Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02541714 2006-04-04
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING A
PLAYER'S TICKET AND PLAYER'S TICKET FEATURES
Backqround of the Invention
10001] The present invention relates to ticketing
systems and methods and particularly to systems and
methods for providing a player's ticket.
10002] Currently, sports fans may only purchase
tickets for specific games or matches of a sport. In
exchange for the purchase, the sports fan (or ticket
holder) receives an ordinary ticket (e. g., general
admission ticket, reserved ticket, unreserved ticket,
etc.) which entitles the ticket holder admission to a
particular event (i.e., a game or match). Typically,
the ticket specifies at least the day, time, and
location of the game. The ticket may not specify the
day, time, and location of the game if, for example,
the ticket is for a playoff game in which the day,
time, and location of the game may be dependent on the
outcome of other games.
10003] In a sport, such as tennis, a sports fan may
only purchase tickets for a particular match or a group
of matches occurring during a particular time period in
a tournament. These tickets may be made available for
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purchase in advance of the tournament, at a time when
the players in particular matches or a group of matches
are unknown. For example, in order for a sports fan to
purchase a ticket for the semi-final match for the U.S.
Open tennis tournament, the sports fan may have to
purchase the ticket before the tournament begins.
Because the selection of players for this match, which
occurs late in the tournament, is dependent upon which
players win in the earlier matches of the tournament,
the sports fan will not know at the time of purchase
who will be playing in this later match. This approach
to ticket sales results in sports fans buying tickets
for matches between players in which the sports fan may
have little interest. A sports fan may be faced with
giving away or not using a ticket and forfeiting his
investment, selling the ticket at a loss, or attending
a match the sports fan does not desire attending.
10004] Therefore, it would desirable to provide
systems and methods that provide sports fans with an
opportunity to purchase tickets for sporting events
played by specific players or teams that interest the
sports fan.
Summary of the Invention
100051 It is therefore an object of the present
invention to provide systems and methods that provide
sports fans with an opportunity to purchase tickets for
sporting events played by specific players or teams
that interest the sports fan.
100061 One approach for alleviating the
aforementioned difficulties is for the organizers of a
tournament to sell to a sports fan tickets, for the
tournament, that reference a player or players rather
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than a match or game. The sports fan (or ticket
holder) may be able to attend any match being played by
the players referenced on the ticket. This type of
ticket may be known as a "player's ticket." The total
number of matches that the player's ticket holder
attends may be dependent upon the success of the
players) referenced on the ticket.
(0007] Different types of player's tickets may be
provided. One type of player's ticket may be an all-
rounds player's ticket in which a ticket may reference
one player and may provide entry to all matches played
in by that player. A "round-'x'-onwards" player's
ticket may reference one player and provide entry to
all matches played in by the player for round "x" and
each subsequent round, where x > 1. Another type of
player's ticket may be a "multiple-players"' ticket in
which a ticket may reference multiple players and may
provide entry to all matches played in by any of the
players on the ticket. If a match is played between
two or more players that are on the multiple-players'
ticket, the ticket may entitle the multiple-players'
ticket holder to only one seat, meaning that a
multiple-players' ticket may entitle the multiple-
players' ticket holder to more than one seat. For
example, the multiple player's ticket may entitle the
multiple-players' ticket holder to fewer seats than the
number of players referenced on the multiple-players'
ticket, seats equal to the number of players referenced
on the multiple-players' ticket, or more seats than the
number of players referenced on the multiple-players'
ticket.
10008] In some approaches, options for purchasing
tickets (e. g., player's tickets or ordinary tickets)
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may be available to sports fans. Once a sports fan
purchases an option for a ticket, the sports fan is a
ticket option holder and may receive the option of
purchasing tickets for a match on preferential terms as
compared to the general public. Various preferential
arrangements may be provided. For example, ticket
option holders may be provided with an opportunity to
purchase tickets prior to the general public. As for a
multiple-players' ticket, in the case of multiple
players referenced on this option playing in a single
match, the option holder may be entitled to only one
seat for this match if this option is exercised,
meaning that a multiple-players' ticket option may
entitle the multiple-players' ticket option holder to
more than one seat. For example, the multiple player's
ticket may entitle the multiple-players' ticket holder
to fewer seats than the number of players referenced on
the multiple-players' ticket option, seats equal to the
number of players referenced on the multiple-players'
ticket option, or more seats than the number of players
referenced on the multiple-players' ticket option.
10009] The probabilities of each player winning the
player's potential matches may be used to predict with
certain levels of confidence how many seats may be
allocated for player's ticket holders. In order to
determine how many seats may be necessary to allocate
for player's ticket holders, various techniques for
simulating matches may be utilized. Alternatively,
various formulas for estimating how many seats may be
necessary to allocate for player's ticket holders may
also be utilized. The simulations or formulas may be
used to determine the various outcomes of each match of
a tournament. From this, the different number of
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tickets necessary to accommodate all player's tickets
for each match at various levels of confidence may be
discovered. In addition, the simulations or formulas
may be used to determine the different number of
tickets necessary to accommodate all ticket option
holders for each match at various levels of confidence.
Once the different probability distributions are
provided, the organizer of the tournament may determine
how many seats to allocate for player's ticket holders
and option holders for each relevant match.
10010] The number of player's tickets of each type
that should be sold and the price for these player's
tickets may be dependent upon the profitability of each
type of player's ticket and information obtained from
the marginal cost curve, marginal revenue curve, and
demand curve for each type of player's ticket. In
general, the goal of the tournament organizing entity
will be to maximize profits. To this end, standard
option pricing techniques may be applicable in the
pricing of player's ticket options. For each type of
player's ticket that is profitable to issue, this may
be accomplished by issuing player's tickets (that are
issued at a single price) up to the quantity at which
the marginal cost of each player's ticket to the
tournament organizing entity equals the marginal
revenue from each player's ticket. The single price at
which such player's tickets should desirably be issued
is the point on the demand curve corresponding to the
number of player's tickets that have been issued.
