are not even required to hold a Holy Grail tournament, but are listed to enhance the quality of the tournament. Finally, the idea of having qualifying tournaments to get into a main event isn't unprecedented. The problem with what is currently available is that all variations fall into the trap of either offering one of the two variations (Head-to-(Head or Lottery Effect) that was described earlier. For example, FanDuel offers a Main Event where hundreds or even thousands of people are forced to compete against one another simultaneously to try and qualify for the Main Event. It is extremely discouraging for fantasy players to enter a tournament knowing that the only way to gain entry into the Main Event is if they post the highest score out of several hundred or thousand people.
The goal is to create a predetermined number of qualifying tournaments that feed into a Main Event tournament. In an example embodiment, these qualifying tournaments have the following features. Matches are played in small groups of three or more fantasy players. A predetermined number of “winning” fantasy players advance to the next qualifying round (or qualify directly into the Main Event tournament). For example, if groups are set at 12 members each, it might be determined that the top three scores in each group will advance. The particular scoring system for determining fantasy points for an athlete can be any that is commonly used or one that is completely new to the industry. Fantasy players submit their lineups via a blind submission process. The more duplication that occurs for a given athlete during this blind submission process, the less they will be worth. There is a re-entry component that allows contestants to opt back in either by 1) by allowing them to pay more money for playing less rounds or 2) allowing them to re-enter at the same price by duplicating the number of rounds that advancing contestants have been required to play. If they re-enter by paying more money for less rounds there might be a qualifying tournament where it only takes advancing four rounds to qualify directly into the Main Event tournament and there might be a qualifying tournament that takes nine rounds to advance to the Main Event Tournament. The qualifying tournament that takes more rounds to qualify would be less expensive to enter. There is also an alternative version that can be used instead of the version previously described. If they re-enter by paying the same amount of money, that particular qualifying tournament would have to have the same number of rounds. This format requires creating options to include more and more rounds in a shorter period of time. What ends up happening is that individual rounds are contested in different ways than the earlier rounds (see Explanation #4 below). Portions of some qualifying tournaments can run concurrently with other qualifying tournaments while other portions don't have to run concurrently. Fantasy players can purchase multiple entries for the same qualifying tournament. Fantasy players can enter more than one qualifying tournament at the same time. The Main Event tournament has a predetermined number of seats; therefore, it is critical that the satellite rounds are capped at an appropriate number so that there aren't more fantasy players qualifying for the Main Event tournament than there are seats available. Qualifying rounds can have several different types of formats for weighting athletes depending on where they are slotted (see Explanation #1).
Main Event consists of fantasy players who advanced via qualifying tournaments or directly buying in. The number of seats available for fantasy players in the Main Event is predetermined before the tournament even started. Main Event can either be a head-to-head format or a continuation of group play. If the Main Event is head-to-head, fantasy players are randomly assigned an opponent. If there is nobody to whom they can be assigned, they receive a bye to the next round. If the Main Event is group play, then a predetermined number of fantasy players advance from each group for a given round. For the final group, during the last round, fantasy players play for final positions. In an example embodiment, the scoring system for the Main Event should be a simple scoring system that fantasy players are familiar with from whatever sport the tournament is featuring. The Main Event should have a predetermined number of seats to ensure that it is possible to crown an overall champion as well as recognize top finishers.
The following description illustrates one example of a step-by-step explanation of how a Holy Grail tournament works in an example embodiment. Again, these steps are interchangeable in many places and some of them aren't even required.
Step #1—Fantasy players are presented with different options for entering a qualifying tournament. They will find that the more rounds a qualifying tournament offers, the less expensive they are to play in (see Explanation #3 and Table 1 in the Appendix below). Table 1 shows a satellite tournament structure for a fantasy sports tournament.
Step #2—Caps are established by the computer program to ensure that there are not more seats allocated for the Main Event Tournament than it can support (see Table 2 in the Appendix below). Table 2 shows how caps are established for qualifying tournaments.
Step #3—Once a fantasy player has entered a qualifier, they will be assigned a group. Group play is a technique that helps create the proper spacing a tournament needs to accommodate millions of fantasy players (see Explanation #2 below for different group formats). There are two ways groups can be tilled. They can either be filled one group at a time (see
Step #4—Fantasy players are required to turn in their lineups via a blind submission process. Fantasy players will have to take into consideration how athletes are weighted and also the likelihood of being duplicated (see Explanation #1 below).
Step #5—The scoring system can be a commonly used and accepted format.
Step #6—The computer program of an example embodiment calculates the fantasy point value each athlete is worth based on duplication of athletes (see Table 3 and Table 4 in the Appendix below). Table 3 shows how a given athlete loses a percentage of their fantasy points based on two or more fantasy players selecting that same athlete for their lineups. Table 4 shows the calculations of several athletes' recalibrated fantasy points based on how much duplication occurred.
Step #7—If a player fails to get their lineup in for a match, their previous lineup will be submitted as a default lineup for the match by the computer program of an example embodiment.
Step #8—Live athletic competition in the corresponding sport takes place. The computer program of an example embodiment has ongoing scoring updates and shows each fantasy player, their running score, and where they rank overall in their group.
Step #9—Once all of the real life sporting events are completed that are relevant to the group fantasy match, the computer program of an example embodiment tabulates final scores based on the given weighting and duplication systems used for the match (see Table 5 in the Appendix below). Table 5 shows a final tally of a fantasy match that incorporates both weighting bonuses and duplication penalties.
Step #10—The computer program of an example embodiment determines a cutoff for each group. The number of fantasy players that are qualified to advance for a given round of the qualifying process move onto the next qualifying round (or move onto the Main Event Tournament if they advance during the last qualifying round) and the remaining members of the group are eliminated (see
Step #11—The process begins anew for qualifying rounds and the first ten steps are repeated over and over until a fantasy player is either eliminated or qualifies for the Main Event Tournament. Fantasy players can either re-enter by buying into a new qualifying tournament or they have advanced from a previous round of a qualifying tournament and are placed in a group for the new round.
Step #12—For Main Event Tournament rounds, the same format is in place if group play is in effect. The only exception is for the last round of the tournament where fantasy players compete for final positions instead of trying to advance. If the Main Event Tournament is structured in a head-to-head format, fantasy players are randomly assigned to play in a particular match. Each single match (keep in mind that the number of matches is predetermined) must have one fantasy player assigned to it before assignments for an opponent are made (see
Step #13—Any match that has only one fantasy player assigned to it results in that fantasy player receiving a bye for the round and automatically advancing to the next round (see
Step #14—If for some reason there isn't a fantasy player assigned to a match, a double bye is declared and a “bye” will be entered into the mix for the next round. The fantasy player that is assigned this bye will be awarded a bye during that new round and will move on to the next round (see
Step #15—The format for the match will be determined (see Explanation #2 for different match formats).
Step #16—The scoring system can be a commonly used and accepted format.
Step #17—The fantasy player with the better score moves on to the next round, the loser is eliminated from the tournament.
Step #18—The last two standing will play for the championship with the fantasy player with the higher fantasy point total earning the tournament championship and their opponent earning the runner-up position.
Explanation #1—Weighting the point values of fantasy players based on a) the slotted position in which an athlete was selected, and/or b) how many fantasy players selected them. Weighting athletes based on how they were prioritized and/or how often they were duplicated is a process that forces fantasy players to think very carefully about which athletes they submit and where they place them in their lineup hierarchy. This is especially true for formats that require fantasy players competing against each other to turn in their lineups via a blind submission process. A blind submission method is where all the fantasy players in a group competing against one another are required to turn in their lineups before they find out what the others in the group submitted.
