Fantasy Sports News Alert

Abstract

A method of providing an on line service to fantasy sports players who own, draft or manage fictional teams of professional athletes which compete against each other where the service is notifying a fantasy sports manager of last minute near real time sports updates relating to football, baseball or basketball of breaking information/lineup change information. The information enables the fantasy sports manager to quickly make a change to the lineup of his/her team and the fantasy sport manager, upon receiving the breaking information about a change that has occurred that affects the fantasy manager's daily lineup can quickly make a change to his/her team lineup to obtain a competitive edge.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a fantasy football, baseball and basketball games in which participants act as "coaches" to form their own teams from among active league players and in which participant coaches are rewarded based upon the actual performance of the players on their teams in real life games. More specifically the invention relates to providing near real time information to players of fantasy sports who want a competitive advantage by having critical, more timely information that is needed to make more accurate predictions such as a change that has occurred that affects the fantasy manager's daily lineup such as an injury, a day off, etc.

[0003] 2. Description of Related Art

[0004] Fantasy sports league games are well known. Generally, in such games participants select currently active real-life athletes to form fantasy teams. A participant's success or failure in the game depends on the performance of the players in real-life games. Owners of such fantasy teams compete against each of the other teams. More specifically, by way of example, U.S. PreGrant Publication No. 2006/0252476 to Bahou discloses a fantasy sport in which each team is associated with at least one actual player from an actual sport that is played over a multiple-game schedule, selecting a plurality of scoring statistics based on actual scoring statistics associated with the actual sport to measure the performance of the fantasy team, selecting a series corresponding to a portion of an actual schedule of the sport, and determining and evaluating the scoring statistics accrued by the fantasy team during the course of the selected series.

[0005] U.S. Pat. No. 7,614,944 to Hughes discloses a fantasy sports which may allow a user to enter the same team to compete in one or more leagues or the fantasy sports contest application may allow the user to advance from lower level leagues to higher-level leagues having the same or cooperating sponsors. In another embodiment the fantasy sport may allow a user to enter a team that was previously drafted for one league to compete in another league.

[0006] U.S. Pat. No. 7,001,279 to Barber, et al. discloses fantasy sports leagues created for users of common user equipment so that they may compete against each other.

[0007] U.S. Pat. No. 6,669,565 to Liegey discloses a fantasy sports game which includes increasing the points available for winning picks in later rounds and allowing participants to trade teams. The points awarded for picking the winning team may also be based on the Round of the tournament and the "seed" of the winning team.

[0008] U.S. Pat. No. 5,860,862 to Junkin, discloses a ticker tape or some other visual display or audio broadcast is shown or broadcast on a device of an interactive apparatus with real time score values indicative of the players' performance in the event. Using the interactive apparatus, the participants select and trade members on the team using a menu displayed or broadcast on the interactive device. The menu provides relevant information regarding the performance of the participant's team, and allows the participant to select and trade members on the participant's team with members listed in a contest roster database while the event is occurring in real time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, there is disclosed a method of providing an online notification service to fantasy sports players who own, draft or manage fictional teams of professional athletes which compete against each other comprises:

[0010] notifying a fantasy sports manager of last minute near real time sports updates relating to football, baseball or basketball of breaking information/lineup change information to enable the fantasy sports manager to quickly make a change to the lineup of his/her team;

[0011] wherein the fantasy sport manager upon receiving the breaking information about a change that has occurred that affects the fantasy manager's daily lineup can quickly make a change to his/her team lineup to obtain a competitive edge.

[0012] The more important features of the invention have thus been outlined in order that the more detailed description that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may better be appreciated. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter and will form the subject matter of the claims that follow.

[0013] Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

[0014] As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

[0015] The foregoing has outlined, rather broadly, the preferred feature of the present invention so that those skilled in the art may better understand the detailed description of the invention that follows. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter that form the subject of the claims of the invention. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they can readily use the disclosed conception and specific embodiment as a basis for designing or modifying other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention and that such other structures do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description, the appended claim, and the accompanying drawings in which similar elements are given similar reference numerals.

[0017] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an Internet based hardware arrangement of the fantasy sports game in accordance with the principles of the invention; and

[0018] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram showing the flow of information for obtaining the lineup of a baseball team in accordance with the principles of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0019] America's longtime love of sports and its growing fascination with the Internet have created wide interest in a new online pastime referred to as fantasy sports. This new sport is dominated by 18 to 55 year old men, roughly 27 million people play fantasy sports in the US today which accounts for annual revenue projections of $1.5 billion to $2 billion.

