Fantasy Sports Draft System and Method

Abstract

A fantasy sports draft system for a fantasy league with plurality of teams, the fantasy sports draft system comprising: a plurality of bidding indicators; a nominator indicator; a large roster form configured such that information contained on the large roster form is legible from at least about five feet away; a bye week form configured such that information contained on the bye week form is legible from at least about five feet away; and a regular roster form. A method of holding a fantasy sports draft comprising: determining a nominating order of teams; displaying a bye week form and a large roster form for all teams to view; displaying a nominator indicator by the current nominator team; nominating a player to auction by current nominator team; displaying a bidding indicator by teams bidding on the player; tipping the bidding indicator on its side by teams not bidding on player; winning of auction of player by a team; filling in large roster form row for auctioned player; determining whether the auction is over; moving nominator indicator to next nominator team, if auction is not over; filling in regular roster form with information from large roster form, if auction is over; and copying filled in regular roster form and distributing copies of the filled in roster form to all teams.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates generally to systems and methods for conducting fantasy sports auctions and/or drafts and, more particularly, to a system and method for conducting a fantasy sports auction and/or draft in which participants are present in a single location and team rosters generated as a result of the auction and/or draft are visually displayed.

BACKGROUND

Fantasy sports leagues are known to fans of major sports leagues such as the National Football League, National Basketball Association, and the like. Typically, a league is created having a plurality of participating teams. The participants (i.e., team owners) gather before the start of the corresponding league season to draft and/or auction players for their fantasy teams. Often, such gatherings occur in a lounge or bar setting, where participants can relax, drink, joke, and in general enjoy the draft experience.

The rules can vary from fantasy league to fantasy league. In general, each participating team is permitted to draft a certain number of players, at certain positions, to create a roster. For example, a typical fantasy football team might have two quarterbacks, four running backs, six receivers, two kickers, and two special teams.

With respect to the conduct of the draft, this can occur in one of several ways. For example, there can be a “straight” draft, in which player selection proceeds according to an established order until each team's full roster is picked. An auction draft proceeds differently. In an auction draft, teams are allowed to spend a prescribed sum of money to assemble their team, which is typically referred to as a salary cap. Players are then auctioned, with participants purchasing desired players. Each player picked and the amount bid for that player counts against the salary cap.

With respect to a straight draft, one challenge is for participants to keep track of players selected, so that time is not wasted choosing a player who has already been drafted. With respect to auction drafts, there is still a need to track players who have been selected, and also to track the amount of money that participants have spent and have left to spend. In the manner that live drafts are commonly conducted, manually tracking such information can be difficult.

Therefore a fantasy sports draft system and method that overcomes the above described and other disadvantages is needed.

SUMMARY

The disclosed invention relates to a fantasy sports draft system for a fantasy league with plurality of teams, the fantasy sports draft system comprising: a plurality of bidding indicators; a nominator indicator; a large roster form configured such that information contained on the large roster form is legible from at least about five feet away; a bye week form configured such that information contained on the bye week form is legible from at least about five feet away; and a regular roster form.

The disclosed invention also relates to a method of holding a fantasy sports draft comprising: determining a nominating order of teams; displaying a bye week form and a large roster form for all teams to view; displaying a nominator indicator by the current nominator team; nominating a player to auction by current nominator team; displaying a bidding indicator by teams bidding on the player; tipping the bidding indicator on its side by teams not bidding on player; winning of auction of player by a team; filling in large roster form row for auctioned player; determining whether the auction is over; moving nominator indicator to next nominator team, if auction is not over; filling in regular roster form with information from large roster form, if auction is over; and copying filled in regular roster form and distributing copies of the filled in roster form to all teams.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure will be better understood by those skilled in the pertinent art by referencing the accompanying drawings, where like elements are numbered alike in the several figures, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bidding indicator;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a nominator indicator;

FIG. 3 is a front view of a large roster form configured for fantasy football;