The following are examples of some techniques used in an example embodiment to weight the players. Fantasy players are awarded multiples of the fantasy points their athletes scored depending on where their athletes were selected. For example, assume each fantasy player selects five athletes. For each fantasy player's first slotted athlete, the athlete could be worth five times the fantasy points they scored in their match. For each fantasy player's second slotted athlete, the athlete could be worth four times the fantasy points they scored in their match. For each fantasy player's third slotted athlete, the athlete could be worth three times the fantasy points they scored in their match. For each fantasy player's fourth slotted athlete, the athlete could be worth two times the fantasy points they scored in their match. For each fantasy player's fifth slotted athlete, the athlete could be worth face value of the fantasy points they scored in their match. The following is a table illustrating a hypothetical example that could be from a 12 player group competing, for example, in a fantasy cricket tournament:
Another weighting method that can be implemented in an alternative embodiment is one where fantasy players are given a percentage of the fantasy points an athlete earned depending on where the player selected that athlete. For example, if each fantasy player is asked to select eight athletes, the selected athletes can be weighted by having the first athlete everyone selects be worth 100% of their fantasy points, the second athlete selected can be worth 87.5% of their fantasy points, the third worth 75% of their fantasy points, the fourth worth 62.5% of their fantasy points, the fifth worth 50% of their fantasy points, the sixth worth 37.5% of their fantasy points, the seventh worth 25% of their fantasy points, and the eighth worth 12.5% of their fantasy points. The following is a table illustrating a hypothetical example of this method using athletes from the Philippine Basketball League as an example (Note that duplication of athletes is permitted in this example):
Another format that can be implemented in an alternative embodiment penalizes fantasy players for duplication of athletes. Using this method, fantasy players are allowed to share athletes, but the more duplication that occurs reduces the percentage of fantasy points each fantasy player receives for that given athlete. For example, here is a sample duplication table for up to a 12 player fantasy match.
33%
In the example above, “1×” is read as “one time” which means a given athlete was selected by exactly 1 of the 12 fantasy players. Also, note that the in the example above, the percentages are not fixed. They are completely arbitrary. For this example table, the spreads were distributed equally (to the nearest whole percentage) based on how many fantasy players selected a given athlete.
The highlighted (bolded and underlined) portion of the table represents a seven player fantasy group where five of the members submitted the same athlete. Because duplication of athletes is permitted in an example embodiment, each of the members would have that athlete in their lineups, but each of the members would receive only 33% of the fantasy points that athlete scored in their match.
Once the live sporting events have been completed, the actual fantasy points an athlete scores are converted to their adjusted fantasy points based on how many other fantasy players selected a given athlete. The following table is an example from a hypothetical group of NFL athletes that shows an example of this conversion.
To calculate the Adjusted Fantasy Score in an example embodiment, the computer program can multiply the Actual Fantasy Score by the Percentage Multiplier. For instance in the example above, Michael Vick scored 31 actual fantasy points and two players selected Vick as an athlete in their player lineups. Because two players selected Vick as an athlete in their player lineups, each player will receive 91% of those actual fantasy points. Thus, Vick's Adjusted Fantasy Score, in this example, is 31×0.91=28.21.
Another technique, that is similar to the previous example, punishes fantasy players more severely for duplication of athlete selection. In this embodiment, the system splits the fantasy points that an athlete earns with every member of the group that selected the athlete. For example, if an athlete scores 32 fantasy points and five fantasy players selected the athlete, then each member of the group that selected the athlete would receive 6.4 fantasy points (32 divided by 5 equals 6.4).
The weighting systems can also be combined. For example, the following table shows an example from a 20 player fantasy cricket match where the slots are weighted according to where an athlete was selected and the percentage of fantasy points (listed under their name and country) they earn is based on how many other fantasy players selected a given athlete.
Explanation #2—Structuring some or all of a tournament in groups of three or more players. Because sporting events are almost universally structured where either one team competes against another team (such as in football, basketball, baseball, etc.) or one individual competes against another individual (such as in boxing, wrestling, tennis, etc.) or individuals compete against the entire field simultaneously (such as in golf, motor sports, cycling, etc.), the fantasy sports industry has been a victim of these formats when it comes to creating tournaments for fantasy sports enthusiasts. For that reason, there has never been a fantasy tournament where an unlimited number of people can play without being subjected to playing the entire field at the same time. The various embodiments described herein provide a solution to this problem with existing fantasy tournaments.
Even though real life sporting events don't usually have seven teams compete against each other at the same time, there is no reason why this can't happen for a fantasy sports match. Instead of structuring fantasy tournaments as if they were real sporting events, there is no reason why the format can't look more like a card game with several players competing against one another simultaneously. This format allows more fantasy players to compete in the tournament without subjecting them to having to face the entire field at once.
There is little doubt that having fantasy players compete in small groups runs counter to how people think fantasy tournaments should be held. But, it is the only way to allow an unlimited number of players the opportunity to enter without subjecting them to competing against the entire field at the same time.
In the various example embodiments described herein, there are several specific formats that use a group play format (some are more effective than others because of the time it takes to create a full lineup to submit). These formats in an example embodiment include the following sample formats.
Group Tournament Type #1—Using a Fantasy Draft—Leagues of 10 to 12 people have been getting together and drafting for fantasy leagues since the origins of fantasy sports. However, the purpose of a draft in traditional leagues has always been to form a league where members of the group play each other in one-on-one matches throughout the season to see which fantasy owners emerge with the best records to playoff for the championship.
In the various embodiments described herein, an important distinction is made between traditional leagues and the small player groups used in the various embodiments. Instead of drafting to compete in a league as is traditionally done, small groupings of players come together (typically online) to draft for a single match where everyone in the group is playing everyone else in the group simultaneously. This simultaneous play between all members of the group does not occur in traditional leagues. In the various embodiments described herein, a predetermined number of top scores from this fantasy player group earn the right to advance to the next round. For example, a group of 12 entries (fantasy players) playing in a fantasy cricket tournament might end up drafting athletes with the understanding that the top 3 scores are to advance to the next round. The number of scores necessary to advance can be predetermined.
To conduct a Holy Grail tournament online using this particular format in accordance with an example embodiment described herein, fantasy players would pay a fee, which would automatically put them in an online draft room that is capped at a certain number of entries for a given group. The online draft room can be implemented as an online collection of users/fantasy players in a manner similar to the way collections of online users can gather in a chat room. For example, the fantasy game might be rugby that allows ten entries (fantasy players) per group with the top two scores advancing to the next round. This doesn't necessarily mean that the group will ultimately end up with ten people; because, this is determined by when the first person of a given group enters the online draft room. Once the first person enters, a time limit is set (for example 20 minutes) for the group to fill up with ten people. Once it does, the draft starts immediately with the drafting order determined by when the players show up in the draft room. The earlier a person appears, the higher they draft. The draft can follow a serpentine format as defined above.
If not enough fantasy players fill the ten spaces, the draft begins when the allotted time has passed with however many people are in the draft room. If the number of people in the draft room is less than or equal to the number of fantasy players that are supposed to advance from a group determined by the tournament rules, the fantasy players automatically receive byes to the next round and do not compete in a match against each other for that round.
Group Tournament Type #2—Holding a Fantasy Draft with a Bidding Twist—Once again, the example embodiment provides a draft amongst a small group of fantasy players who compete against each other in a single match. Parts of the draft protocol are the same as the first tournament format described above. For instance, the mechanics of how the first person in the draft room starts the clock to determine the number of people that will be in the group is the same.
The draft rules are completely different though from a traditional draft. In this format, fantasy players don't necessarily get the athlete they draft. In this format of an example embodiment, every fantasy player is given a set amount of credits to spend in order to secure athletes. All members of the group can bid on an athlete who was drafted. For example, let's assume it is a fantasy football draft and every fantasy player is given 50 credits to secure one quarterback (QB), two running backs (RB's) and two wide receivers (WR's). The fantasy player who initially drafts a given football player automatically has a 1 credit bid for that player to kick off the bidding process. The draft bidding process then goes to the next fantasy player in the draft. The next fantasy player can either bid 2 or more credits (must bid in increments of 1—can't use fractions) or “pass” to the next fantasy player in the draft.
Only when the draft bidding process goes through the entire group of fantasy players back to the person who has the highest bid on record, does the bidding end for this football player (athlete). The fantasy player who made the winning bid has the number of credits they bid deducted from their credit account. They are the only fantasy player in the group who is allowed to start that football player for their lineup. The draft then goes back to the original order where the second fantasy player drafting introduces a new football player on whom the fantasy players in the group can bid.