[0020] In fantasy sports, participants own, draft and manage fictional teams of professional athletes where the fantasy teams compete against others, and the statistics generated in actual games determine the league results and the winners.

[0021] Thus, the timeliness of a player's lineup is critical to the outcome of a given game.

[0022] This invention is directed to filling a demand for critical, timelier information by providing a notification service of near real time sports updates that relate to football, baseball and basketball. Players can sign up for free email or subscribe to receive paid email or text services that have the information that is needed to make more accurate predictions such as, for example, a change that has occurred that can affect the fantasy manager's daily lineup such as an injury or a day off.

[0023] Being privy to last minute, behind the scenes, up to date information enhances the fantasy sports manager's experience by forging a stronger bond between the manager and the players he has chosen for his team, making him feel like an insider and enhancing the overall experience; and by enabling the fantasy sports manager to quickly make a change to put in a reserve player which allows them to get points for that day. This gives the manager a major advantage, a competitive over the other managers.

[0024] The need for inside information is truly game changing. Currently, last minute lineup information is not available in an automated way. Prior to this invention last minute information was difficult, if not impossible and very time consuming to obtain because players do not have access to critical data at anytime or anywhere. Now, for the first time with this invention of Fantasy Sports News Alert players can have access to this difficult to obtain up to the minute changes which can affect the outcome of a game.

[0025] Fantasy Sports News Alert will derive revenue from online advertisers targeting the fantasy sports audience and from players that want to receive paid text alerts or ad-free email in lieu of free email notification with ads. Thus, notification of sports news alerts by standard email will be free. Notification by email without advertising will be a paid service. Notification by text message will be on a subscription basis, with the price determined by the maximum number of messages per month. Users who sign up for the service provide by Fantasy Sports News Alert, whether free or paid, will be motivated by the competitive edge the service provides.

[0026] This invention is the first to provide timely updates that impact decisions that a player might make about specific games such as, for example, which players should be included or excluded in the lineup for that day.

[0027] Real time alerts and other types of content are currently obtained from STATS, Inc. which was founded in 1981, began as a grass roots operation tracking baseball. Today with more than 25 years of experience in sophisticated sports data collection, processing and distribution, STATS is the world's leading sports information, content and statistical analysis company. STATS maintains a nationwide network of reporters who cover 234 sports a year and track every pitch, snap, shot and goal in extensive detail. STATS offers a worldwide portfolio of sports information solutions, including the company's listing of real time scores, historical sports information and turnkey fantasy sports operation, along with AP editorial content, breaking sports news and photos. STATS is owned jointly by the Associated Press and News Corporation, with corporate offices in London, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles etc.

[0028] Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a block diagram of an Internet based hardware arrangement of the fantasy sports game in accordance with the principles of the invention.

[0029] Fantasy sports contest-related information may include any suitable information associated with one or more fantasy sports contests in which the user participates or in which the user may have an interest such as information regarding real-life athletes (e.g., names, statistics, etc.), real-life sports leagues (e.g., game schedules, standings, etc.), real-life sporting events (e.g., baseball games, basketball, football), sports arenas, weather information, sports commentary, or any other suitable information regarding real-life sports or events that may have an affect on the one or more fantasy sports contests in which the user participates.

[0030] In FIG. 1, a fantasy sports contest may be on one or more servers 12 which may access one or more databases having information related to fantasy sports contests such as, for example, a data base of the rules 18 which my be used to store the rules for one or more fantasy contests; database 20 which stores data obtained from STATS used in conjunction with an automated processing interface (API) 26 that facilitates the movement of data (real-life statistical information on athletes in one or more real-life sports categories, e.g., baseball, basketball, football, etc. from the primary database of sports information, STATS, to the user; and database 22 which may include user account information, such as, for example, user identification information (e.g., user name and password), fantasy sports participation information (e.g., leagues that the user participates in, team compositions, etc.), or any other information specific to the user.

[0031] The Internet 14 is used for communication between client equipment 16 and servers 12. Client equipment 16 may include processing equipment 18 for receiving and communicating fantasy sports contest related data and user account information. For example, user account information submitted by a user during the user account setup process may be transmitted by processing equipment 18 to servers 12 for further processing and storage. The processing equipment 18 may identify local users without searching or requesting for user account information from remote storage locations (e.g., server 12). The user may interact with processing equipment 18 using input device 24 which may be a keyboard, or any other suitable device. The Fantasy Sports News Alert notification platform is based on SMS-delivery technology developed for the real estate industry by the Principals of FantasyAlarm.com, LLC. The proprietary component of the platform is the API (automated processing interface) that facilitates the movement of data from the primary database of sports information to the user. The API queries and retrieves sports data from STATS, Inc., aggregates and complies the data, and sends the results out to the user in the form of text.

