System and method for fantasy interactive sports game

Abstract

The invention is a statistics based fantasy style interactive sports game of a predetermined duration that may be played in a bar or restaurant or over the internet. Each game takes place during a fixed time period (such as one hour), before which players choose a number of athletes from one or more sports that will be playing during that time period. During the course of the hour a player is awarded points for plays completed by selected athletes. At the end of the hour, the game player with the most points wins.

1 . A system for enabling a plurality of players to play a fantasy sports game over a predetermined time interval, comprising:
 a. a game implemented with software for playing the game on a computer readable medium on one or more computers, the game having a plurality of players, each player having a team of a plurality of athletes in contests; and   b. correlating points earned by the athletes for the team with the statistics of the athletes in contests scheduled to be played;   wherein the game is played through a predetermined time interval.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the player may sign up to play a game for a predefined period of play starting immediately and then the player will be placed in a tournament of a pre-determined size along with one or more additional players playing during the same predefined period of play, wherein a player with the highest score wins the tournament. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein a plurality of players playing in overlapping time intervals are grouped into a single tournament, and a winner is determined from the grouped players. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the athletes are chosen from at least two teams. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the contests comprise a plurality of sports. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the player accesses the software via a network. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the predetermined time interval is measured without regard to the end of the contests used in the game. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a kiosk for providing the player access to the game at a location. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the kiosk is in electronic communication with a plurality of displays at the location. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the kiosk comprises a dispenser for a voucher for a winning player. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein a list of available athletes for the player to select for the team is preselected. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the software is accessible on player hardware. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the player lists the athletes on the team in order of points earned. 
     
     
         14 . A method for providing a fantasy sports game to be played by players over a predetermined time interval, comprising the steps of:
 a. accessing software for playing a game on a computer readable medium on one or more computers, the game having a plurality of players, each player having a team of a plurality of athletes in contests; and   b. correlating points earned by the athletes for the team with the statistics of the athletes in the contests for the predetermined time interval.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein a plurality of players playing in overlapping time intervals are grouped into a single tournament, and a winner is determined from the grouped players. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the athletes are from at least two different teams. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the contests comprise at least two different sports. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the player is able to access the game via a player device over a network. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the predetermined time interval is measured without regard to the end of the contests used in the game. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the player lists the athletes on the team in order of points earned. 
     
     
         21 . A device for enabling a plurality of players to play a fantasy sports game over a predetermined time interval, comprising:
 a. software for playing a game on a computer readable medium, the game having a plurality of players, each player having a team of a plurality of athletes in contests; and   b. correlating points earned by the athletes for the team with the statistics of the athletes in the contests scheduled to be played;
 wherein the game is played through the predetermined time interval. 
   
     
     
         22 . The device of  claim 21 , wherein the athletes are from at least two different teams. 
     
     
         23 . The device of  claim 21 , wherein the contests are at least two different sports. 
     
     
         24 . The device of  claim 21 , wherein the predetermined time interval is measured without regard to the end of the contests used in the game. 
     
     
         25 . The device of  claim 21 , wherein a plurality of players playing in overlapping time intervals are grouped into a single tournament, and a winner is determined from the grouped players.