- Number
- 9700805
- Published
- 2017-07-11
- Filed
- 2010-04-14
- Assignee
- Disney Enterprises, Inc.
- Inventors
- Sloan; J. Nathaniel et al.
- CPC
- A63F13/828; A63F13/63; A63F13/85
- Verdict
- Set aside automated fantasy drafting - fantasy sports business
- Source
- Google Patents · FreePatentsOnline
Abstract
A system and method for automated fantasy drafting are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method comprises receiving one or more user-defined rules with respect to a list of players, wherein each player on the list is associated with one or more characteristics from a set of predefined characteristics and wherein at least one of the user-defined rules specifies a particular characteristic and selecting a player from the list of players satisfying the one or more user-defined rules.
Background
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS(1) FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a systemfor playing a fantasy sport game.(2) FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of an embodiment of a user device.(3) FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of a host.(4) FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of a performing a sequential fantasy draft according to one embodiment.(5) FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of performing an auction fantasy draft.(6) FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method of performing a sequential fantasy draft utilizing user-defined rules.(7) FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method of performing a sequential fantasy draft utilizing non-sequential automatic selection.(8) FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method of performing an auction fantasy draft with dynamic bidding values.DETAILED DESCRIPTION(9) A fantasy sport game, in one embodiment, is a computer-implemented simulation game where users act as managers or owners of simulated sports teams called“fantasy teams,” where each team comprises a number of “players.” Thus, the term “owner” is used to refer to a participant in the fantasy sport game. An owner can be a natural person or a computer-controlled opponent. Each owner can connect to a fantasy sports gaming system via a network, as described below with respect to FIG. 1. In contrast, the term “player” refers to one of the selectable fantasy characters. In one embodiment, each player corresponds to an athlete in a professional sports league.(10) One
Claims
1. A method of selecting a player in a fantasy draft, the method comprising: storing a list of players in electronic memory, each player associated with a position and a ranking; receiving, at the electronic memory, one or more rules that specify: a user has a given number of active roster slots per position; a player of a first position is selected for an empty active roster slot of the first position for a user based on the ranking associated with the player of the first position if more than one player associated with the empty active roster slot of the first position is available; and a player of a second position is thereafter selected for the user having an empty active roster slot for the second position, even if a higher ranked player of the first position is available, wherein, when no player of the second position is available, the highest ranked player of the first position is selected even in the absence of an empty active roster slot for the player of the first position; and automatically selecting for the user, by a processor, a player from the list of players satisfying the one or more rules; wherein the selected player is automatically drafted, by a processor, to a team of the user.
5. A method of selecting a player in a fantasy draft, the method comprising: storing a list of players in electronic memory, each player associated with a position and statistic; receiving, at the electronic memory, one or more rules that specify: a user has a given number of active roster slots per position; a player of a first position is selected for an empty active roster slot of the first position for a user based on the statistic associated with the player of the first position if more than one player associated with the empty active roster slot of the first position is available; and a player of a second position is thereafter selected for the user having an empty active roster slot for the second position, even if a higher ranked player of the first position is available, wherein when no player of the second position is available, the highest ranked player of the first position is selected even in the absence of an empty active roster slotfor the player of the first position; and automatically selecting for the user, by a processor, a player from the list of players satisfying the one or more rules; wherein the selected player is automatically drafted, by a processor, to a team of the user in the absence of user input.
7. A system for selecting a player on a fantasy draft, the system comprising: a memory configured to store a list of players, each player associated with a position and a ranking; a network interface configured to receive one or more rules that specify:a user has a given number of active roster slots per position; a player of a first position is selected for an empty active roster slot of the first position for a user based on the ranking associated with the player of the first position if more than one player associated with the empty active roster slot of the first position is available; and a player ofa second position is thereafter selected for the user having an empty active roster slot for the second position, even if a higher ranked player of the first potion is available, wherein when no player of the second position is available, the highest ranked player of the first position is selected even in the absence of an empty active roster slot for the player of the first position; and automatically selecting for the user, by a processor, a player from the list of players satisfying the one or more rules; wherein the selected player is automatically drafted, by a processor, to a team of the user.
11. A system for selecting a player in a fantasy draft, the system comprising: means for storing, in a memory, alist of players, each player associated with a position and a ranking; means for receiving one or more rules that specifies: a user has a given number of active roster slots per position; a player of a first position is selected for an empty active roster slot of the first position for a user based on the ranking associated with the player of the first position if more than one player associated with the empty active roster slot of the first position is available; and a player of a second position is thereafter selected for the user having an empty active roster slot for the second position, even if a higher ranked playerof the first position is available, wherein when no player of the second position is available, the highest ranked player of the first position is selected even in the absence of an empty active roster slot for the player of the first position; and means for automatically selecting for the user a player from the list of players satisfying the one or more rules; wherein the selected player is automatically drafted, by a processor, to a team of the user.
15. A non-signal computer-readable storage medium having instructions encoded thereon which, when executed by a processor, cause an apparatus to perform a method of selecting a player in a fantasy draft, the method comprising: storing, in a memory, a list of players, each player associated with a position and a ranking; receiving, at the memory, one or more rules that specify: a user has a given number of active roster slots per position;a player of a first position is selected for an empty active roster slot of the first position for a user based on the ranking associated with the player of the first position if more than one player associated with the empty active roster slot of the first position isavailable; and a player of a second position is thereafter selected for the user having an empty active roster slot for the second position, even if a higher ranked player of the first position is available, wherein when no player of the second position is available, the highest ranked player of the first position is selected even in the absence of an emptyactive roster slot for the player of the first position; and automatically selecting a player for the user from the list of players satisfying the one or more rules; wherein the selected player is automatically drafted, by a processor, to a team of the user.