[0032] The back end of the system uses the server side scripting language PHP. MySQL is used for database management.

The overall process is as follows: [0033] Initial Population of the Fantasy Sport News Alert. [0034] Initially the STATS data is loaded (with loading scripts) into a MySQL database using the STATS XML files that are pushed to the Fantasy Sports News Alert Web server. [0035] Receiving New Data. [0036] When the server receives a new file, algorithms compare the currently loaded data with data from the new file in specific fields (i.e., status field, injured field, suspended field, etc.). [0037] Updating the Database. [0038] If the new data is different from the currently loaded data, the Fantasy Sport News Alert program determines what users need to be notified and then sends them an email of SMS message detailing the change.

[0039] The underlying Fantasy Sports News Alert technology checks the STATS, Inc. database a half hour before game time and compares the user's daily roster to the actual lineup. If the user has placed a player on his roster who isn't in the lineup, the user will get a text message or email notifying him of this fact.

[0040] Fantasy Sports News Alert will also pull other data from the STATS, Inc. database (such as cumulative statistics, general statistics and player profiles). That data will be displayed on the company's Web site, Fantasy Sports News Alert.com, which is built using SilverStripe, a free open source, object oriented PHPS framework. The SilverStripe Content Management System (CMS) takes advantage of a simple templating language to construct and manage Web applications, such as adding links, pages and images.

[0041] Fantasy Sports News Alert automatically sends out free emails or paid email (as free) or text messages in certain defined situations. These trigger events are discussed below for each of the fantasy sports of baseball, football and basketball.

[0042] Additionally, Fantasy Sports News Alert is set up to enable manual notifications if a consequential event occurs that is not normally tracked and would not otherwise trigger an automatic email or text message. Users may be limited to tracking 25 baseball players, 12 basketball players or 20 football players at any given time.

[0043] Fantasy Sports News Alert sends out notifications (email and/or text) in specific, defined situations. Additionally, mass notifications will be sent manually to the Fantasy Sports News Alert community if something noteworthy occurs that is not normally tracked by Fantasy Sports News Alert (and thus would not automatically trigger an alert). An example would be a rare event, such as singing as a free agent or something of the sort.

[0044] Fantasy Sports News Alert Trigger Events for Baseball.

[0045] The MLB issues the lineup list 90 minutes before every game. Fantasy Sports News Alert uses this list and other information that STATS, Inc. to trigger automatic notifications to registered users for tracked players in the following situations: [0046] Payer appears on the 25-man roster but does not appear in the daily lineup. [0047] Player has been moved to the DL, sent to minors, or placed on the inactive list (or removed from the 25 man roster for any reason). [0048] Player is removed from the DL for any reason. .i.e., added from the 25-man roster. [0049] Player is traded to another team. [0050] Pitcher is scheduled to make a start.

[0051] Fantasy Sports News Alert Trigger Events for Football.

[0052] The NFL issues player status updates throughout the playing week and provides an active/inactive report approximately 45 minutes prior to each game, Fantasy Sports News Alert will use this information from STATS, Inc. to trigger automatic notifications to registered users in the following situations: [0053] Player is added to NFL injury list, listed as questionable or listed as probable. [0054] Player is on final inactive list sent out prior to gametime [0055] Player is removed from active roster (injured, suspended, etc.). [0056] Player is added to the active roster. [0057] Player is traded. [0058] Manual notifications by monitoring various media outlets including pre-game broadcasts on whether a player will play on a game or not (and other game-time decisions).

[0059] Fantasy Sports News Alert Trigger Events for Basketball.

[0060] The NBA doesn't issue daily lineups, therefore, Fantasy Sports News Alert will use other information from STATS, Inc. to trigger automatic notifications to registered users in the following situations: [0061] Player is added to NBA injured list. [0062] Player is removed from active roster (injured, suspended, etc.). [0063] Player s added to the active roster. [0064] Player is traded. [0065] Manual notifications by monitoring various media outlets including pre-game broadcasts on whether a player will play in a game or not (and other game-time decisions).

[0066] Fantasy Sports News Alert provides the following: [0067] Real time SMS (text) and email notification capability providing sports manager with lineup and other critical information within minutes of information being released. [0068] Breaking information/lineup change information provided on site. [0069] Breaking sports information. [0070] The actual online playing field where players build their own teams and compete against each other. [0071] Real-time scores and other player and league statistics. [0072] Daily updates, sports blogs, breaking news, etc. from groups of sports writers with a direct pipeline to general managers, managers, coaches, players and scouts. [0073] Helps players prepare for their fantasy drafts.

