Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02290921 1999-11-29
INTERACTIVE TELEVISION SPORTS CARD GAME
Technical Field
The invention relates to games and more particularly a card game for
enhancing the entertainment value of television or other broadcast sports.
Background Art
Currently when viewing television sports games, such as football, hockey
or baseball, viewers may pick, or place bets on, one of the two teams. Often,
it
becomes apparent well before the end of the game which team will win, in which
case
the viewers begin to lose interest in the game. Thus where the "winning"
viewer is
determined only by selecting the winning team at the end of the game, viewers
may only
be interested in the final portion of the game, and not in the intervening
events, or
similarly may lose interest entirely in the case of lopsided scores. Loss of
interest of the
viewers may be detrimental to advertisers who have paid to display
advertisements during
the game on the basis of the number of viewers, and also reduces the
entertainment value
of the game. It is desirable therefore to provide an interactive game which
will maintain
the viewer's interest in the events of a game throughout the match.
Disclosure of Invention
The present invention therefore provides a method of maintaining
viewer interest in the outcome of a broadcast sports match between a first and
second
team comprising: a) providing a plurality of game cards forming two equal
groups of
cards, a first group designating the first team and a second group designating
the second
team; wherein each card comprises a time period field, an event field and
point field,
wherein the time period field indicates one of the time periods, the event
field indicates
a particular game event, and the point field indicates a point value assigned
to the game
event; b) distributing the game cards among a number of game players; c)
providing a
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broadcast sports match, the sports match comprising a number of time periods;
d) when
one of the events occurs during the designated time period, awarding the point
value to
the game player holding the game card; e) calculating the total points awarded
to each
game player at the end of the sports match and designating the game player
with the most
points as the winner. The preferred sports match is a football game, but the
invention
is applicable to hockey, baseball or other broadcast sports. Preferably the
broadcast
telecommunication means is television, but it is also applicable to radio
communication,
Internet broadcast or other broadcast communication, which are also within the
scope of
the invention.
The invention further provides a card game for use in enhancing the
entertainment value of a broadcast sports match between a first and second
team, said
sports match comprising a number of time periods, the card game comprising a
plurality
of game cards forming two equal groups of cards, a first group designating the
first team
and a second group designating the second team; wherein each card comprises a
time
period field, an event field and point field, wherein the time period field
indicates one
of the time periods, the event field indicates a particular game event, and
the point field
indicates a point value assigned to the game event.
The invention further provides an interactive game for enhancing the
entertainment value of a broadcast sports match between a first and second
team, the
sports match comprising a number of time periods, the interactive game
comprising: a)
a broadcast telecommunication means for communicating the sports match to a
plurality
of viewers; and b) a card game comprising a plurality of game cards forming
two equal
groups of cards, a first group designating the first team and a second group
designating
the second team; wherein each card comprises a time period field, an event
field and
point field, wherein the time period field indicates one of the time periods,
the event field
indicates a particular game event, and the point field indicates a point value
assigned to
the game event.
Brief Description of Drawings
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In drawings of a preferred embodiment of the invention:
Figure 1 illustrates a telecommunications broadcast device such as a
television set and a plurality of viewers;
Figure 2 illustrates a sample "Visitor" team card; and
Figure 3 illustrates a sample "Home" team card.
Best Models) For Carrying Out the Invention
With reference to the drawings, a telecommunications broadcast device
such as a television set is designated by reference numeral 10. It
communicates to a
number of viewers who are playing the game, referred to as game players 12,
preferably
from 4 to 10 in number, a sports match such as football, hockey or baseball.
The
telecommunication may be a live broadcast or a broadcast of a previously
recorded video-
tape or film. Where more than 10 persons are playing, two or more decks of the
cards
described below will be used.