Since the aim of the tournament organizing entity is to
maximize profits, player's tickets that that are not
profitable to issue may not be issued. In some cases,
the tournament organizing entity may be able to
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increase profits by following a different pricing
strategy from that outlined above and charging various
prices for the same player's ticket. An important
component of the marginal cost of issuing a player's
ticket may be the forgone profits from the ordinary
tickets that it replaces. The demand and marginal
revenue curves for a player's ticket may be influenced
by factors such as the popularity of the player that
the ticket references, the number of matches that the
ticket is potentially valid for, the expected number of
matches that the player is expected to play in, and the
consistency of the player.
100111 Depending upon how many seats are allocated
for player's ticket holders, the results of previous
matches, the number of player's ticket holders that do
not show for a particular match, and other possible
factors, there may be a shortfall or an excess of seats
for player's tickets for a particular match.
(Similarly, depending upon how many seats are allocated
for ticket option holders, the results of previous
matches, the number of player's ticket holders that do
not show for a particular match, the number of options
holders that do not exercise their option to purchase a
ticket, and other possible factors, there may be a
shortfall or an excess of seats for ticket options for
a particular match. The principles that follows with
respect to mitigation techniques for player's tickets
may apply equally to mitigation techniques for ticket
options.) Various mitigation techniques may be
utilized to manage the shortfall or excess of seats.
If there is an excess number of seats for player's
tickets, the extra seats may be sold as ordinary
tickets or repackaged as part of new player's tickets.
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If there is a shortfall in the number of seats for
player's tickets, seats allocated for ordinary tickets
that are unsold may be used for player's tickets. In
addition, ordinary tickets may be bought back or
player's tickets may not guarantee a ticket holder
admission.
Brief Description of the Drawings
[0012] The above and other objects and advantages of
the invention will be apparent upon consideration of
the following detailed description, taken in
conjunction with accompanying drawings, in which like
reference characters refer to like parts throughout,
and in which:
[0013] FIG. 1 is a tournament bracket of a sample
sports tournament as used in conjunction with certain
embodiments of the present invention;
10014] FIG. 2 is a depiction of the sample
tournament bracket of FIG. 1 in table format in
accordance with certain embodiments of the present
invention;
10015] FIG. 3 is a table of player's ticket
allocations for each round in the sample tournament in
accordance with certain embodiments of the present
invention;
[0016] FIGS. 4 and 5 are tables of a simulation of
the sample tournament in accordance with certain
embodiments of the present invention;
[0017] FIGS. 6, 7, and 8 are tables of how many
player's tickets are required in the matches for the
sample tournament in accordance with certain
embodiments of the present invention;
CA 02541714 2006-04-04
10018] FIG. 9 is an illustration of a demand curve,
marginal cost curve, marginal revenue curve, total cost
curve, and total revenue curve for a player's ticket in
accordance with certain embodiments of the present
invention;
10019] FIG. 10 is a table illustrating a dampening
technique of probability distributions of seat
allocations in accordance with certain embodiments of
the present invention;
10020] FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of a main process
that may be used to provide player's tickets
in accordance with certain embodiments of the present
invention;
[0021] FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a system that
may be used to implement processes and functions of
certain embodiments of the present invention;
[0022] FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a workstation,
a legacy server, and a player's ticketing server that
may be used to implement the processes and functions of
certain embodiments of the present invention;
[0023] FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view of a
magnetic data storage medium encoded with a set of
machine-executable instructions for performing the
method according to the present invention; and
(0024] FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view of an
optically readable data storage medium encoded with a
set of machine-executable instructions for performing
the method according to the present invention.
10025] Skilled artisans will appreciate that some
elements in certain drawings are illustrated for
simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been
drawn to scale.
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Detailed Description of the Invention
10026] This invention relates to ticketing systems
and methods and particularly to systems and methods for
providing a player's ticket based on the probabilities
of players winning their matches and the number of
player's tickets sold for each player for each match.
(0027] The following embodiment of the invention
relates to player's tickets for tennis. However, the
invention is not limited to tennis. Rather, this
embodiment is provided for illustration of the
invention and not to limit it to a particular sport.
This invention may also be used for other sports, such
as baseball, football, basketball, hockey, soccer,
track and field, swimming or any other sport. In the
context of team sports, the player's ticket may be
considered a "team's ticket." However, for simplicity,
the ticket associated with this invention will be
referred to herein as a "player's ticket."
I0028~ An organization that arranges a tournament, a
ranking organization, or any other entity, may rank the
players participating in the tournament in order of
skill or in any other desirable order. The
organization that arranges the tournament may be
divided into different groups to manage the different
aspects of the tournament. If desired, however, the
organization managing the tournament may be a single
tournament organizing entity. For simplicity, this
tournament organizing entity will be referred to herein
as the "tournament director," regardless of whether it
is a single tournament organizing entity or encompasses
the various groups that manage the tournament.
Decisions described herein that are made by the
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tournament director may be made by any of the various
groups that manage the tournament.
[0029] Referring to FIG. 1, tournament bracket 100
is shown for a sample sports tournament. Many aspects
of this invention will be described in the context of
the sample tournament provided in FIG. 1. As
illustrated in bracket 100 there are sixteen players in
the tournament who are seeded one through sixteen.
Before the tournament begins, the player seeded first
may be considered the best player participating in the
tournament and the player seeded sixteenth may be
considered the worst player in the tournament. Each
player in bracket 100 is marked as "Player x" where "x"
is the player's seed. Although players will be
referred to as single players in the sample tournament,
it is understood that this invention can apply equally
to a doubles tennis tournament. Once the players are
seeded, a draw of which players compete against each
other may be determined. Although the draw may be
determined in any desirable manner, in the described
embodiment, the draw is determined in accordance with
the seeding of the players. This allows the greatest
number of talented or quality players to be in the
tournament at any given time. In addition, determining
the draw in accordance with the seeding assists the
best player in emerging from the tournament as the
winner. In the context of this invention, determining
the draw in accordance with the seeding may provide a
certain level of predictability for the outcome of the
tournament. Knowing the outcome of matches in the
tournament may aid in allocating event admissions or
seats for player's tickets. Thus, techniques for
determining the draw will be discussed.
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10030] One technique for achieving the objective of
the best player emerging from the tournament as the
winner is to establish the draw such that the greatest
number of players in the top half of the seeding
advance in each round. This may be achieved by having
players seeded in the top half of the tournament play
against players seeded in the bottom half of the
tournament. Looking at FIG. 1, in first round 102,
players that are seeded one through eight compete
against players that are seeded nine though sixteen.