[0074] Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown a flow diagram for obtaining the lineup of a baseball team in accordance with the principles of the invention.

[0075] Initially the MLB lineup XML file is received from STATS, block 40. Then in block 40, the MLB file is parsed for team codes of home/visiting teams and player codes for players in team batting lineup. At block 44, get complete roster of players for home visiting teams from Fantasy Sport News Alert database. Continuing, at block 46, iterate through complete roster and remove players in lineup, pitchers and players that are on the DL, and then at block 48, send notifications to Fantasy Sports News Alert users that manage remaining players.

[0076] While there have been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention and not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Obvious modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The embodiments discussed were chosen and described to provide the best illustration of the principles of the invention and its practical application to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the invention as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are entitled.

Claims

1. A method of providing an on line service to fantasy sports players who own, draft or manage fictional teams of professional athletes which compete against each other comprises: notifying a fantasy sports manager of last minute near real time sports updates relating to football, baseball or basketball of breaking information/lineup change information to enable the fantasy sports manager to quickly make a change to the lineup of his/her team; wherein the fantasy sport manager upon receiving the breaking information about a change that has occurred that affects the fantasy manager's daily lineup can quickly make a change to his/her team lineup to obtain a competitive edge.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the fantasy sports manager is notified by standard email on a subscription basis.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the fantasy sports manager is notified by email without advertising for a charge.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the fantasy sports manager is notified by text message on a subscription basis where the price is determined by the maximum number of messages per month.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the daily roster of a team is checked one half hour prior to game time and compared to the actual lineup wherein if the user has placed a player on his roster who isn't in the lineup, the user will be sent a text message or email notifying him/her of this fact.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein for the fantasy game of baseball the player can track up to 25 players, wherein the lineup list issued by MLB 90 minutes before game time is used to trigger automatic notification to registered users for tracked players where a tracked player appears on the 25 man roster but does not appear in the daily lineup.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein for the fantasy game of baseball the player can track up to 25 players, wherein the lineup list issued by MLB 90 minutes before game time is used to trigger automatic notification to registered users for tracked players where a tracked player has been moved to the DL, sent to the minors, placed on the inactive list, or removed from the 25 man roster for any reason.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein for the fantasy game of baseball the player can track up to 25 players, wherein the lineup list issued by MLB 90 minutes before game time is used to trigger automatic notification to registered users for tracked players where a tracked player is removed from the DL for any reason.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein for the fantasy game of baseball the player can track up to 25 players, wherein the lineup list issued by MLB 90 minutes before game time is used to trigger automatic notification to registered users for tracked players where a tracked player is traded to another team.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein for the fantasy game of baseball the player can track up to 25 players, wherein the lineup list issued by MLB 90 minutes before game time is used to trigger automatic notification to registered users for tracked players where a pitcher is scheduled to make a start.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein for the fantasy game of football the player can track up to 20 players, wherein automatic notification to registered users for tracked players is triggered when a tracked player is on the NFL active/inactive list released by NFL approximately 45 minutes prior to gametime.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein for the fantasy game of football the player can track up to 20 players, wherein automatic notification to registered users for tracked players is triggered when a tracked player is added to NFL injury list, listed as questionable or listed as probable.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein for the fantasy game of football the player can track up to 20 players, wherein automatic notification to registered users for tracked players is triggered when a tracked player is removed from the active roster.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein for the fantasy game of football the player can track up to 20 players, wherein automatic notification to registered users for tracked players is triggered when a tracked player is added to the active roster.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein for the fantasy game of football the player can track up to 20 players, wherein automatic notification to registered users for tracked players is triggered when a tracked player is traded.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein for the fantasy game of football the player can track up to 20 players, wherein automatic notification to registered users for tracked players is triggered when manual notifications by monitoring various media outlets including pre-game broadcasts indicate whether a player will play in a game or not.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein for the fantasy game of basketball the player can track up to 12 players, wherein automatic notification to registered users for tracked players is triggered when a tracked player is added to NBA injury list.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein for the fantasy game of basketball the player can track up to 12 players, wherein automatic notification to registered users for tracked players is triggered when a tracked player is removed from active roster.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein for the fantasy game of basketball the player can track up to 12 players, wherein automatic notification to registered users for tracked players is triggered when a tracked player is added to the active roster.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein for the fantasy game of basketball the player can track up to 12 players, wherein automatic notification to registered users for tracked players is triggered when a tracked player is traded.

21. (canceled)