A plurality of game cards 20 is provided, formed of two equal groups,
each card having an information-bearing face 22 and a back face 24 which may
display
a trademark or the like but carries none of the game-related information. The
first group
is marked "Home", designating the home team. The second group is marked
"Visitor",
designating the visiting team. The two groups of cards are preferably
distinguished by
color. For example bar 26 (Fig. 2) is red for each "Visitor" card and bar 28
(Fig. 3)
is blue for each "Home" card.
Each card 20 has three information-displaying fields. Information field
30, the time field, contains information which designates to which period of
the game the
card correspond. In respect of football, field 30 shows to which quarter of
the game the
card corresponds. This may be shown by highlighting the selected quarter on a
display
of all four quarters, as illustrated in Figures 2 and 3, or by simply
displaying the selected
quarter. The second field 32, the event field, displays the event for which
points are
awarded. The third field, the points field 36, displays the number of points
awarded to
the game player should the displayed event occur during the displayed time
period.
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In the example of the football embodiment of the invention, there are
preferably 72 cards, 36 of which are "Visitor" cards and 36 of which are
"Home" cards.
In respect of each set of 36 cards, these are comprised of 9 different events
for each of
the four quarters. The different events, and the points assigned to each event
are as
follows:
Event Points
Touchdown 7
Winning (leading) team at end of Quarter 7
Interception 5
Passing play over 30 yards 5
Fumble recovery 5
Kick return over 25 yards 5
Running play over 20 yards 3
Field Goal 3
Sack 3
To play the interactive game, prior to the commencement of the broadcast
game, the number of players is determined, which is most effective between 5
and 9, and
the rules of the game explained to the players. The players are each dealt, or
select, an
equal number of game cards, with the leftover cards being set aside. For
example, in
the case of 6 players, each player is dealt 12 cards. In the case of 7
players, each player
is dealt 10 cards, and the remaining 2 cards are set aside. Players may trade
or sell
cards, depending on the rule selected by the players. It is determined which
team for the
upcoming broadcast is the "Home" team and which is the "Visitor". Each player
separates his or her cards into the respective quarters and the broadcast of
the game
commences. When an event occurs which matches a player's card for the
respective
team and quarter, that game player is awarded the number of points shown on
the card,
provided the player claims the points before the next play takes place. For
example
where a touchdown is scored by the Home team in the first quarter, the holder
of that
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card is awarded 7 points. Where an interception is made by the Visiting team
in the
third quarter, the holder of that card is awarded 5 points (if the player
declares
entitlement to the points in a timely way), etc. With the exception of
"Winning team at
end of Quarter", an event may occur more than once in each time period, and
the holder
of the card is awarded the designated number of points each time the event
occurs. With
respect to the event "Winning team at end of Quarter", the holder of that card
for the
team which is leading at the end of each quarter receives the designated
number of
points. If the teams are tied at the end of the period/quarter, then the
holders of the two
relevant cards may toss a coin to determine the player who receives the
points, or
determine the award in some other random way, or the points may not be
awarded,
depending on the rule selected by the players at the outset.
At the end of the game, the total number of points awarded to each player
is determined and the player with the most points is the winner. In this way
the events
which occur in a typical sports game take on greater interest than would
normally be the
case where the "winning" observer is determined only by selecting the winning
team at
the end of the game.
While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been described in the
context of football games, modifications can be made to adapt the game for
other
broadcast sports. In the case of hockey, there are three time periods, and the
events
would include, for example, hitting a post, breakaway, power play,
successfully
defending a power play etc. as well as scoring a goal. In respect of baseball,
there are
9 time periods (innings) and events could include, for example single base
hit, double
base hit, triple, home run, stolen base, double play, triple play, etc. as
well as runs
scored.
While the present invention has been described as most useful in respect of
television sports games it is also useful in association with radio
communication of such
sports games, Internet broadcast or other broadcast telecommunication means.
As will be apparent to those skilled in the art in the light of the foregoing
disclosure, many alterations and modifications are possible in the practice of
this
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invention without departing from the spirit or scope thereof. Accordingly, the
scope of
the invention is to be construed in accordance with the substance defined by
the following
claims.