FIG. 4 is a front view of a large roster form configured for fantasy baseball;

FIG. 5 is a front view of a regular roster form;

FIG. 6 is a front view of a bye week form; and

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of the disclosed method.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The disclosed fantasy sports draft system comprises several parts. The first is a bidding indicator 10 for each team in the fantasy league, as shown in FIG. 1. The bidding indicator 10 comprises a base 14, a flag member 18 and a flag pole member 22 attached to the base 14 and flag member 18. The bidding indicator 10 may have a height H_flag of about 6 inches to about 24 inches. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the bidding indicator 10 need not be limited to only the shape of a small flag pole and base, but may include a variety of other means that will allow a user to notify his fantasy sports league that he intends to make a bid, such means include, but are not limited to: a sign; an electronic display; a representation of a team mascot. There will be one bidding indicator 10 for each team in the league. The bidding indicator 10 may have a team name and/or team logo 26 printed, written, or have a decal applied on the flag member 18. The bidding indicator may be made out of any suitable material, including but not limited to: plastic, molded plastic, wood, fiberglass, metal, paper, and cardboard.

FIG. 2 shows a nominator indicator 30. The nominator indicator 30 comprises a base 34, a flag member 38 and a flag pole member 42 attached to the base 34 and flag member 38. The nominator indicator 30 may have a height H_nom of about 6 inches to about 30 inches, and should be taller than the bidding indicator, preferably, but not necessarily, taller by about 2 inches. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the nominator indicator 30 need not be limited to only the shape of a small flag pole and base, but may include a variety of other means that will allow a user to notify his fantasy sports league that he intends to make a nomination, such means include, but are not limited to: a sign; an electronic display; a representation of a team mascot. There will be one nominator indicator 30 used for the fantasy sports draft system. The nominator indicator 30 may have a white flag member 38 and/or the word “Nominator” or some variant thereof printed, written, or have a decal applied on the flag member 38. The nominator indicator 30 may be made out of any suitable material, including but not limited to: plastic, molded plastic, wood, fiberglass, metal, paper, and cardboard.

FIG. 3 shows a large roster form 46. The roster form contains a space for a team name, and team number. There are a plurality of columns and rows on the large roster form 46. In this embodiment, the columns are labeled “Salary”, “Position”, “Player”, “Team”, and “Salary Cap”. Under the position column, each position on a fantasy sports team may be listed. For example, for a fantasy football team, the positions may include three (3) quarterbacks (“QB”), two (2) kickers (“K”), four (4) running backs (“RB”), five (5) wide receivers (“WR”), two (2) defense/special teams (“D/ST”), and one (1) yards at catch (“Y/C”). Of course, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the positions that make up a roster for each team may be modified according to the rules of that fantasy sports league. In addition, the columns may be configured to contain other information to a fantasy league.

FIG. 4 shows a large roster form 48, wherein this roster form is for use with a fantasy football league, whereas the roster form 46 shown in FIG. 3 is for use with a fantasy football league. The roster form contains a space for a team name, and team number. There are a plurality of columns and rows on the large roster form 46. In this embodiment, the columns are labeled “Salary”, “Position”, “Player”, “Team”, and “Salary Cap”. Under the position column, each position on a fantasy sports team may be listed. Thus, since this roster form 48 is for use with baseball, the positions may include one (1) first baseman (“1B”), one (1) second baseman (“2B”), one (1) third baseman (“3B”), one (1) shortstop (“SS”), one (1) catcher (“C”), three (3) outfielders (“OF”), six (6) utility players (“UT”), five (5) standing pitchers (“SP”), five (5) relief pitchers (“RP”), and three (3) reserve positions.

