Interactive fantasy lottery

• US 6,656,042 B2
• Filed: 03/26/2001
• Issued: 12/02/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ESPN/Starwave Partners (The Walt Disney Company)
• Original Assignee: ESPN/Starwave Partners (The Walt Disney Company)
• Inventors: Reiss, Geoff, Zehr, John
• Primary Examiner(s): Sager, Mark
• Assistant Examiner(s): CAPRON, AARON J
• Application Number:
  US09/817,717
• Publication Number:
  US 20010044336A1
• Time in Patent Office: 981 Days
• Field of Search: 463/1, 463/9, 463/16-19, 463/22, 463/29, 463/40-43, 273/269-270, 273/236, 273/292, 273/298
• US Class Current: 463/17
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3288 Betting, e.g. on live events, bookmaking

Abstract

An Interactive Fantasy Lottery where lottery players are given game pieces describing discernable actors (people, animals or events) who will be participating in an upcoming event. The performance of the actor will determine the value of the player'"'"'s game piece. Thus, the player has an incentive to observe the indicated event in order to determine its outcome as well as the value of his game piece. When the game piece is distributed over a computer network and displayed on a web page, the player will be motivated to visit the web page in order to obtain a game piece, and to monitor his performance in the lottery. In so doing, the player is increasing web traffic across the site which in turn increases the value of the advertising contained therein as well as making the web site more successful overall. In one embodiment, the content of the game is one or more sports figures. The lottery player interacts with the game piece to reveal the sports figure or figures. Each sports figure has an associated event that the sports figure is involved in and an associated point value that may be accumulated based on the sports figure'"'"'s performance. The lottery player holding the game piece with the highest point value after all events have occurred is the winner.

Claims

1. An interactive lottery comprising:

a game piece distributed prior to a reality-based event, the game piece comprising indicia, the indicia indicating at least one reality-based event and one or more related sub-events, the sub-event possibly recurring over the course of the event and each sub-event including recurring sub-events, having an assigned point value, wherein the possible outcome of the one or more sub-events is not known prior to the reality-based event, but will be determinable after the reality-based event has commended; and

a computer system to distribute the game piece over a computer network and to determine the outcome of the interactive lottery by monitoring the event and calculating the total value of the game piece based on the total number of occurrences of the each of the one or more sub-events and their assigned point values.

2. The interactive lottery of claim 1 wherein the reality-based event is a sporting event and the sub-event is related to the participation of a sports figure in the sporting event.

3. The interactive lottery of claim 1 wherein the total value of the game piece is equal to the sum of the number of occurrences of the sub-event multiplied by the assigned point value assigned to the sub-event, for each of the one or more sub-events on the game piece.

4. The interactive lottery of claim 1 wherein a single lottery player may receive more than one game piece, and the total value of each player'"'"'s game pieces determines the outcome of the lottery.

5. The interactive lottery of claim 4 wherein the outcome of the lottery is determined over play during a specified period of time.

6. The interactive lottery of claim 1 wherein the computer system further determines the winner in the event of a tie.

7. The interactive lottery of claim 6 wherein determining the outcome of the lottery in the event of a tie comprises drawing from all of the players who tied.

8. The interactive lottery of claim 6 wherein determining the outcome of the lottery in the event of a tie comprises splitting the money reward equally.

9. The interactive lottery of claim 6 wherein determining the outcome of the lottery in the event of a tie comprises distributing another game piece to each player, the player with the highest total from that set wins.

10. A reality based event game comprising the steps of:

creating an electronic game piece indicating at least one reality based event and one or more related sub-events, the outcome of each of the one or more sub-events is not yet known and each sub-event being assigned a value for an occurrence of the sub-event;

distributing the game piece to a player over a computer network, the game piece viewable by the player on a web page;

monitoring the reality based event for the outcome of the each of the sub-events;

calculating the total value of the game piece based on the total number of occurrences of the each of the one or more sub-events and their assigned point values;

determining whether the game piece is a winner; and

displaying the status of the game.

11. The reality based event game of claim 10 wherein the reality-based event is a sporting event and the sub-event is related to the participation of a sports figure in the sporting event.

12. The reality based event game of claim 10 wherein the total value of the game piece is equal to the sum of the number of occurrences of the sub-event multiplied by the assigned point value assigned to the sub-event, for each of the one ore more sub-events on the game piece.

13. The reality based event game of claim 10 wherein the computing subsystem is configured to distribute a plurality of game pieces to a client, wherein the value of each game piece distributed to the client is added together to generate a total point also for the client.

14. The reality based event game of claim 10 further comprising the step of requiring the player to login prior to receiving a game piece.

15. The reality based event game of claim 10 further comprising the step of allowing the player the choice to participate in play of the game piece or providing the player with another game piece.

16. The reality based event game of claim 10 further comprising the step of hiding a portion of the sub-event and revealing once the player has decided to play that game piece.

17. The reality based event game of claim 10 further comprising the step of determining the winner in the event of a tie.

18. An interactive lottery comprising:

a game piece distributed prior to a reality-based event, the game piece comprising indicia, the indicia indicating at least one sporting event, one or more participants in the sporting event, and one or more related sub-events having an assigned point value, wherein the outcome of the one or more sub-events is not known prior to the reality-based event, but will be determinable after the reality-based event has commended; and

a computer system to distribute the game piece over a computer network and to determine the outcome of the interactive lottery by monitoring the sporting event and calculating the total value of the game piece based on the total number of occurrences of the each of the one or more sub-events as performed by the participant during the sporting event.