Fantasy sports data analysis for game structure development

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10207188-B2
Application number	US-201514876101-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 6, 2015
Priority date	Oct 6, 2015
Publication date	Feb 19, 2019
Grant date	Feb 19, 2019

Abstract

In an aspect, fantasy sports data is analyzed to generate and/or manage the delivery of and user experience of fantasy sports games and contests, including timing and payout structure(s) for short-term fantasy contests, such as daily, weekly, etc. fantasy sports contests, that motivate and appeal to contestants and is/are reasonably structured and concisely represented. In yet another aspect, a daily fantasy contest system is provided to automatically adjust to user demand without overshooting profitable levels and offer a variety of different contests, as well as offer contests with guaranteed and non-guaranteed payouts.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
obtaining, by a computing device and for a contest, a tentative payout structure comprising a payout amount for each winning place of a number of winning places for the contest;
determining, by the computing device, a number of buckets and a size for each bucket indicating how many of the number of winning places to assign to the bucket; and
determining, by the computing device, a related payout structure using the tentative payout structure of prize amounts for each winning place, the related payout structure specifying a prize amount for each bucket, each winning place's prize amount being determined by the bucket to which it is assigned and the bucket's prize amount, determining a related payout structure using the tentative Payout structure further comprising:
assigning, by the computing device, each winning place of the number of winning places to a single bucket based on the determined bucket size of each bucket, an order of the winning places and a bucket order associated with the number of buckets; and
determining, by the computing device, a prize amount for a bucket using an aggregate of the tentative prize amount associated with each of the winning places assigned to the bucket.

2. The method of claim 1 , obtaining a tentative payout structure further comprising:
determining, by the computing device for each of one or more winning places of the number of winning places, a prize amount using a power law function and a constant indicative of a rate that payout amounts are to fall from a first place prize amount to a last place prize amount.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
determining, by the computing device, the power law function's constant using a minimum prize amount at least equal to the contest's entry fee, a predetermined first place prize amount, a total prize pool and the number of winning places.

4. The method of claim 2 , the power law function being used to distribute a portion of the total prize pool amount excluding the first place prize amount to each winning place other than the first place that is assigned the first place prize amount.

5. The method of claim 1 , determining a number of buckets and a size for each bucket further comprising:
determining, by the computing device, a bucket size factor that results each next bucket in a bucket order increasing in size by at least the bucket size factor, the determined bucket size satisfying a monotonic bucket size consideration.

6. The method of claim 1 , determining a prize amount for a bucket further comprising:
rounding, by the computing device, the aggregate down to a nice number close to the tentative prize aggregate, the nice number being determined in accordance with prize amount aesthetic preferences.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
determining, by the computing device, a leftover amount that is a difference between the aggregate and the nice number, wherein the leftover amount is used in determining a next bucket's associated prize amount by adding the leftover amount to the next bucket's aggregate of the tentative prize amount.

8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
distributing, by the computing device, a leftover associated with a last bucket of the number of buckets to one or more other buckets of the number.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
determining, by the computing device, whether the last bucket's leftover is divisible by the last bucket's prize amount; and
adding, by the computing device, a number of additional winning places to the last bucket, the number of additional winning places being equal to the last bucket's leftover divided by the last bucket's prize amount if the last bucket's leftover is determined to be divisible by the last bucket's prize amount.

10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
distributing, by the computing device, at least some of the last bucket's leftover by increasing a prize amount associated with each of one or more buckets associated with higher ranking winning places, each such bucket's prize amount being increased while maintaining prize amount aesthetic preferences.

11. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
determining, by the computing device, a number of distribution alternatives to distribute the last bucket's leftover, the determining comprising determining a cost associated with each distribution alternative;
selecting, by the computing device, one of the distribution alternative using the determined cost of each distribution alternative; and
distributing, by the computing device, to a next to last bucket using the selected distribution alternative.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
merging, by the computing device, two or more buckets having equal payout amounts.

13. The method of claim 1 , the tentative payout structure comprising exponentially declining tentative prizes.

14. The method of claim 1 , the tentative payout structure comprising logarithmically declining tentative prizes.

15. A system comprising:
at least one computing device, each computing device comprising a processor and a storage medium for tangibly storing thereon program logic for execution by the processor, the stored program logic comprising:
obtaining logic executed by the processor for obtaining, for a contest, a tentative payout structure comprising a payout amount for each winning place of a number of winning places for the contest;
determining logic executed by the processor for determining a number of buckets and a size for each bucket indicating how many of the number of winning places to assign to the bucket; and
determining logic executed by the processor for determining a related payout structure using the tentative payout structure of prize amounts for each winning place, the related payout structure specifying a prize amount for each bucket, each winning place's prize amount being determined by the bucket to which it is assigned and the bucket's prize amount, determining a related payout structure using the tentative payout structure further comprising:
assigning logic executed by the processor for assigning each winning place of the number of winning places to a single bucket based on the determined bucket size of each bucket, an order of the winning places and a bucket order associated with the number of buckets; and
determining logic executed by the processor for determining a prize amount for a bucket using an aggregate of the tentative prize amount associated with each of the winning places assigned to the bucket.

16. The system of claim 15 , obtaining logic executed by the processor for obtaining a tentative payout structure further comprising:
determining logic executed by the processor for determining, for each of one or more winning places of the number of winning places, a prize amount using a power law function and a constant indicative of a rate that payout amounts are to fall from a first place prize amount to a last place prize amount.

17. The system of claim 16 , the stored program logic further comprising:
determining logic executed by the processor for determining the power law function's constant using a minimum prize amount at least equal to the contest's entry fee, a predetermined first place prize amount, a total prize pool and the number of winning places.

18. The system of claim 16 , the power law function being used to distribute a portion of the total prize pool amount excluding the first place prize amount to each winning place other than the first plac

Assignees

• Oath Inc

Inventors

• Thaler Justin
• Sviridenko Maxim
• Liberty Edo
• Uppal Prerit
• Belmarch Ron
• Shen Jerry

Classifications

• A63F13/65 Primary

  automatically by game devices or servers from real world data, e.g. measurement in live racing competition · CPC title

• G07F17/3276

  wherein the players compete, e.g. tournament · CPC title

• G07F17/3244

  Payment aspects of a gaming system, e.g. payment schemes, setting payout ratio, bonus or consolation prizes · CPC title

• G07F17/3288 Primary

  Betting, e.g. on live events, bookmaking · CPC title