An example of the process for an 8 player group is set forth below:
Fantasy Player #1—“I submit Tom Brady” (automatically means a 1 credit bid)
Fantasy Player #2—“Pass”
Fantasy Player #3—“I bid 2 credits”
Fantasy Player #4—“I bid 5 credits”
Fantasy Player #5—“I bid 6 credits”
Fantasy Player #6—“Pass”
Fantasy Player #7—“I bid 9 credits”
Fantasy Player #8—“I bid 11 credits”
Fantasy Player #1—“Pass”
Fantasy Player #2—“Pass”
Fantasy Player #3—“Pass”
Fantasy Player #4—“I bid 12 credits”
Fantasy Player #5 through Fantasy Player #3 all pass
Fantasy Player #4 gets Tom Brady and has 12 credits removed from their account
Fantasy Player #2 introduces the next player to bid on
If a fantasy player runs out of credits without filling up all of their positions, they no longer can bid and must wait for the free agent draft which comes immediately after the main draft. This free agent draft happens once everyone has either filled out an entire lineup or run out of credits. The free agent draft is then held only for the fantasy players who still have places to fill. This draft goes in reverse order from the original draft order. A fantasy player drafting can only take one football player when it is their turn. If they have more than one place to fill, they must wait until the drafting process comes back to them again. Once a fantasy player fills their entire roster, they are automatically dropped from the free agent draft.
Group Tournament Type #3—Blind Submission Format—Sharing Fantasy Points of Duplicated Athletes—In an example embodiment, a blind submission format is utilized when lineup submissions happen exactly one time. Small groups competing against one another submit lineups for all required positions using a blind submission format (e.g., where fantasy players have to turn in their lineups without knowing what other fantasy players involved in the match selected). Duplication of athletes is permitted, but when this happens there is a penalty. All fantasy players who submitted a duplicated athlete will evenly split that athlete's point total for the match. For example, if eleven fantasy players competing in a fantasy soccer group have six of the fantasy players submit athlete, Lionel Messi for their lineup (i.e., a duplicated athlete), then those six fantasy players will evenly split however many fantasy points Messi scored in his game. In the case of multiple games, the six fantasy players would either split the average or split the total points. If Messi scored 14 fantasy points for his game, each fantasy player would receive 2.33 (rounded to nearest hundredth) fantasy points, because 14 divided by 6 equals 2.33.
This type of penalty creates a tremendous amount of strategy and elevates second tier players to the forefront. Fantasy players might opt to pass on superstars because lesser players have less of a chance of being duplicated. Sometimes these types of tournaments only have three to five starting positions to fill.
Group Tournament Type #4—Blind Submission Format—Lowering the Value of Duplicated Athletes—This is a variation of the previous format. This format variation is also an effective way to hold a tournament where lineups can only be submitted one time. This format is also played where all members competing in a group submit lineups using a blind submission format. Once again, duplication of athletes is permitted, but the penalty is different from the previous format described above. The penalty for duplication is the reduction of the fantasy points an athlete scores. The more duplication that occurs, the less they are worth. For example, in fantasy baseball, if a 12 person group has only one member (fantasy player) who submits athlete. Albert Pujols, the member might get 100% of the fantasy points corresponding to the submitted athlete. If two members of that group selected athlete, Pujols, each selecting member might get only 90% of the selected athlete's fantasy points. If three people selected the same athlete, each selecting member might get only 80% of the selected athlete's fantasy points, and so on. The point reductions can range from a completely arbitrary system of penalties all the way to a very well-calibrated method.
The table set forth below is an example of an embodiment that determines what percentage of an athlete's points a given fantasy participant receives based completely on how many other competitors also selected that athlete. It is important to note that the percentages listed are arbitrary. Any percentages can be used that penalize fantasy players the more duplication of athlete selection that occurs.
33%
The highlighted (bolded and underlined) percentage shown in the table above represents a seven player fantasy group where five of the fantasy players selected the same athlete. For example, let's assume five of the seven players selected Michael Vick to be their starting quarterback for an upcoming match. What this means is that each of the five fantasy players will have Vick in their starting lineup, but they will each receive only 33% of the points Vick scores that week (round).
The table below is a hypothetical example from a fantasy football tournament and shows the starting NFL athletes that a 12 person group has selected. The percentage under each athlete's name represents the percentage that the fantasy player selecting that athlete will get to keep of the actual fantasy points that their selected NFL athlete scored for a particular week. This percentage is based on the number of times an NFL athlete was duplicated and is taken directly from the table above.
Group Tournament Type #5—Blind Submission Format—Bidding for Athletes—This type of format is used over several days of bidding. Fantasy players in a group submit lineups along with a percentage next to the name of each athlete they submit. The percentage represents how small of a portion of an athlete's fantasy points they are willing to accept in order to secure that athlete for their lineup. In other words, a fantasy player is willing to give up some of the fantasy points a given athlete scores because they covet them so much. The fantasy player with the lowest bid wins that athlete. For example, if three fantasy players select athlete, Adrian Peterson to be their running back for a football tournament and the bids are 100%, 93% and 87%, then the fantasy player who bid 87% wins Peterson for their lineup. The catch is that the fantasy player who bid 87% would only get 87% of whatever Peterson's fantasy points are for a given game. The other two fantasy players not winning the athlete would have to submit a new athlete's name for this position during the next round of bidding. If two or more fantasy players submit the same winning bid for an athlete, each of the fantasy players would get that athlete in their lineup for the bid amount they presented. Once an athlete has been placed in at least one person's lineup in the group, the athlete cannot be bid on again by anyone for the match.
After the final round, a free agent draft is conducted using a computer generated drafting order. Only the fantasy players who don't have a complete lineup are eligible for the free agent draft. Fantasy players can only select one athlete when it is their turn in the free agent draft. If a fantasy player has multiple holes to fill in their lineup, the fantasy player must wait for their turn to select an athlete in the free agent draft process. Once a fantasy player has filled out their lineup from the free agent draft, they are automatically dropped from the draft. All athletes in the free agent draft are worth 100% of their fantasy points.
The tables below illustrate an example of a three day submission process for a fantasy baseball tournament. Each fantasy player has to submit a bid for five athletes (non-pitchers). There are no restrictions as to what position the athletes play.
Cabrera
Holliday
ARod
Det
STL
NYY
91%
91%
91%
Braun
Teixeira
Mil
NYY
100%
100%
ARod
NYY
91%
Gonzalez
Hamilton
Reyes
Bos
Tex
NYM
83%
85%
100%
Howard
Reynolds
Tulowitzki
Young
Phil
Balt
Col
Tex
100%
100%
100%
100%
Cano
Pence
Votto
NYY
Phil
Cin
92%
100%
100%
Fielder
Mil
95%
Granderson
Pujols
Beltran
NYY
STL
SF
100%
89%
100%
Fielder
Beltre
Mil
Tex
95%
92%
Fielder
Ramirez
Kemp
Mil
CHC
LA
95%
100%
92%
Pedroia
Bautista
Bos
Tor
100%
100%
Ortiz
Konerko
Bos
CHW
100%
100%
In the example above. Bold text denotes a winning bid. Note, in the example above, two fantasy players secured athlete, AROD at 91% and three fantasy players secured athlete, Fielder at 95%.
Cabrera
Holliday
Ellsbury
ARod
Victorino
Det
STL
Bos
NYY
Phila
C.
Lee
Bruce
Braun
Teixeira
Hou
Cin
Mil
NYY
Mauer
ARod
Minn
NYY
Gonzalez
Longoria
Hamilton
Reyes
Bos
TB
Tex
NYM
Howard
C.
Jones
Reynolds
Tulowitzki
Young
Phil
Atl
Balt
Col
Tex
Cano
Pence
McCutchen
Votto
NYY
Phil
Pitt
Cin
Fielder
Mauer
Suzuki
C.