If all of the best players win (i.e., all of the top
seeded players win), then second round 104 will
comprise players seeded one through eight. This would
help accomplish the aforementioned objective. In this
way, the greatest number of talented or quality players
determined before the tournament began may proceed to
the next round of the tournament, thus creating a more
competitive tournament. Although not illustrated in
bracket 100, a certain level of randomness or
purposeful adjustment may also be incorporated when
establishing the draw such that some players seeded one
through eight may play each other and some players
seeded nine through sixteen may play each other.
[0031] In order to determine which players seeded
one through eight are paired to compete against the
players seeded nine through sixteen, the objective may
be to make the addition of the seeds of each competing
pair of player's seeds as close to the same number as
possible. Meaning, if Player 1 is playing Player 15,
the addition of their seeds is sixteen (i.e., one plus
fifteen). Ideally, the addition of the seeds for each
match in a round may equal the total number of players
in the round plus one. Since there are sixteen players
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in first round 102, the ideal number when adding the
seeds may be seventeen. As illustrated in bracket 100,
first seeded player 110 ("Player 1") competes against
fifteenth seeded player 112 ("Player 15") in first
match 106. Twelfth seeded player 114 ("Player 12")
competes against fifth seeded player 116 ("Player 5")
in second match 108. The addition of the seeds in
first match 106 and second match 108 equals sixteen and
seventeen, respectively. The addition of the seeds for
the remaining matches of first round 102 in bracket 100
equals between sixteen and twenty. The additions of
the seeds are close to seventeen, the number that was
previously described as ideal. How close the addition
of the seeds may be to the ideal number may be at the
discretion of the tournament director. The draw
depicted in bracket 100 corresponds to the tournament
director choosing to have the addition of these seeds
vary randomly around the ideal value of seventeen for
this sample sports tournament.
100321 This pairing, or matching, of players to
compete against each other may be repeated for the
remaining rounds. This arrangement for later rounds
may best be understood if it is assumed that all of the
best or top-seeded players win. Meaning, in the sample
tournament, players seeded one through eight would
remain in the tournament for second round 104. The
same principle described above may apply here, such
that of the players remaining, those seeded in the top
half of the tournament may compete against players
seeded in the bottom half of the tournament. In second
round 104, player pairings may be arranged such that
players seeded one through four compete against players
seeded five through eight. The ideal number for the
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addition of the seeds with eight players remaining
should be nine (i.e., total number of players remaining
in the tournament plus one). As can be seen in bracket
100, if the top-seeded players win first round 102 then
fifth match winner 118 may be Player 6, sixth match
winner 120 may be Player 3, seventh match winner 122
may be Player 7, and eighth match winner 124 may be
Player 2. In this case then, the addition of the seeds
in eleventh match 126 and twelfth match 128 both equal
nine which may be the ideal number in the second round
of the sample tournament. The sum of the seeds in the
other second round matches in this case may vary
randomly around nine as a consequence of setting the
sum of the seeds for the first round matches to vary
randomly around seventeen.
[0033] This sample tournament described in FIG. 1 is
not meant to limit the type of tournament in connection
with which the player's ticketing technique of the
invention can be used. Rather, it is provided merely
for illustrative purposes and for a context in which
this invention may be described. Where appropriate,
alternate embodiments may be described. For example,
the sample tournament comprising sixteen players does
not limit this invention to a tournament of only
sixteen players. Rather, sixteen players are provided
for illustrative purposes and this invention may be
used in tournaments of any size. In addition, the
technique described for arranging the draw is just one
embodiment of how the draw may be established in
accordance with the seeding of the players. This
invention is not limited to this particular technique
and can apply to any technique for which a tournament
director chooses to establish the draw. It is,
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however, desirable to determine the draw of the
tournament in accordance with the seeding because many
tournaments' draws are established in this manner. As
will be described in greater detail below, determining
the draw in this manner may provide a certain level of
predictability of the outcome of the tournament.
However, determining the draw using other techniques
which do not rely on seeding may also provide elements
of predictability.
10034] This player's ticketing technique may also be
applied to other types of tournaments including, but
not limited to, a round-robin tournament, any other
type of double elimination tournament, or another type
of tournament. For example, tournaments may be
playoffs for major team sports, such as baseball,
basketball, or ice hockey. In these team sport
examples, each round of the playoffs may include
multiple games between teams in a best-of-x format,
where "x" represents the maximum number of games that
can be played in the round before a winner is
determined. The winner of each round of a best-of-x
tournament advances to the next round in the playoffs.
In these types of tournaments, the probability tables
described below in connection with FIGS. 6 - 8 may
incorporate the additional feature that a single loss
may not necessarily cause a player to be eliminated
from the tournament.
10035] Some of the probabilities useful for issuing
player's tickets are illustrated and discussed in
connection with FIG. 2. FIG. 2 shows a depiction of
bracket 100 in a table format. Table 200 includes
round column 201 and match column 202 which show the
same four rounds and the same fifteen matches,
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respectively, illustrated in bracket 100. Since table
200 is a depiction of the rounds and matches in bracket
100, table 200 has the same number of rows (four) in
round column 201 as there are rounds in bracket 100.
In addition, table 200 has the same number of rows
(fifteen) in match column 202 as there are matches in
bracket 100. Table 200 includes additional information
in Player A column 206, Player B column 208, Player A
probability column 210, and Player B probability
column 212. Columns 206, 208, 210, and 212 have the
number of rows (fifteen) as match column 202 because
the information in columns 206, 208, 210, and 212
describe the particulars of each match. Player A
column 206 and Player B column 208 may provide the two
players competing in each match. For any given match
in bracket 100, the two competing players may be
arranged in blocks in a vertical position to each
other. The player in the top vertical position in
bracket 100 may be located in Player A column 206 and
the player in the bottom vertical position may be
located in Player B column 208. Player A probability
column 210 may provide the probability of the player
winning the match that is listed in Player A
column 206. Player B probability column 212 may
provide the probability of the player winning the match
listed in Player B column 208.
