Fantasy sports auction system

Abstract

A fantasy sports game for a plurality of participants representing sports teams each wishing to form a fantasy sports team made up of actual athletes, and each operating a participant terminal operable to act as a client on a network, the system comprising: a host controller, the host controller comprising a computer operable to act as a server on the network and to communicate with the participant terminals over the network; and data storage accessible to the host controller.

1 . A system for managing a fantasy sports game for a plurality of participants representing sports teams each wishing to form a fantasy sports team made up of actual athletes, and each operating a participant terminal operable to act as a client on a network, the system comprising: a host controller, the host controller comprising a computer operable to act as a server on the network and to communicate with the participant terminals over the network; and data storage accessible to the host controller, the data storage storing information relating to performance of the athletes in actual games, the host controller being operable: 
 (a) to create a hierarchical order of teams to determine priority in athlete nomination for auction, the hierarchical order starting from a first nominating team and ending with a last nominating team, the first nominating team exercising a first nomination and the last nominating team exercising a last nomination, the hierarchical order repeating for nomination of remaining athletes after the last nominating team exercises the last nomination,    (b) to solicit and accept a request from the nominating team for nomination of an athlete for auction,    (c) to display the nominated athlete for auction on all participant terminals,    (d) to display on all participant terminals a visual indicator to show the beginning of a predetermined auction time, the passage of a predetermined auction time, and the end of a predetermined auction time, an initial value in predetermined auction time being previously set by the host controller,    (e) to display on all participant terminals a visual indicator to show the beginning of a predetermined athlete selection time, the passage of a predetermined athlete selection time, and the end of a predetermined athlete selection time, an initial value in predetermined athlete selection time being previously set by the host controller,    (f) to solicit, accept and display successively higher participant bids during the predetermined auction time,    (g) to determine and display the winning team of the athlete auction and assign the winning team the purchase of the athlete from no more than a predetermined number of game value units initially allocated by the host controller, an initial value in game value units for each athlete being previously set by the host controller; and    (h) a tabulation means for assigning a team score proportional to data storage relating to actual performance of the athletes on the participant's team,    (i) responsive to a request of a participant, to access the data storage and report a status of the participant's fantasy team, the status including information as to actual performance of the athletes on the participant's team.    
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the host controller is operable: to display on participant terminals a team registry of athletes showing athlete composition of all participants' fantasy sports teams.  
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the host controller is operable: to display on participant terminals, the hierarchical team order for nomination of athletes.  
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the initial value in predetermined auction delay time is varied by the host controller and can be lengthened or shortened for later rounds of bidding.  
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the initial value in predetermined athlete selection delay time is varied by the host controller and can be lengthened or shortened for later rounds of bidding.  
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the host controller varies the initial value in predetermined auction time from auction to auction.  
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1  further including a means for displaying private messages sent by users to each other, and further including a means for displaying public messages sent to the entire group.  
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1  further including a chat function.  
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the host controller is operable: to accept a pass selection by participant team that can elect to pass an athlete and discontinue bidding on the athlete, wherein the auction for the athlete terminates upon the pass selection by all participants teams except for the highest bidding participant team who is awarded the purchase of the athlete at the highest bid.  
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1  further including a means to identify participant teams by unique league names.  
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the host controller is operable: responsive to a request of a participant team, to display an alphabetized or pre-ranked list of athletes.  
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the host controller is operable: responsive to a request of a participant team, to display a bidding history for athletes.  
     
     
         13 . A method for managing a fantasy sports game for a plurality of participants representing sports teams each forming a fantasy sports team made up of actual athletes, and each operating a participant computer terminal operable to act as a client on a computer network, the method comprising the steps of: configuring a host controller, the host controller comprising a computer operable to act as a server on the network, configuring participant terminals capable of communicating with the host controller over the network; 
 and providing a data storage accessible to the host controller, the data storage storing information relating to performance of the athletes in actual games, the host controller being programmed to be operable:    (a) to create a hierarchical order of teams to determine priority in athlete nomination for auction, the hierarchical order starting from a first nominating team and ending with a last nominating team, the first nominating team exercising a first nomination and the last nominating team exercising a last nomination, the hierarchical order repeating in reverse for nomination of remaining athletes after the last nominating team exercises the last nomination, wherein after the last nominating team exercises the last nomination, the last nominating team becomes the first nominating team and the first nominating team becomes the last nominating team,    (b) to solicit and accept a request from the nominating team for nomination of an athlete for auction,    (c) to display the nominated athlete for auction on all participant terminals,    (d) to display on all participant terminals a visual indicator to show the beginning of a predetermined auction time, the passage of a predetermined auction time, and the end of a predetermined auction time, an initial value in predetermined auction time being previously set by the host controller,    (e) to display on all participant terminals a visual indicator to show the beginning of a predetermined athlete selection time, the passage of a predetermined athlete selection time, and the end of a predetermined athlete selection time, an initial value in predetermined athlete selection time being previously set by the host controller,    (f) to solicit, accept and display successively higher participant bids during the predetermined auction time,    (g) to determine and display the winning team of the athlete auction and assign the winning team the purchase of the athlete from no more than a predetermined number of game value units initially allocated by the host controller; and    (h) a tabulation means for assigning a team score proportional to data storage relating to actual performance of the athletes on the participant's team,    (i) responsive to a request of a participant, to access the data storage and report a status of the participant's fantasy team, the status including information as to actual performance of the athletes on the participant's team.    
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the host controller is operable: to display on participant terminals a team registry of athletes showing athlete composition of all participants' fantasy sports teams.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the host controller is operable: to display on participant terminals, the hierarchical team order for nomination of athletes.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the initial value in predetermined auction time is varied by the host controller and possibly shortened or lengthened for later rounds of bidding.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the host controller may vary the initial value in predetermined auction time from auction to auction.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the host controller may vary the initial value in predetermined athlete selection time from auction to auction.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 13  further including a means for displaying private messages sent by users to each other, and further including a means for displaying public messages sent to the entire group.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 13  further including an artificial intelligence program to replace users unable to participate during bidding, and  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the host controller is operable: to accept a pass selection by participant team that can elect to pass an athlete and discontinue bidding on the athlete, wherein the auction for the athlete terminates upon the pass selection by all participants teams except for the highest bidding participant team who is awarded the purchase of the athlete at the highest bid.  
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the host controller is operable: responsive to a request of a participant team, to display a bidding history for athletes.