Jones
Mil
Minn
Sea
Atl
Upton
Grander-
Pujols
Beltran
TB
son
STL
SF
NYY
Fielder
Willing-
Utley
Beltre
Mil
ham
Phil
Tex
Oak
Fielder
Ramirez
Phillips
Kemp
Mil
CHC
Cin
LA
Uggla
Pedroia
Hardy
Bautista
Atl
Bos
Balt
Tor
Swisher
Ortiz
Crawford
Konerko
Stanton
NYY
Bos
Bos
CHW
Mia
In the example above. Bold text denotes a winning bid. Underlined text denotes an athlete previously secured with a value indicating the percentage the athlete is worth. Note, in the example above, two fantasy players secured athlete, C. Jones at 100% and athlete, Mauer of Minnesota at 98%.
Cabrera
Holliday
Ellsbury
ARod
Victorino
Det
STL
Bos
NYY
Phila
C. Lee
Bruce
Braun
Sandoval
Teixeira
Hou
Cin
Mil
SF
NYY
Maurer
Gordon
Quentin
ARod
Minn
KC
CHW
NYY
Gonzalez
Longoria
Hamilton
Reyes
Bos
TB
Tex
NYM
Howard
C. Jones
Reynolds
Tulowitzki
Young
Phil
Atl
Balt
Col
Tex
Cano
Pence
Upton
McCutchen
Votto
NYY
Phil
Ariz
Pitt
Cin
Fielder
Maurer
Suzuki
C. Jones
Mil
Minn
Sea
Atl
Upton
Granderson
Pujols
Beltran
Trumbo
TB
NYY
STL
SF
LAA
Fielder
Willingham
Utley
Morse
Beltre
Mil
Oak
Phil
Wash
Tex
Fielder
Ramirez
Phillips
Kemp
Mil
CHC
Cin
LA
Uggla
Pedroia
Hardy
Bautista
Atl
Bos
Balt
Tor
Swisher
Ortiz
Crawford
Konerko
Stanton
NYY
Bos
Bos
CHW
Mia
In the example above, Bold text denotes a winning bid. Underlined text denotes an athlete previously secured with a value indicating the percentage the athlete is worth.
In the example above, fantasy players #3, #4, #7, #10 and #11 (e.g., fantasy players with openings to fill) would then participate in a free agent fantasy draft until all their openings (in this case each has one) are filled. The fantasy players in the free agent fantasy draft can select any baseball athlete (non-pitcher) that has not been selected by someone in the group. These free agents will each be worth 100% of their fantasy points.
Group Tournament Type #6—Blind Submission Format—Using a Cap—This type of tournament can be done on a one shot basis, but is best used over multiple rounds of submissions. Fantasy players are allocated a certain number of credits for a blind submission process to fill in their lineups. The fantasy player that bids the highest for a given athlete earns the right to have the athlete in their lineup, while all the other members of the group lose the opportunity to play this athlete. Once the last round of submissions has passed, a free agent draft will be conducted for any fantasy player who still has lineup slots to fill.
The free agent draft is for athletes who haven't been selected by anyone in the group. A fantasy player may use all of their credits before the selection process has finished. If they happen to do this and they still have positions to fill, the fantasy player must wait until the free agent draft, which begins at the end of the last round of submissions. Also, if two or more fantasy players submit an identical bid and it turns out to be the highest one for a given athlete, each of them will enter this athlete into their lineups at the fantasy value they each submitted.
The tables below illustrate an example of a progression of an NBA fantasy basketball tournament. In this example, there are 12 fantasy players participating in the group. Each of them starts with 50 credits to fill 5 lineup positions. In this hypothetical tournament, the actual positions the NBA athletes play are irrelevant. A fantasy player can fill all the positions with forwards if they wish. Also, there is no requirement forcing a fantasy player to bid on all slots. If s/he chooses, a fantasy player can strategically bid high for a couple of superstars and then rely on the free agent draft to fill their remaining roster slots.
Howard
Paul
Griffin
Orlando
LAC
LAC
17 Credits bid
6 Credits bid
10 Credits bid
Duncan
Stoudemire
S.A.
NY
3 Credits bid
8 Credits bid
Johnson
Atl
1 Credit bid
Bryant
LAL
25 Credits bid
Griffin
Anthony
Williams
LAC
NY
NJ
10 Credits bid
10 Credits bid
10 Credits bid
Aldridge
Love
Port
Mia
7 Credits bid
8 Credits bid
Nowitski
Dallas
16 Credits bid
James
Ellis
Parker
Gasol
Randolph
Mia
GS
SA
LAL
Memphis
40 Credits bid
3 Credits bid
3 Credits bid
2 Credits bid
2 Credits bid
Nash
Curry
Phoenix
GS
3 Credits bid
2 Credits bid
Wade
Mia
17 Credits bid
Rose
Durant
Chi
OKC
23 Credits bid
27 Credits bid
In the example above, Bold text denotes a winning bid. Note that fantasy players can bid any or all of their credits for any given round of submissions. In the example above, athlete, Griffin was secured by players #1 and #5.
Howard
Paul
Griffin
Bynum
Orlando
LAC
LAC
LAL
12 Credits bid
Duncan
Stoudemire
Jennings
Ginobili
S.A.
NY
Mil
SA
8 Credits bid
17 Credits bid
Johnson
Granger
Atl
Ind
3 Credits bid
Bryant
Garnett
Evans
Martin
LAL
Bos
Sac
Hou
7 Credits bid
1 Credits bid
2 Credits bid
Griffin
Anthony
Williams
Westbrook
LAC
NY
NJ
OKC
5 Credits bid
Aldridge
Love
Jefferson
Port
Min
Utah
2 Credits bid
Nowitski
Wall
Boozer
Dallas
Wash
Chi
2 Credits bid
5 Credits bid
James
Ellis
Parker
Gasol
Randolph
Mia
GS
SA
LAL
Memphis
Nash
Curry
Bosh
Phoenix
GS
Mia
30 Credits bid
Wade
Rondo
Mia
Bos
17 Credits bid
Rose
Durant
Chi
OKC
Rondo
Pierce
Bos
Bos
17 Credits bid
16 Credits bid
In the example above, Bold text denotes a winning bid. Underlined text denotes an athlete previously secured. In the example above, athlete, Rondo was secured by both fantasy player #10 and #12.
Howard
Paul
Griffin
Bynum
Orlando
LAC
LAC
LAL
Duncan
Stoudemire
Jennings
Ginobili
Lawson
SA
NY
Mil
SA
Den
14 Credits bid
Johnson
Granger
Thornton
Allen
Wallace
Atl
Ind
Sac
Bos
Port
12 Credits bid
20 Credits bid
14 Credits bid
Bryant
Garnett
Evans
Martin
LAL
Bos
Sac
Hou
Griffin
Anthony
Williams
Westbrook
Anderson
LAC
NY
NJ
OKC
Orl
15 Credits bid
Aldridge
Love
Jefferson
Deng
Lee
Port
Min
Utah
Chi
GS
15 Credits bid
18 Credits bid
Nowitski
Wall
Boozer
Gasol
Dallas
Walsh
Chi
Memphis
12 Credits bid
James
Ellis
Parker
Gasol
Randolph
Mia
GS
SA
LAL
Memphis
Nash
Curry
Bosh
Hibbert
Phoenix
GS
Mia
Ind
1 Credit bid
Wade
Rondo
Lowry
Mia
Bos
Hou
2 Credits bid
Rose
Durant
Chi
OKC
Pierce
Rondo
Bos
Bos
In the example above. Bold text denotes a winning bid. Underlined text denotes an athlete previously secured.
In the example above, fantasy players #1, #4, #7, #9, #10, #11 and #12 would then participate in a free agent fantasy draft until each fills all of their openings. A fantasy player gets one selection per round. Once a given fantasy player has all their slots filled, they are automatically dropped from the free agent draft.
Group Tournament Type #7—Blind Submission Format—Meeting a Minimum Threshold—In an example embodiment, this format might appear to be a Lottery Effect format, but it is not. This type of group tournament acts the same way that small group Holy Grail tournaments do even though everyone competes against each other simultaneously. This is a bona fide Holy Grail tournament even though it does not have fantasy players competing in small groups. This can be accomplished by setting up a minimum threshold tournament.