[0036 An examination of row 204, for example,
illustrates the correlation between table 200 and
bracket 100. Row 204 shows the equivalent match of
first match 106 described above. As can be seen,
Player 1 is located in table cell 214 which is in
Player A column 206. Player 1 in table cell 214 of
FIG. 2 is the equivalent of Player 1 (first seeded
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player 110) in FIG. 1. Similarly, Player 15 is located
in table cell 216 in Player B column 208. Player 15 in
table cell 216 of FIG. 2 is the equivalent of Player 15
(fifteenth seeded player 112) in FIG. 1. Following the
format described above, Player 1 is in Player A column
206 and Player 15 is in Player B column 208 because
first seeded player 110 (Player 1) is vertically
positioned above fifteenth seeded player 112
(Player 15) in bracket 100.
10037] The format for the remaining rows in
table 200, and therefore the remaining matches in
bracket 100, may follow the same format as row 204.
Row 218 provides an example of a match in the second
round in which the players' identities may not be
known. Row 218 illustrates eleventh match 126 in
second round 104 from bracket 100. As can be seen,
fifth match winner 118 (winner of match 5) is located
in table cell 220, which is in Player A column 206, and
sixth match winner 120 (winner of match 6) is located
in table cell 222, which is in Player B column 208.
Once again, this follows the aforementioned format
where fifth match winner 118 is vertically positioned
above sixth match winner 120 in bracket 100.
(0038] The data in Player A probability column 210
and Player B probability column 212 may be determined
by gathering information from previous tournaments and
matches. The data gathered from previous tournaments
and matches may be considered "historical data." For
tournaments that have been played for many years with
an established technique for determining the draw, the
probability of a particular seed winning a particular
match may be accurately estimated based on the
historical performance of this seed. This type of
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historical probability data may be readily available
for major tournaments. If sufficient historical data
for the current tournament is unavailable, historical
data from similar tournaments may be used instead. The
probability of players winning in each particular match
in future tournaments may be calculated independently
of the identities of the players. The probabilities in
columns 210 and 212 may be expressed as a number
between zero and one inclusive, a percentage, a
probability distribution, a function of other values,
or in any desirable manner. In the examples provided
in table 200, the probabilities may be expressed as
numbers between 0 and 1 inclusive and as probability
distributions. For example, as illustrated in table
cell 226, it may be established that in the sample
tournament from FIG. 1, a player seeded fifteenth has a
5% chance of winning a match in the first round when
competing against a player seeded first. Because the
probabilities of competing players in a match should
desirably total 100%, the corollary that Player 1 has a
95% chance of winning is illustrated in table cell 224.
For purposes of discussion herein, the probability may
at times be referred to as a percentage. As seen in
table cell 228, the probability of Player B winning in
match 8 may be expressed as a normal distribution.
Since it may be desirable for the probability to total
100% (or one), the corollary is that Player A~s
probability of winning match 8 may be expressed as one
minus the same normal distribution expression for
Player B (illustrated in table cell 230).
100391 The probability distributions expressed in
table 200 as normal distributions may actually be
pseudo-normal distributions. These may be pseudo-
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normal distributions in that, for the purposes of this
invention, they may have the additional constraint of
having values between zero and one inclusive. The
results from a typical normal distribution equation may
include values outside of the zero to one range
depending on the chosen mean and standard deviation
inputs. Therefore, a pseudo-normal distribution may be
provided such that if the typical normal distribution
equation results in a value outside of the zero to one
range, the value may be replaced with the mean of the
normal distribution.
10040] The probabilities provided in table 200 may
assume that the chances of a particular player winning
a match are independent of the player s identity.
However, it may also be desirable to recalculate the
estimated probabilities as the tournament progresses
and players identities in later rounds of the
tournament become known. The probabilities in the
later rounds may be based on certain assumptions about
which players will win the earlier rounds. As the
tournament progresses, additional information becomes
known, such as the current status or form of the
remaining players, and may also be used to refine these
estimated probabilities. Another approach may be to
maintain the same probability estimates that were
decided before the tournament began.
10041] These approaches may be illustrated by
looking at row 230, for example, which shows the
probabilities for match 9 in the second round. In this
example, as illustrated in column 210, the winner of
match 1 may be considered to have an 80% chance of
winning this match regardless of which player wins
match 1. Match 1 may be played between Player 1 and
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Player 15. Although Player 1 has a 95% chance of
winning match 1, and may in all likelihood advance to
match 9, Player 15 does have a 5% chance of winning.
The probability of the winner of match 1 having an 80%
chance of winning match 9 may be estimated before the
tournament begins. This estimated probability may be
largely based on Player 1's 95% chance of playing in
match 9. If Player 15 wins match 1, it may reflect
that Player 15 is at the same skill level as Player 1
and has an 80% chance of winning match 9. However, it
may also be desirable to estimate different
probabilities for each match in the second round after
the first round matches are completed and the players
identities become known.
10042] In addition to calculating the probabilities
independently of players' identities based on
historical data from previous tournaments,
probabilities may also be estimated by other methods.
These other estimation methods may be used to
complement or replace the method of using historical
data to estimate the probabilities in columns 210 and
212. Probabilities may be estimated based on
attributes of the players. For example, probabilities
may be estimated based on the current form and skill
level of the players competing. In addition, other
factors that may be relevant in estimating
probabilities may be the following: the results of
previous meetings between players, a player's ability
on different types of surfaces, a player's record
playing as a current rank, a player's record playing
against a particular rank, a player's record with the
current weather, a player's record depending on the
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time of year, a player's record when playing in a
particular tournament, or any other relevant factor.
10043] FIG. 3 shows table 300 with the player's
tickets allocation for each round in the sample
tournament. Columns 318, 326, 330, and 332 provide the
number of player's tickets allocated in rounds 1, 2, 3,
and 4, respectively. Different types of player's
tickets may be available. "All-rounds" ticket type 302
may be a player's ticket for a particular player for
all rounds of the tournament. For example, row 304
illustrates an all-rounds player's ticket for Player 1.
Because one hundred player's tickets have been sold for
Player 1, one hundred tickets may be allocated in each
round for Player 1 in columns 318, 326, 330, and 332.
This idea may be similarly applicable for the other
rows in table 300 for ticket type 302 such as rows 320,
322, and 328. Another example is when a player is not
allocated any player's tickets, as occurs for Player 16
in row 334.