The large roster form shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 should be large enough so that the forms 46, 48 and the information on the forms can be seen by various people in a single room. That is, a person who is about 5 feet to 20 feet away would normally be able to read most of the information on the large roster form. The large roster forms 46, 48 may have a height “H” and a width “W”. The height H may be from about 15 inches to about 60 inches, and preferably about 30 inches. The width W may be from about 10 inch to about 40 inches, and preferably about 20 inches. Of course, the roster form may be modified so that it can read from even longer distances away, such as about 40 feet, or 80 feet or more away.

FIG. 5 shows a regular roster form 50. This form is similar to the large roster form 48 shown in FIG. 4, except that it is smaller for the personal use of each team owner/captain/manager to fill in and/or for the league commissioner to fill in at the end of the auction/draft and distribute to the teams. The regular roster forms 50 may have a height “H” and a width “W”. The height H may be from about 5.5 inches to about 22 inches, and preferably about 11 inches. The width W may be from about 4 inch to about 16 inches, and preferably about 8 inches.

FIG. 6 shows a bye week form 52. This form comprises a plurality of columns and rows. One column will list each professional, college, or amateur team, and the remaining columns will list which weeks are bye weeks for each team for the sport's upcoming season. FIG. 6 shows a bye week form 52 for a football fantasy league. Of course, the form 52 may be modified to be used with a baseball fantasy league, or any other fantasy sports league. The bye week form 52 should be large enough so that the form 52 and the information on the form can be seen by various people in a single room. That is, a person who is about 5 feet to 20 feet away would normally be able to read most of the information on the bye week form. The bye week form 52 may have a height “H” and a width “W”. The height H may be from about 15 inches to about 60 inches, and preferably about 30 inches. The width W may be from about 10 inch to about 40 inches, and preferably about 20 inches. Of course, the bye week form may be modified so that it can read from even longer distances away, such as about 40 feet, or 80 feet or more away.

The disclosed fantasy sports draft system and method maybe used for fantasy or rotisserie leagues such as fantasy football, fantasy baseball, fantasy cricket, fantasy soccer, fantasy basketball, fantasy golf, fantasy hockey, fantasy auto racing, fantasy sports stock simulations, fantasy professional wrestling, fantasy e-sports, and fantasy congress. The disclosed fantasy sports draft system comprises: a plurality bidding indicators 10, one for each owner of a fantasy team; one nominator indicator 30; one large roster form 46; a plurality of regular roster forms 50, one for each owner of a fantasy team; and one large bye week form 52. The disclosed fantasy sports draft system and method may be used as follows: each team owner is a given a bidding indicator 10, which the team owners will use to represent whether or nor they are still in the bidding for a particular player. If they are in the bidding, the bidding indicator 10 will be standing or held up by the team representative, if out of the bidding the bidding indicator 10 may be tipped on its side or withdrawn from view. Each team owner uses a nominator indicator 30 when it is their turn to nominate a new player to bid on. The nominator indicator 30 may be simply stood on its base in front of the team representative, or held up by the team representative. Once they have nominated a player, they will pass the nominator indicator 30 to the next team in order to nominate a new player to bid on. The large roster form 46 is large enough for everyone in the auction room to be able to see, and thus allow all teams to see what players are taken, what salary cap is left for each team to use for their bidding. The large roster form 46 will be filled in as players are auctioned to the various teams in the league. The regular roster form 50 will be given to each team owner after the auction, and will have the same information that is finally shown on the large roster form (after the teams have filled in their roster of players). The bye week form 52 is a large form that is visible to all the teams in the auction room, and will show the team owners in the auction room what players and/or teams have which bye weeks.