A minimum threshold tournament recognizes that more than 50% of the contestants need to be eliminated at each round. This is because the one-on-one match play format eliminates half the contestants each week. But this has already proven to be ineffective for a tournament that attracts the masses. On the other hand, a minimum threshold tournament must be more forgiving than having everyone compete at the same time with one person left standing. This format is virtually a 100% certainty that a random player loses. The way to fix this problem is to hone in on a percentage somewhere between the 50% and 100% extremes that are incompatible with holding a successful Holy Grail tournament. This type of strategy generates the same small group dynamic that is so conducive to creating a dynamic Holy Grail tournament.
The format for the tournament is relatively simple. Fantasy players have to meet a minimum performance threshold between 50% and 100% each round. Let's arbitrarily pick 70%. What this means is that all fantasy players have to beat 70% of the field for a given week to advance to the next round. Fantasy players have to submit a lineup each round and there is no penalty for duplication, because millions of people can be playing each other simultaneously. Once the field narrows, duplication penalties can be utilized.
A key difference between this format and the flawed models that are currently available is that this format gives fantasy players hope. Instead of having to emerge as the top person out of a group of millions of people, one only has to finish in the top thirty or forty percent to advance. Fantasy players will gravitate towards this because it is a tournament of skill and most players believe they have what it takes to finish in the top 30% or whatever the pre-determined number is. Once this is method is used for 8 to 12 rounds, it becomes possible to whittle millions of entries down to a manageable level so that it is possible to conduct one-on-one match play events for the remaining rounds to determine an overall winner.
This type of tournament, like all the tournament formats described above, can be used for any fantasy sport. To illustrate how this type of tournament works, consider a particular sample tournament where there are 50 million entries and the pre-determined tournament rules specify the use of a 30% rule for the first 12 weeks of an NFL football season. For weeks 13 through 17 of the NFL season, the tournament concludes with one-on-one match play. An example of the numbers of fantasy players advancing at the end of each week in the sample tournament are shown below.
30% Rule Format—Weeks 1 through 12
Week 1—50 million entries with 15 million advancing
Week 2—15 million winners with 4,500,000 advancing
Week 3—4,500,000 winners with 1,350,000 advancing
Week 4—1,350,000 winners with 405,000 advancing
Week 5—405,000 winners with 121,500 advancing
Week 6—121,500 winners with 36,450 advancing
Week 7—36,450 winners with 10,935 advancing
Week 8-10,935 winners with 3,281 advancing
Week 9-3,281 winners with 985 advancing
Week 10—985 winners with 296 advancing
Week 11—296 winners with 86 advancing
Week 12—86 winners with 27 advancing
One-on-One Match Play Format—Weeks 13 through 17
Week 13—27 winners with 16 advancing (note: 5 players received byes)
Week 14—16 winners with 8 advancing
Week 15—8 winners with 4 advancing
Week 16—4 winners with 2 advancing
Week 17—2 winners playing for the championship
The submission process for the one-on-one match play format is different than the first 12 weeks where lineups are simply turned in and fantasy players have to finish in the top 30%. For the one-on-one match play phase, which begins week 13, there could be a three round (it could be a different number of rounds) submission process. An example of this submission process is set forth below.
Round 1—Lineups are compared. If a given position has a different athlete submitted, the two competitors (fantasy players) lock in this athlete into their starting lineups. If a given position has the same athlete submitted, this athlete is disqualified from the match and cannot be resubmitted by either fantasy player. All open slots will be resubmitted the next round.
Round 2—Same rules and processes as Round 1 as described above.
Round 3—All open slots require two submissions by each fantasy player. One submission is the intended starting athlete and the other is a backup athlete. The intended starter athlete must also have a percentage value associated with the starter athlete. This percentage represents the percentage of fantasy points a fantasy player is willing to deduct from a given athlete's fantasy score to get the athlete in their lineup. This only comes into play if both fantasy players submit the same athlete for an open position. If the submitted athletes are different, then each fantasy player will lock them in at 100%. If, however, the submitted athletes are the same, the bids will be compared. The fantasy player with the lower percentage bid gets that athlete at the percentage they bid. That fantasy player secures that athlete for their lineup, but it comes with a penalty. The fantasy player only receives the percentage of fantasy points they bid for the match while their opponent gets their backup athlete they submitted for this position at 100% of their fantasy point total. If the percentage bid is the same, both fantasy players will lock in their backup athletes in at 100%. If their backups are the same athlete, they will each get the backup athlete at 100%, which effectively cancels each other out for this position.
One-on-One Match Play Tournament Type #8—Blind Submission Format—Valuing slots at different percentages—There are some techniques that are also quite effective for matches that involve two players. The following example allows for duplication and is especially effective when there are a limited number of athletes from which to choose.
In the example presented below, assume that it is one of the Main Event rounds of a soccer fantasy tournament and fantasy players are competing head-to-head. Fantasy players have been paired off in these matches with each slot having a different value. The percentages below represent the percentage of fantasy points a fantasy player will be given of their selected athlete's fantasy points scored. It should be noted that these percentages are just an example and they can be of any value that a tournament organizer sees fit.
The percentage indicates the portion of fantasy points a given athlete scored that will be given to the corresponding fantasy player.
12.00
4.38
5.00
0.63
13.13
3.38
1.75
12.00
2.00
1.88
0.88
11.25
5.63
2.00
In the example above, underlined values are Adjusted Fantasy Point values. In the example above, fantasy Player #1 would move on in the tournament based on a 47.77 to 44.39 victory over Fantasy Player #2.
One-on-one Match Play Tournament Type #9—Blind Submission Format—Disqualifying athletes that are duplicated—This format of an example embodiment can be used over two or more rounds of fantasy players submitting athletes. An example of this type of tournament is illustrated in the hypothetical presented below. This example is from a football tournament.
In this example, fantasy players submit six starter athletes for various positions on the fantasy football team—one quarterback (QB), two running backs (RB's), two wide receivers (WR's), and 1 Flex position (e.g., a RB or WR). Fantasy players also submit four tiebreakers, which are used only to break ties. In this example, these four tiebreakers include: 1) one tight end (TE) that represents the 1st tiebreaker; 2) one defensive position that represents the 2nd tiebreaker; 3) one kicker that represents the 3rd tiebreaker; and 4) the 4th tiebreaker can be represented as one tiebreaker NFL football team playing that week. Point differentials in the score of the game played by the tiebreaker NFL football team that week determine the fantasy value for the 4th tiebreaker (e.g., a 27-21 victory is a +6, conversely, a 28-3 loss is a −25). A 5th tiebreaker can be represented as a computer generated coin flip produced by a random number generator.
Lineups are submitted over a three day period (e.g., Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday by 8:00 PM EST for each day—could be a greater or lesser number of days, the number is arbitrary). All NFL athletes are eligible as long as they haven't been disqualified or already played in their game for the week.
On the first day of the lineup submission period (e.g., Wednesday), both fantasy players must have their lineups submitted. If both fail to do so, a new deadline is set for the next day at, for example, 5:00 PM EST. If only one fantasy player has their lineup submitted, the one fantasy player locks in all six of their starters in their starting lineup and all four tiebreakers into their tiebreaker lineup. Their opponent has until the last day of the lineup submission period (e.g., Friday night at 5:00 PM EST) to enter a lineup of six starting athletes and four tiebreaker athletes or the opponent forfeits the match. Once a starting athlete or tiebreaker position has been filled, the opposing fantasy player cannot select the same NFL athlete or team that has already been locked in.
If both fantasy players submit their lineups within the lineup submission period, the lineups are compared athlete-by-athlete. If any athlete or team is duplicated, the athlete or team is immediately disqualified from the match and cannot be resubmitted again by either fantasy player. This disqualification includes a scenario wherein, for example, an NFL athlete is submitted by one fantasy player as a running back and their opponent submitted the same athlete as a flex player, or other different position. All other starting athletes and tiebreaker athletes who aren't duplications are locked into the starting and tiebreaker slots for the respective fantasy players. The defense category and team category are not considered a duplication if the same NFL team is submitted in these two different categories. Duplicated athletes will leave open slots that will be resubmitted the next day.