(0044] "Round-'x'-onwards" ticket type 306 may be a
player's ticket for a particular player for round "x"
onwards of the sample tournament, where x > 1. For
example, row 308 illustrates a round-"x"-onwards ticket
for Player 1 for round 3 onwards. Because fifty
player's tickets have been sold for Player 1 for round
3 onwards, and because the sample tournament has four
rounds, fifty tickets may be allocated for Player 1 for
rounds 3 and 4 in columns 330 and 332. In addition,
because in this example the player's ticket is for
round 3 onwards, there are no tickets allocated in this
example in rounds 1 and 2. This idea may be similarly
applicable for the other rows in table 300 for ticket
type 306, such as row 324.
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10045] Multiple-players' ticket type 310 may be a
players' ticket that references multiple players. A
ticket holder for this ticket type may attend any match
played in by any of the players referenced by the
players' ticket. If a players' ticket references
multiple players, and any two of the players the ticket
references play a match against each other, the ticket
holder may be entitled to only one seat for that match,
meaning that a multiple-players' ticket may entitle the
multiple-players' ticket holder to more than one seat.
For example, the multiple-players' ticket may entitle
the multiple-players' ticket holder to fewer seats than
the number of players referenced on the multiple-
players' ticket, seats equal to the number of players
referenced on the multiple-players' ticket, or more
seats than the number of players referenced on the
multiple-players' ticket (not shown). As an example,
row 312 illustrates a multiple-players' ticket for all
rounds for a ticket referencing Players 1 and 2.
Because sixty such players' tickets have been sold for
a ticket referencing Players 1 and 2, sixty tickets may
be allocated in each round for a ticket referencing
Players 1 and 2 in columns 318, 326, 330, and 332.
This idea may be similarly applicable for the other
rows in table 300 for ticket type 310, such as row 316.
In addition, the multiple-players' ticket type may be
combined with the round-"x"-onwards ticket type. Row
314 illustrates fifteen players' ticket referencing
Players 4, 5, and 8 allocated for round 2 onwards. As
a result, there may be no tickets allocated for a
players' ticket referencing Players 4, 5, and 8 in
round 1 in column 318. There may be, however, fifteen
tickets allocated for a players' ticket referencing
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Players 4, 5, and 8 in rounds 2, 3, and 4 in columns
326, 330, and 332, respectively.
10046] The multiple-players' ticket type may also
apply to matches where more than two players play in a
match. For example, in a doubles tournament more than
two players may play in a match. As another example,
in a sport such as track and field, more than two
athletes may compete in a single event. If a player's
ticket references two or more athletes competing in the
same event, the ticket holder may be entitled to only
one seat for that match.
[0047] Other types of player's tickets may be
allocated that are not shown in table 300. The
examples shown in table 300 are provided for
illustration of the invention only and player's tickets
types are not limited to those provided. For example,
player's tickets may not necessarily be for consecutive
rounds. It may be desirable to an individual (i.e., a
sports fan) to purchase a ticket for a player in
rounds 1 and 4. In addition, it may be desirable to a
sports fan to purchase a ticket for a player in a
particular round (e.g., Player 1 only in round 2). A
multiple-players' ticket may also be issued for a
particular round. For example, a multiple-players'
ticket for Players 4 and 8 in round 2 would provide
admission to a round 2 match being played by Player 4
and/or Player 8. Consistent with the description
above, with respect to multiple-players' tickets, if
Player 4 and Player 8 play each other in a round 2
match, then only one seat may be provided to the ticket
holder for this match. It may also be desirable to a
sports fan to purchase a ticket for a player up to a
particular round. For example, a player's ticket for
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Player 1 up to round 3 would entitle a player's ticket
holder admission for matches in rounds 1, 2, and 3 if
Player 1 is still in the tournament, but not for the
final round match, tickets for which may be sold
separately. In these scenarios, the player's ticket
holder may purchase a ticket to attend less than all of
the matches in which a player plays.
10048] Other types of tickets not shown in table 300
may include ticket options. Ticket options may include
player's ticket options (i.e., the option to buy
player's ticket(s)) and ordinary ticket options (i.e.,
the option to buy ordinary ticket(s)) and may be valid
for a particular set of matches. For simplicity,
player's ticket options will generally be referred to
herein for the discussion of ticket options, but the
principles for player's ticket options may apply
equally to ordinary ticket options where appropriate.
In some approaches, it may be beneficial to have a
separate table from table 300 that includes the
allocations of player's ticket options.
[0049] Options for purchasing player's tickets may
be available to sports fans. An option for a player's
ticket may not entitle a player's ticket option holder
admission to (or a seat for) any matches. Rather, once
purchased, a player's ticket option holder may receive
the option of purchasing player's tickets for a match
or matches on preferential terms as compared to the
general public. Various preferential arrangements may
be provided including an opportunity to purchase
tickets prior to the general public.
[0050] Player's ticket options may be available for
all the different types of player's tickets, including
those examples described herein. Moreover, additional
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variations may be available for player's ticket
options. For example, the player's ticket option
holder may choose to exercise a player's ticket option
or choose not to exercise the player's ticket option
for each of the matches for which the option may be
valid. In some embodiments, the decision of whether or
not the option has been exercised in previous rounds
may have no bearing on whether or not the option may be
exercised in later rounds. In other embodiments, if an
option is not exercised in a previous round, the option
holder may be prohibited from exercising the option in
a later round. In another embodiment, the option may
only be exercised a designated number of times during a
tournament.
(0051] Once a player's ticket option is exercised,
the player's ticket option may be reallocated and
considered (or converted to) a player's ticket. This
conversion may thus affect the allocation of seats for
player's ticket holders in subsequent matches. As an
example, ten sports fans may purchase an all-rounds
player's ticket option for Player 1. If five of those
sports fans exercise this all-rounds player's ticket
option in Round 1 (thus creating an all-round player's
ticket for Player 1), then this may increase the number
of tickets allocated in each round for Player 1 in
columns 318, 326, 330, and 332 of row 304 from one
hundred player's tickets to one hundred and five
player's tickets. In some embodiments, all-rounds
player's ticket option holders may be permitted to
exercise the ticket option more than once in a
tournament, thus potentially creating a different
allocation of tickets in each round. Additionally, new
types of player's tickets for the tournament may be
CA 02541714 2006-04-04
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created depending upon the rounds in which the ticket
options are exercised. For example, a new row would
not be created if two of the sports fans exercise their
option for round 3 onwards because row 308 includes
this scenario. In this example, the number of player's
tickets in columns 330 and 332 would be increased from
fifty to fifty-two. However, if three of the sports
fans exercise their option for round 2 onwards, then a
new row may need to be created with player's tickets
allocations of three in columns 326, 330, and 332.