FIG. 7 shows a flowchart describing a method of using the disclosed fantasy sports draft system. At act 100, the nominating order of league teams is determined by any of a variety of means, such as but not limited to: drawing straws, drawing cards, determined from previous season's standings, etc. At act 104, the bye week form and large roster form are both displayed so that all team representatives can view the two forms. At act 108, the current nominator (as determined by the nominating order) displays the nominator indicator. At act 112 the current nominator nominates a player to be auctioned. At act 116, bidding teams display their bidding indicator. At act 120, teams not bidding and teams no longer bidding on the auctioned player turn their bidding indicators on its side or withdraw their bidding indicators from sight. At act 124, a team wins the auction of the player. At act 132, a row in the large roster form is filled in showing the auctioning information (such as the name of the player that was auctioned, the team that won the auction, the position of player, the winning bid {salary} amount for the player, and the amount left in the salary cap {if any} for the winning team). At query 136 it is determined whether the auction is over (e.g. all of the teams have filled in their roster of players) or if the auction is still going on. If the auction is not over, then at act 140, the nominator indicator is moved to the next nominator team. If the auction is over, then at act 144, the regular roster form is filled in with the information filled in on the large roster form. At act 148 copies of the filled in roster form are made, and distributed to each team.

The advantages of the disclosed fantasy sports draft system is that it allows for easy determination of whose turn it is to nominate a player and easy determination of which team is currently bidding for a player. Another advantage is that allows representatives of each team see important information, such as the bye weeks, and how much salary cap is left for each team.

It should be noted that the terms “first”, “second”, and “third”, and the like may be used herein to modify elements performing similar and/or analogous functions. These modifiers do not imply a spatial, sequential, or hierarchical order to the modified elements unless specifically stated.

While the disclosure has been described with reference to several embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the disclosure. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the disclosure without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the disclosure not be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this disclosure, but that the disclosure will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A fantasy sports draft system for a fantasy league with plurality of teams, the fantasy sports draft system comprising:

a plurality of bidding indicators;

a nominator indicator;

a large roster form configured such that information contained on the large roster form is legible from at least about five feet away;

a bye week form configured such that information contained on the bye week form is legible from at least about five feet away; and

a regular roster form.

2. The fantasy sports draft system of claim 1, wherein the large roster form is configured such that information contained on the large roster form is legible from at least about ten feet away and wherein the bye week form is configured such that information contained on the bye week form is legible from at least about ten feet away.

3. The fantasy sports draft system of claim 1, wherein the large roster form is configured such that information contained on the large roster form is legible from at least about twenty feet away and wherein the bye week form is configured such that information contained on the bye week form is legible from at least about twenty feet away.

4. The fantasy sports draft system of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of bidding indicators comprises:

a base;

a flag pole member attached to the base; and

a flag member attached to the flag pole member.

5. The fantasy sports draft system of claim 4, wherein each of the plurality of bidding indicators has a height of about 6 inches to about 24 inches.

6. The fantasy sports draft system of claim 4, wherein each of the plurality of bidding indicators has a height of about 12.5 inches.

7. The fantasy sports draft system of claim 4, wherein the flag member of each bidding member has a logo displayed on the flag member corresponding to each of the plurality of teams.

8. The fantasy sports draft system of claim 4, wherein the flag member of each bidding member has a team name on the flag member corresponding to each of the plurality of teams.

9. The fantasy sports draft system of claim 1, wherein the nominator indicator comprises:

a base;

a flag pole member attached to the base; and

a flag member attached to the flag pole member.

10. The fantasy sports draft system of claim 9, wherein the nominator indicator has a height of about 6 inches to about 30 inches.

11. The fantasy sports draft system of claim 9, wherein the nominator indicator has a height of about 15 inches.

12. The fantasy sports draft system of claim 9, wherein the flag member is white.

13. A method of holding a fantasy sports draft comprising:

determining a nominating order of teams;

displaying a bye week form and a large roster form for all teams to view;

displaying a nominator indicator by the current nominator team;

nominating a player to auction by current nominator team;

displaying a bidding indicator by teams bidding on the player;

tipping the bidding indicator on its side by teams not bidding on player;

winning of auction of player by a team;

filling in large roster form row for auctioned player;

determining whether the auction is over;

moving nominator indicator to next nominator team, if auction is not over;

filling in regular roster form with information from large roster form, if auction is over; and

copying filled in regular roster form and distributing copies of the filled in roster form to all teams.