On the second day of the lineup submission period (e.g., Thursday), if there are still open positions, both fantasy players will be expected to turn in a lineup for the slots in their lineups that haven't been filled. If only one fantasy player turns in their lineup, the athletes submitted by the one fantasy player are immediately locked in and their opponent has until the next day to fill in these open slots. Once a starting athlete or tiebreaker position has been filled, the opponent cannot select the same NFL athlete or team that has already been locked in. In other respects, the same rules apply as the previous day. Duplicated athletes and tiebreakers are disqualified and can't be resubmitted again. Non-duplicated athletes/teams are locked in. If there are any remaining openings, there is one final day for submissions.
On the third day of the lineup submission period (e.g., Friday), if both fantasy players fail to submit a lineup during the entire three day period, a double forfeit is declared and both fantasy players are eliminated from the tournament. If one player never submitted a lineup during any of the days and their opponent did, then the fantasy player who turned in a lineup wins by forfeit and moves on to the next round. If one or both fantasy players submitted lineups at some point, but one or both don't have complete lineups, the fantasy players will compete against one another with “open” slots that receive zero points for every slot in their respective starting and tiebreaker lineups where this happens. If both fantasy players submit athletes for open slots on this final day of the lineup submission period, both fantasy players will submit two options for each open slot. There will be a primary and a backup option. If the primary options are different athletes for a given position, the athletes submitted as primary options will be locked into their respective lineups. If the athletes submitted as primary options are the same athlete or team, then a bidding number that was submitted ahead of time will be checked. Fantasy players can submit a bidding number or bid from 1% to 100%. A bid of 93% means that a fantasy player covets that NFL athlete enough that they are willing to receive only 93% of the fantasy points this NFL athlete scores. At the same time, their opponent will automatically get 100% of their backup options fantasy value to lose this athlete that they also coveted. Because both fantasy players are submitting a bid, the fantasy player that makes the lowest percentage bid gets that NFL athlete for the week (round). Once again, the losing bidder gets their backup athlete for 100% of their fantasy point value. If however, the bids happen to be the same, then the equality of the bids disqualifies this NFL athlete from the match. The backup athlete names are then compared. If the backup athlete names are different, they are locked in. If the backup athlete names are the same, both fantasy players will play the match with an open slot for this position that will be scored as a zero.
Explanation #3—Creating staggered qualifying tournaments of the same or different lengths that feed into a Main Tournament—A single elimination tournament can be very discouraging for people who get eliminated in the first round. The “staggered qualifying” feature allows rabid fantasy players multiple avenues to remain in and possibly win the tournament. This type of format can be used for virtually any type of sporting event that lasts at least five days. The important features of the staggered qualifying tournaments are described below.
In an example embodiment, there are two stages to the tournament structure. There are several qualifying tournaments and there is a main tournament. Fantasy players can submit multiple entries for any qualifying tournament. Fantasy players can sign up for different qualifying tournaments at the same time. The main tournament has a predetermined number of seats available that fantasy players can either try to qualify for or directly buy their way into. The qualifying tournaments may or may not have different amounts of rounds in them. New qualifying tournaments can start at any time. There is no set time period that must elapse. The more rounds a qualifying tournament has, the less expensive the rounds are to play in. Fantasy players who are eliminated can re-enter because a new qualifying tournament will be starting soon.
These qualifying tournaments have the following features in an example embodiment. The qualifying tournaments are separate and distinct tournaments from one another. The qualifying tournaments don't always have the same number of rounds (although there is no reason why they can't). Some qualifying tournaments are often running at the same time as other qualifying tournaments. The qualifying tournaments are staggered over a portion of the season in a way where the qualifying tournaments sometimes overlap each other completely, sometimes partially, and sometimes not at all.
In an example of the qualifying tournament structure used in an embodiment using the 2012 NFL season as an illustration, we can randomly set up nine qualifying tournaments that each have a different number of rounds. The nine qualifying tournaments can be set up such that they are staggered in time. Fantasy players are placed in groups of 12 for each round with the top three fantasy players advancing. In the example illustrated below, the nine qualifying tournaments are staggered in a way where the tournaments become increasingly shorter. Alternatively, the qualifying tournaments can be staggered by making them increasingly longer. The data for each of the nine qualifying tournaments in the example are set forth below.
This staggering concept can also go in the opposite direction where the qualifying tournaments all start at the same time, but end at different dates as shown below.
This staggering concept can also have no pattern as shown in the example below.
This staggering concept can also have the same number of rounds for some (or even all) of the satellites.
Once these qualifying tournaments have concluded, the qualifying process is over and the main tournament begins. The format for each round of the main tournament could either be group play or fantasy players competing against each other head-to-head.
The staggering concept provided in the example embodiment can be used for sports where there is more than one game that is included in each round. For example, the Major League Baseball season could be partitioned in a way where each satellite tournament is one week in length. An example of this scenario is shown below.
Explanation 4—Creating staggered qualifying tournaments with the same number of rounds—The idea behind this format in an example embodiment (denoted herein as the Wildcard and Super Wildcard Formats) is to allow fantasy players to continue to re-enter the tournament at a same low price throughout all qualifying tournaments. In order to do this, the number of rounds must remain constant so there isn't an unfair advantage that any one group of contestants has depending on their entry point. What this means is that creative strategies must be developed to hold this set number of rounds as the tournament gets closer and closer to the Main Event. A Wildcard Format is used when MORE THAN one round is needed during an interval of the tournament where fantasy players who entered earlier might only be playing one round. This technique is used as a “catch up” mechanism so that all fantasy players end up playing the same number of rounds. Using NFL football as an example, the regular season schedule always has morning and afternoon games. The morning games could be used as one round while the afternoon games serve as an additional round. When a Wildcard Format is needed, it is necessary for fantasy players to give a Contingency Lineup for the PM games in advance, because there is not enough time to submit lineups between the AM and PM games.
Sometimes there is so little time left that a Super Wildcard Format is needed. This happens when several rounds are needed in the same game as a way to catch up. A Super Wildcard Format breaks individual games (or games happening simultaneously) into two or more rounds. For example, using an NFL fantasy football tournament again, if there are 10 weeks for qualifying that cover the first 10 weeks of the regular season, it is straightforward to hold a 10 round qualifying tournament. Each of those 10 weeks would constitute a round. There is no need for either a Wildcard or Super Wildcard Format. It gets more difficult to create 10 rounds though once there are no longer 10 weeks of NFL games to contest them. For example, if during the tenth week of the NFL season, a fantasy football tournament organizer wants to still charge the same $5 entry fee that they did in NFL week 1, they would have to create 10 rounds in order to make it fair. The only way to do so is by implementing a Super Wildcard Format where each game (or group of simultaneously running games) is broken down into two or more rounds. Below are two potential options to accomplish this result as illustrated by example.
During the 10th week, fantasy players can sign up for a one week version where the AM games count as four rounds (e.g., one round for each quarter of the AM game) and the PM games count as four rounds (e.g., one round for each quarter of the PM game) and the Sunday Night Game is a round and the Monday Night Game is a round (e.g., Sunday night is Round 9 and Monday night is Round 10). Because this structure involves four sets of lineups (AM games, PM games, Sunday night game and Monday night game), fantasy players will have to submit four lineups in order to play this format before any of the games begin. An example of this tournament structure is set forth below.
Round 1—1st quarter of AM games
Round 2—2nd quarter of AM games
Round 3—3rd quarter of AM games
Round 4—4th quarter of AM games
Round 5—1st quarter of PM games
Round 6—2nd quarter of PM games
Round 7—3rd quarter of PM games
Round 8—4th quarter of PM games
Round 9—Sunday Night Game
Round 10—Monday Night Game
AM games begin at 10 AM PST for Rounds 1 through 4. Player statistics accumulate from 10:00 AM to 10:50 AM. Round 1 begins at 10:50 AM. Adjusted fantasy percentages are calibrated for groups.