10052] It will be appreciated that the descriptions
herein regarding simulations of player's tickets,
mitigations strategies for player's tickets,
allocations of seats for player's ticket holders, the
use of a player's ticket beyond sales for seats in a
stadium, and any other aspect of player's tickets
described herein may apply equally to player's ticket
options. Specific variations and enhancements of
player's ticket options are described herein where
appropriate.
[0053] The tournament director, or any other entity
that sells or provides tickets, may supply a player's
ticket or player's ticket option as part of a raffle or
any other type of contest. For example, in one
embodiment, sports fans may purchase raffle tickets
where the winner or winners of the raffle are entitled
to a player's ticket. The player's tickets) provided
to a winner of a raffle may be any type of player's
ticket (e. g., a multiple-players' ticket, an all-rounds
player's ticket, etc.) as chosen by the entity
organizing the raffle. In accordance with standard
raffle ticket pricing, the pricing of the raffle ticket
for the player's ticket may be substantially less than
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the price for the player's ticket itself. In other
embodiments, the player's ticket may be provided as an
award from a contest, such that the player's ticket
holder does not have to pay any price for the player's
ticket. For example, at a sports event, a sports fan
in attendance may be chosen at random based on his seat
location and be awarded a player's ticket.
10054] As described above, if a players' ticket
references two players that play against each other, it
may entitle the ticket holder to only one seat. In
this scenario, the tournament director may offer other
compensation as opposed to multiple seats. For
example, the tournament director may offer free or
discounted food and beverages, free or discounted
credit for novelty games, free or discounted vouchers
to outside vendors, passes to restricted areas, free
apparel, or any other free or discounted item or entry
access. The compensation may vary depending on
criteria set by the tournament director. For example,
all else being equal, a multiple-players' ticket
referencing two players playing each other in the final
round of a tournament may receive better compensation
than a multiple-players' ticket referencing two players
playing each other in an earlier round. In another
case, all else being equal, the player's ticket holder
for a multiple players' ticket that references only two
players, both of whom play each other in the final
round, may receive enhanced compensation.
10055] How many player's tickets may be allocated
and how the player's tickets may be priced will be
discussed in more detail below in connection with
FIG. 9.
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10056] As discussed above in connection with FIG. 2,
an established technique for determining a tournament
draw may provide a certain level of predictability in
determining which players will win each match in each
round. Using historical data, probabilities for which
player will win each match may be ascertained and
defined before a tournament begins. Computer
simulations of the tournament may then be run to
determine the various outcomes of each match in each
round. From this, the different number of tickets
necessary for each match at various levels of
confidence may be discovered. These results can guide
the tournament director in determining how many seats
to make available for each match for player's tickets
holders. Essentially, executing numerous computer
simulations of a tournament may be used to determine
the number of player's tickets required at various
levels of confidence for each match.
10057] Simulations of the entire tournament may be
run in accordance with the following description, in
connection with FIGS. 4 and 5, of a single simulation
example of the sample tournament. The simulation
example provided in FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrates how many
tickets may be required for each match and which player
may win each match. Which player may win each match
will determine which players will play in subsequent
rounds and thus how many tickets may be required in the
matches in those rounds.
10058] As a reminder, one of the types of player's
tickets available may be the multiple-players' ticket
type which references multiple players. Because a
multiple-players' ticket referencing two players
playing in the same match may entitle the multiple-
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players' ticket holder to only one seat, the following
technique for calculating the number of player's
tickets required for a match ensures that a multiple-
players' ticket is not counted twice. For a match
between Player A and Player B, the number of player's
tickets required for the match may be calculated by
adding together the number of tickets which reference
Player A but not Player B, the number of tickets which
reference Player B but not Player A and the number of
tickets which reference Player A and Player B.
[0059] Looking at FIG. 4, table 400 shows a
simulation for the first round of the sample
tournament. Match column 402, players column 404 and
probability column 406 may contain the same information
found for the first round matches in table 200 of
FIG. 2. The pseudo-normal distributions for match 2
and match 8 in FIG. 2 have been replaced with randomly
selected values from these distributions in probability
column 406 for illustrative purposes. Number of
player's tickets for each player column 408 contains
the number of player's tickets required for each player
for that particular match. Total player's tickets
column 410 may contain the total number of player's
tickets required for that particular match. Score
column 414 contains the score for each player which may
be used to determine the winner of the match. How the
score may be calculated will be discussed below.
Winner column 416 may contain the winner of the match
between the players found in column 404.
10060] Row 412 may be an example of a match row.
For each match row, player column 404 may contain two
player numbers. The player listed on top in the match
row of player column 404 may be Player A and the player
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listed on the bottom in the match row of player column
404 may be Player B. Number of player's tickets for
each player column 408 may be determined for Player A
by adding the number of tickets which reference Player
A but not Player B to half of the number of tickets
which reference Players A and B. Number of player's
tickets for each player column 408 may be determined
for Player B by adding the number of tickets which
reference Player B but not Player A to half of the
number of tickets which reference Players A and B.
Adding one half of the number of tickets which
reference Players A and B to each of Players A and B's
ticket total ensures that a multiple-players' ticket is
not counted twice.
[0061] Looking at row 412 the number of tickets
required for Player A, who in match 1 of round 1 is
Player 1, is 190. The number of tickets required for
Player B, who in match 1 of round 1 is Player 15, is
five. These numbers may be obtained by looking at
table 300 of FIG. 3. In table 300, the number of
tickets that reference Player A (Player 1), but not
Player B (Player 15) may be found in rows 304, 308,
312, and 316. Adding the numbers found in player's
ticket allocation for first round column 318 of rows
304, 308, 312, and 316 results in 190 player's tickets
(i.e., 100 + 0 + 60 + 30 - 190). The number of tickets
that reference Player 15, but not Player 1 is five and
may be found in row 320 of column 318. Note that in
this case, no player's ticket references both Player 1
and Player 15. Total player's tickets column 410 may
be the addition of the number of player's tickets
required for each player for that particular match.