10:54 AM—12th ranked player in each group is eliminated
10:58 AM—11th ranked player in each group is eliminated
11:02 AM—10th ranked player from each group is eliminated
11:06 AM—9th ranked player from each group is eliminated
11:10 AM—8th ranked player from each group is eliminated
11:14 AM—7th ranked player in each group is eliminated
11:18 AM—6th ranked player in each group is eliminated
11:22 AM—5th ranked player from each group is eliminated
11:26 AM—4th ranked player from each group is eliminated
Remaining top 3 fantasy players of each group advance to the 2nd round. New adjusted fantasy percentages calibrated for new groups
11:30 AM—12th ranked player from each group is eliminated
11:34 AM—11th ranked player in each group is eliminated
11:38 AM—10th ranked player from each group is eliminated
11:42 AM—9th ranked player from each group is eliminated
11:46 AM—8th ranked player from each group is eliminated
11:50 AM—7th ranked player in each group is eliminated
11:54 AM—6th ranked player in each group is eliminated
11:58 AM—5th ranked player from each group is eliminated
12:02 PM—4th ranked player from each group is eliminated
Remaining top 3 fantasy players of each group advance to the 3rd round. New adjusted fantasy percentages calibrated for new groups
12:06 PM—12th ranked player from each group is eliminated
12:10 PM—11th ranked player in each group is eliminated
12:14 PM—10th ranked player from each group is eliminated
12:18 PM—9th ranked player from each group is eliminated
12:22 PM—8th ranked player from each group is eliminated
12:26 PM—7th ranked player in each group is eliminated
12:30 PM—6th ranked player in each group is eliminated
12:34 PM—5th ranked player from each group is eliminated
12:38 PM—4th ranked player from each group is eliminated
Remaining top 3 fantasy players of each group advance to the 4th round. New adjusted fantasy percentages calibrated for new groups
12:42 PM—12th ranked player from each group is eliminated
12:46 PM—11th ranked player in each group is eliminated
12:50 PM—10th ranked player from each group is eliminated
12:54 PM—9th ranked player from each group is eliminated
12:58 PM—8th ranked player from each group is eliminated
1:02 PM—7th ranked player in each group is eliminated
1:06 PM—6th ranked player in each group is eliminated
1:10 PM—5th ranked player from each group is eliminated
1:14 PM—4th ranked player from each group is eliminated
Survivors are regrouped in a new super group to begin round 5 during PM games.
PM games begin at 1:25 PM PST for Rounds 5 through 8. Player statistics accumulate from 1:25 to 2:15 PM. Round 5 begins at 2:15 PM. Adjusted fantasy percentages are calibrated for groups.
2:19 PM—12th ranked player in each group is eliminated
2:23 PM—11th ranked player in each group is eliminated
2:27 PM—10th ranked player from each group is eliminated
2:31 PM—9th ranked player from each group is eliminated
2:35 PM—8th ranked player from each group is eliminated
2:39 PM—7th ranked player in each group is eliminated
2:43 PM—6th ranked player in each group is eliminated
2:47 PM—5th ranked player from each group is eliminated
2:51 PM—4th ranked player from each group is eliminated
Remaining top 3 fantasy players of each group advance to the 6th round. New adjusted fantasy percentages calibrated for new groups.
2:55 PM—12th ranked player from each group is eliminated
2:59 PM—11th ranked player in each group is eliminated
3:03 PM—10th ranked player from each group is eliminated
3:07 PM—9th ranked player from each group is eliminated
3:11 PM—8th ranked player from each group is eliminated
3:15 PM—7th ranked player in each group is eliminated
3:19 PM—6th ranked player in each group is eliminated
3:23 PM—5th ranked player from each group is eliminated
3:27 PM—4th ranked player from each group is eliminated
Remaining top 3 fantasy players of each group advance to the 7th round. New adjusted fantasy percentages calibrated for new groups.
3:31 PM—12th ranked player from each group is eliminated
3:35 PM—11th ranked player in each group is eliminated
3:39 PM—10th ranked player from each group is eliminated
3:43 PM—9th ranked player from each group is eliminated
3:47 PM—8th ranked player from each group is eliminated
3:51 PM—7th ranked player in each group is eliminated
3:55 PM—6th ranked player in each group is eliminated
3:59 PM—5th ranked player from each group is eliminated
4:03 PM—4th ranked player from each group is eliminated
Remaining top 3 fantasy players of each group advance to the 8th round. New adjusted fantasy percentages calibrated for new groups.
4:07 PM—12th ranked player from each group is eliminated
4:11 PM—11th ranked player in each group is eliminated
4:15 PM—10th ranked player from each group is eliminated
4:19 PM—9th ranked player from each group is eliminated
4:23 PM—8th ranked player from each group is eliminated
4:27 PM—7th ranked player in each group is eliminated
4:31 PM—6th ranked player in each group is eliminated
4:35 PM—5th ranked player from each group is eliminated
4:39 PM—4th ranked player from each group is eliminated
The top 3 survivors from each group after round 8 are regrouped in a new group to begin round 9, which is played during Sunday night game. The top 3 survivors from each group of the Sunday night game then compete during the Monday night game for the 10th and final round. The top 3 survivors automatically qualify for the Main Event.
The process described above is one of the most important features developed as part of the various embodiments. The process includes the following important characteristic—the process defines a set number of qualifying rounds that are needed to qualify for a Main Event and then offers these qualifying options during any point of the qualifying process. Additionally, the described embodiments offer a variety of others features and benefits. An example embodiment described herein allows a qualifying process for a fantasy tournament Main Event to be compressed in terms of time. For some competitors the qualifying process might be two months or more. For other competitors, the qualifying process might be a few weeks. For some competitors, the qualifying process might be a week and for some the process might even be a day. Even though the time duration of the qualifying process can fluctuate dramatically, the number of rounds a fantasy contestant must play during this qualifying process remains constant. If it is predetermined that a qualifying process is for 10 rounds, then all qualifying tournaments must be 10 rounds regardless of whether the qualifying tournament is ten weeks or one day. This format allows people to re-enter the qualifying process at the same low price point at any stage of the qualifying process without being subjected to a Lottery Effect type of parameters. Fantasy players are still able to compete in small groups. As seen from the above two examples, this means that various embodiments as described herein can generate 10 (or an arbitrary number of) rounds for qualifying tournaments that have a very limited time period.
Explanation #5—Using Contingency Lineups to create exciting tournaments that have a limited number of days—This is an extremely powerful embodiment that makes fantasy tournaments possible for situations where there are a very small number of days that the real life tournament is being conducted. Without using the Contingency Lineup technique, there would be no possible way to hold these types of fantasy tournaments.
The Contingency Lineup Format of an example embodiment requires fantasy players to submit multiple lineups (two or more) before any of the games take place for a given day. If a given fantasy player advances to the next round, then their next contingency lineup becomes their actual lineup. The reason that this format becomes necessary is because there may not be enough time to select new lineups for the next round. This is because a new set of games starts immediately after the games that just finished. An example demonstrating the power of this embodiment is set forth below.
During the NFL playoffs, there are always 11 games. These 11 games are distributed over six unique days. Five days have two games each and then the Super Bowl is a stand alone game during the sixth day. If there was no Contingency Lineup Format, we could only have six rounds of play (each day is one round); because, the way the games are scheduled is not conducive to submitting a new lineup once a fantasy player advances (e.g., there is not enough time in between games to submit a new lineup). If a fantasy tournament organizer wanted to play the tournament in groups of 12 for each round with the top two scorers in each group advancing, this creates a 6 to 1 ratio (one person advancing for every six players). A 6:1 ratio over six rounds creates 93,312 potential openings. Let's assume that a tournament organizer wanted to offer a fantasy tournament for just the NFL playoffs and used the above technique without employing contingency lineups. This tournament organizer might set the asking price at $5 per entry and the grand prize at five million dollars. The tournament organizer might believe they have created an ideal high stakes fantasy sports tournament with a low entry fee, a multi-million dollar grand prize, and small group play during individual rounds.