Looking back to row 412, the addition of Player 1's
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player's tickets and Player 15's player's tickets' is
195, and is found in column 410.
[0062] In order to determine who is the winner of
each simulated match, each of Player A and Player B may
receive a score. The score for Player A may be
determined by multiplying the probability of Player A
winning the match by a random number greater than or
equal to zero and less than or equal to one. The score
for Player B may be determined in a similar manner. A
new random number should be generated for
multiplication by each of Player A's and Player B's
probabilities.
[0063] Once the players' scores are determined, the
scores may be compared. Whichever player's score is
higher may be declared the winner of the match. If the
players' scores are equal then a tie-breaking procedure
may be used. For example, in the case of a tie, it may
be decided by convention that Player A always wins,
Player B always wins, the winner is determined by who
has the higher seed, or by any other tie-breaking
determination. Looking back to row 412, winner column
416 shows that in match 1, Player 1 is the winner
because in score column 414 the score associated with
Player 1 (0.827) is greater than the score associated
with Player 15 (0.028). A similar winner determination
may be performed for each match in the first round.
The winners of each match in the first round may
advance to the second round.
[0064] In FIG. 5, tables 500, 512, and 518 show
simulations for the second round, third round, and
fourth round, respectively, of the sample tournament.
In table 500, match column 502 may show matches 9, 10,
11, and 12 which appear in match rows 520, 522, 524,
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and 526, respectively. To determine which players
compete in matches 9, 10, 11, and 12, attention is
drawn to FIG. 2. Table 200 of FIG. 2 shows that the
winner of match 1 plays the winner of match 2 in match
9, the winner of match 3 plays the winner of match 4 in
match 10, the winner of match 5 plays the winner of
match 6 in match 11, and the winner of match 7 plays
the winner of match 8 in match 12. The winners of each
of these matches may be found in winner column 416 of
table 400 in FIG. 4.
[0065] Similar to FIG. 4, in FIG. 5, the player
listed on top in the match row of players column 504
may be Player A and the player listed on the bottom in
the match row of players column 504 may be Player B.
In this sample simulation, row 520 indicates that in
the second round, Player 1 (winner of match 1) will be
Player A and will play Player 5 (winner of match 2) who
will be Player B. Row 522 indicates that Player 4
(winner of match 3) will be Player A and will play
Player 8 (winner of match 4) who will be Player B.
Row 524 indicates that Player 10 (winner of match 5)
will be Player A and will play Player 3 (winner of
match 6) who will be Player B. Row 526 indicates that
Player 7 (winner of match 7) will be Player A and will
play Player 2 (winner of match 8) who will be Player B.
[0066] Probability column 506 in table 500 may
contain the probabilities for the second round matches
from table 200 of FIG. 2. The pseudo-normal
distributions for match 12 in FIG. 2 have been replaced
with randomly selected values from these distributions
in probability column 506 for illustrative purposes.
Number of player s tickets for each player column 508
and total player s tickets column 510 may be similar to
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columns 408 and 410 of FIG. 4 and may be calculated in
a similar manner. Looking at row 522, for example, the
number of tickets required for Player A, who in match
l0 of round 2 is Player 4, may be 77.5. The number of
tickets required for Player B, who in match 10 of round
2 is Player 8, may be 67.5. These numbers for required
player's tickets may be derived by looking at table 300
of FIG. 3. In table 300, the number of tickets that
reference Player A (Player 4), but not Player B
(Player 8) may be found in rows 322 and 324. Adding
the numbers found in player's ticket allocation for
second round column 326 of rows 322 and 324 results in
seventy player's tickets (i.e., 70 + 0 = 70). The
number of tickets that reference Player 8, but not
Player 4, is sixty and may be found in row 328 of
column 326.
100671 Note that in this case, a multiple-players'
ticket type references players 4 and 8. In row 314,
fifteen multiple-players' tickets referencing
players 4, 5, and 8 may be allocated for round 2 in
column 326. Therefore, half of these multiple-players'
tickets may be allocated to Player 4 and half of these
multiple-players' tickets may be allocated to Player 8.
Splitting the tickets for each player illustrates the
embodiment in which a multiple-players' ticket
referencing two players playing each other in a match
entitles the players' ticket holder to only one
admission or seat. In a sense, this converts a
multiple-players' ticket to a player's ticket for the
purpose of calculating each player's total number of
tickets. In this case, because an odd number (i.e.,
fifteen) of multiple-players' tickets referencing two
players playing each other were sold, one half of a
CA 02541714 2006-04-04
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ticket is shown to be allocated for each player. In
actuality, one half of a ticket cannot be issued. This
half of a ticket is merely to show the allocation of
each player's total number of tickets for a match and
the two halves of a ticket are accounted for when
considering the total number of player's tickets for
the match. Thus, 7.5 tickets may be allocated to each
of Player 4 and Player 8. Therefore, the total number
of tickets allocated for Player 4 is 77.5 (i.e., 70 +
7.5 = 77.5) and the total number of tickets allocated
for Player 8 is 67.5 (i.e., 60 + 7.5 = 67.5).
10068] Total player's tickets column 510 may be the
addition of the number of player's tickets required for
each player for that particular match. As illustrated
in row 522 of column 510, the addition of Player 1's
player's tickets and Player 15's player's tickets
is 145 (i.e., 77.5 + 67.5 = 145), and is found in
column 510.
10069] Similar calculations regarding player's
tickets may then be computed for the remaining matches
in the second round. In addition, similar
determinations regarding the player's scores and which
player is the winner of each match in the second round
may then be made, as described in connection with the
scores and winners in FIG. 4. The winners of each
match in the second round may advance to the third
round. Tables 512 and 518 show simulations for the
third round and fourth round, respectively, of the
sample tournament. The simulations shown in tables 512
and 518 may be performed similarly to that of table
500.
[0070] The description associated with FIGS. 4 and 5
describe one simulation of an entire sample tournament.