However, the problem with this tournament organizer's tournament is that because only 93,312 people can play, the tournament can only generate $466,560 if all of the seats are filled. Clearly, it isn't financially possible to offer a five million dollar grand prize for a tournament that only has the capacity to generate less than half a million dollars in revenue.
The Contingency Lineups of the example embodiment described herein can change this result. If each of the 11 games became an individual round by using Contingency Lineups for games where one comes immediately after another, a whole new landscape can be created. This new arrangement allows for over 750,000,000 (three quarters of a billion) entries. This type of format would easily support a five million dollar grand prize for $5 entry fees.
The example computer system 700 includes a data processor 702 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or both), a main memory 704 and a static memory 706, which communicate with each other via a bus 708. The computer system 700 may further include a video display unit 710 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD), a cathode ray tube (CRT), plasma display, integrated display screen, or the like). The computer system 700 also includes an input device 712 (e.g., a keyboard, keypad, voice, input, or the like), and/or a cursor control device 714 (e.g. a mouse, motion pad, or the like), a disk drive unit 716, a signal generation device 718 (e.g., a speaker, a light, etc.) and a network interface device 720.
The disk drive unit 716 includes a non-transitory machine-readable medium 722 on which is stored one or more sets of instructions (e.g., software 724) embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. The instructions 724 may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 704, the static memory 706, and/or within the processor 702 during execution thereof by the computer system 700. The main memory 704 and the processor 702 also may constitute machine-readable media. The instructions 724 may further be transmitted or received over a network 726 via the network interface device 720.
Network 726 is configured to couple one computing device with another computing device. Network 726 may be enabled to employ any form of computer readable media for communicating information from one electronic device to another. Network 726 can include the Internet, wide area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), mobile device networks, cellular networks, broadcast networks, satellite networks, cable networks, direct connections, such as through a universal serial bus (USB) port, other forms of computer-readable media, or any combination thereof. On an interconnected set of LANs, including those based on differing architectures and protocols, a router and/or gateway device acts as a link between LANs, enabling messages to be sent between computing devices. Also, communication links within LANs typically include twisted wire pair or coaxial cable, while communication links between networks may utilize analog telephone lines, full or fractional dedicated digital lines including T1, T2, T3, and T4, Integrated Services Digital Networks (ISDNs), Digital Subscriber Lines (DSLs), wireless links including satellite links, or other communication links known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Furthermore, remote computers and other related electronic devices can be remotely connected to either LANs or WANs via a wireless link, WiFi, Bluetooth, satellite, or modem and temporary telephone link.
Network 726 may further include any of a variety of wireless sub-networks that may further overlay stand-alone ad-hoc networks, and the like, to provide an infrastructure-oriented connection. Such sub-networks may include mesh networks, Wireless LAN (WLAN) networks, cellular networks, and the like. Network 726 may also include an autonomous system of terminals, gateways, routers, and the like connected by wireless radio links or wireless transceivers. These connectors may be configured to move freely and randomly and organize themselves arbitrarily, such that the topology of network 726 may change rapidly and arbitrarily.
Network 726 may further employ a plurality of access technologies including 2nd (2G), 2.5, 3rd (3G), 4th (4G) generation radio access for cellular systems, WLAN, Wireless Router (WR) mesh, and the like. Access technologies such as 2G, 3G, 4G, and future access networks may enable wide area coverage for mobile devices with various degrees of mobility. For example, network 726 may enable a radio connection through a radio network access such as the Global System for Mobile communication (GSM), General Packet Radio Services (GPRS), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), CDMA2000, and the like. Network 726 may also be constructed for use with various other wired and wireless communication protocols, including TCP/IP, UDP, SIP, SMS. RTP, WAP, CDMA, TDMA, EDGE, UMTS, GPRS, GSM, UWB, WiFi, WiMax, IEEE 802.11x, and the like. In essence, network 726 may include virtually any wired and/or wireless communication mechanisms by which information may travel between one computing device and another computing device, network, and the like. In one embodiment, network 726 may include a LAN that is configured behind a firewall (not shown), within a business data center, for example.
One or more user interfaces for presenting information on a computing device and/or communication device and for prompting and receiving input from a user of the computing device and/or communication device in the manner described herein can be implemented using any form of network transportable digital data. The network transportable digital data can be transported in any of a family of file formats, protocols, and associated mechanisms usable to enable a computing device and/or communication device to transfer data over a network 726. In one embodiment, the data format for the one or more user interfaces can be HyperText Markup Language (HTML). HTML is a common markup language for creating web pages and other information that can be displayed in a web browser. In another embodiment, the data format for the one or more user interfaces can be Extensible Markup Language (XML). XML is a markup language that defines a set of rules for encoding interfaces or documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable. In another embodiment, a JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) format can be used to stream the interface content to the computing device and/or communication device in the manner described herein. JSON is a text-based open standard designed for human-readable data interchange. The JSON format is often used for serializing and transmitting structured data over a network connection. JSON can be used in an embodiment to transmit data between a server, device, or application, wherein JSON serves as an alternative to XML.
In a particular embodiment, a user platform with one or more client devices enables a user to access data and provide input for the system described herein via the computing device and/or communication device and network 726. The computing device and/or communication device may include virtually any computing/communication device that is configured to send and receive information over a network, such as network 726. Such computing/communication devices may include portable devices, such as, cellular telephones, smart phones, display pagers, radio frequency (RF) devices, infrared (IR) devices, global positioning devices (GPS), Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), handheld computers, wearable computers, tablet computers, integrated devices combining one or more of the preceding devices, and the like. Computing/communication devices may also include other devices, such as personal computers, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, network PC's, and the like. Computing/communication devices may also include other processing devices, such as consumer electronic (CE) devices and/or mobile computing devices, which are known to those of ordinary skill in the art. As such, computing/communication devices may range widely in terms of capabilities and features. For example, a client computing/communication device configured as a cell phone may have a numeric keypad and a few lines of monochrome LCD display on which only text may be displayed. In another example, a web-enabled client device may have a touch sensitive screen, a stylus, and several lines of color LCD display in which both text and graphics may be displayed. Moreover, the web-enabled client device may include a browser application enabled to receive and to send wireless application protocol messages (WAP), and/or wired application messages, and the like. In one embodiment, the browser application is enabled to employ HyperText Markup Language (HTML), Dynamic HTML, Handheld Device Markup Language (HDML), Wireless Markup Language (WML), WMLScript, JavaScript, EXtensible HTML (xHTML), Compact HTML (CHTML), and the like, to display and/or send digital information. In other embodiments, mobile devices can be configured with applications (apps) with which the functionality described herein can be implemented.
Client devices may also include at least one client application that is configured to send and receive content data or/or control data from another computing device via a wired or wireless network transmission. The client application may include a capability to provide and receive textual data, graphical data, video data, audio data, and the like. Moreover, the client devices may be further configured to communicate and/or receive a message, such as through an email application, a Short Message Service (SMS), direct messaging (e.g., Twitter), Multimedia Message Service (MMS), instant messaging (IM), internet relay chat (IRC), mIRC, Jabber, Enhanced Messaging Service (EMS), text messaging, Smart Messaging, Over the Air (OTA) messaging, or the like, between another computing device, and the like.
As one option, the one or more user interfaces implementing the systems and methods described herein, or a portion thereof, can be downloaded to a user device of the user platform and executed locally on the user device. The downloading of the one or more user interfaces (or a portion thereof) can be accomplished using conventional software downloading functionality. As a second option, the one or more user interfaces implementing the systems and methods described herein, or a portion thereof, can be hosted by a host/server site and executed remotely, from the user's perspective, on the host/server system. In one embodiment, the one or more user intertfaces can be implemented as a service in a service-oriented architecture (SOA) or in a Software-as-a-Service (SAAS) architecture. In any case, the functionality performed by the systems and methods described herein can be implemented as described herein, whether the application is executed locally or remotely, relative to the user.
Referring still to
The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b), requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features are grouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment.
The present application is a non-provisional patent application of Ser. No. 61/741,463, filed on Jul. 19, 2012. The present non-provisional application claims priority to the referenced provisional application, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61741463 | Jul 2012 | US |