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FIGS. 6 - 8 illustrate 3,000 iterations of simulations
of the entire sample tournament and the data associated
with those iterations. The tie-breaking procedure
adopted for these simulations where the players' scores
may have been equal was to declare Player A the winner
of those matches. Running 3,000 iterations simulating
the sample tournament has been done for illustration of
the invention only and is not meant to limit the
invention. The tournament may be run for any desired
number of iterations, but should preferably be run for
enough iterations for the results to be statistically
significant. All else being equal, a larger number of
iterations of the sample tournament will result in a
smaller margin of error in the output statistical
results. This margin of error may be expressed by
calculating a confidence interval (e.g., a 95%
confidence interval) for each output result using
standard statistical techniques (not shown). Besides
the number of iterations, this margin of error may also
be affected by the accuracy of the methods used to
simulate the tournament.
10071] Table 600 of FIG. 6 shows how many player's
tickets are required in the matches for the first
round. Regardless of the number of iterations of the
sample tournament run, these numbers are known because
the players in the first round matches are known.
[0072] Table 602 of FIG. 6 shows the different
options of seats that may be required for player's
ticket holders in second round matches. Unlike the
first round where the player pairings may be known
prior to the start of the tournament, the player
pairings may not be known in the later rounds until the
matches which determine these player pairings have been
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played. Therefore, in order to determine how many
tickets to allocate in matches where the players are
unknown, the possible player pairings must be
considered. As an example, looking back to FIG. 2, row
230 indicates that in match 9, Player A may be the
winner of match 1 and Player B may be the winner of
match 2. The winner of match 1 may either be Player 1
or Player 15 and the winner of match 2 may be either
Player 12 or Player 5. Therefore, match 9 may have
four possible pairings of players: (1) Player 15 vs.
Player 12; (2) Player 15 vs. Player 5; (3) Player 1 vs.
Player 12; and (4) Player 1 vs. Player 5. The number
of tickets required for each of the four different
pairings may be calculated in accordance with the
technique described above in connection with FIGS. 4
and 5.
[0073] An examination of row 604 of table 602 will
illustrate compiled simulation data for match 9 in the
second round. The below discussion and examples
associated with match 9 are provided merely for
illustration purposes. This description is not
provided to limit the invention, but rather expound
upon the manner in which player's tickets may be
allocated. In addition, the principles discussed in
connection with match 9 may be applied equally to the
other matches in the second round and the other rounds
in the tournament.
[0074] As indicated in row 604 of table 602, there
may be four different options of player's tickets
required for match 9. These four different options may
correspond to the four possible pairings. Although
four different options of player's tickets may be
required in the examples provided in row 604 of table
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602, there may be fewer than four different options for
a match (not shown). For example, if two of the
pairings require the same number of tickets then there
may only be three different options for the number of
player's tickets required. Sub-row 606 may correspond
with pairing #1 from above (i.e., Player 15 vs.
Player 12), sub-row 608 may correspond with pairing #2,
sub-row 610 may correspond with pairing #3, and sub-row
612 may correspond with pairing #4. Columns 614, 616,
and 618 show the details of the 3,000 iterations of the
sample tournament specific to the different matches in
column 620. Column 614 may show the four different
options of the number of seats required for player's
tickets holders for a particular match. Column 616 may
show the number of times each of the four possible
pairings occur in 3,000 iterations of the sample
tournament.
10075] For example, sub-row 606 indicates in column
614 that one option may be that 25 seats are required
for player's tickets holders in match 9 (i.e., twenty-
five seats are required for player's ticket holders
when Player 15 plays Player 12). For sub-row 606,
column 616 indicates that Player 15 played Player 12 in
11 of the 3,000 iterations of the sample tournament
run. Sub-row 608 indicates that 120 seats are required
for player's tickets in match 9 when Player 15 plays
Player 5. Column 616 indicates that 120 seats are
required 63 times in the 3,000 iterations of the sample
tournament run. Sub-row 610 indicates that 210 seats
are required in match 9 when Player 1 plays Player 12.
Column 616 indicates that 210 seats are required 490
times in the 3,000 iterations of the sample tournament
run. Sub-row 612 indicates that 305 seats are required
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in match 9 when Player 1 plays Player 5. Column 616
indicates that 305 seats are required 2,436 times in
the 3,000 iterations of the sample tournament run.
10076] Column 618 may show the percentage of times
that allocating "n" number seats will accommodate all
player's ticket holders for a particular match. The
percentages shown in column 618 may be considered
probability distributions of the number of seats
required to accommodate all player's ticket holders for
a particular match. In match 9 in the second round,
the value for "n" may be one of the four possible
ticket options listed in column 614 in sub-rows 606,
608, 610, or 612. For example, 25 tickets may be
allocated for match 9. Allocating player's tickets may
mean that "n" seats are set aside for player's ticket
holders for that match. The location of the "n" number
of seats is discussed in more detail below. In
addition, the use of the term "seats" is not meant to
limit the allocation to "seats." Certain venues may be
standing-room only, for example. Therefore, allocation
of seats may refer to any type of allocation of event
admissions or entry passes.
10077] Looking back at the example in row 606 of
column 616, only 11 times out of 3,000 iterations of
the sample tournament will 25 seats accommodate all
player's ticket holders. That is, only about 0.4% of
the time (i.e., 11 out of 3,000) will all player's
tickets for match 9 be accommodated through the
allocation of 25 seats for player's ticket holders.
This value is listed in sub-row 606 of column 618. All
player's tickets for match 9 may be accommodated when
Player 15 plays Player 12 (i.e., pairing #1 from above)
if 25 seats are allocated. If any of the other three
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possible pairings occur, all ticket holders of player's
tickets that are valid for match 9 may not be
accommodated. In fact, only 25 player's ticket holders
out of 120, 210 or 305 player's ticket holders will be
accommodated, depending upon which players are playing
in match 9.
10078] If, on the other hand, 120 seats are
allocated for player's ticket holders for match 9, then
this will accommodate all player's ticket holders 74
times out of 3,000 iterations of the sample tournament.
As indicated in column 616 of sub-row 608, Player 15
plays Player 5 (i.e., pairing #2) 63 times out 3,000
iterations. As noted above, when Player 15 plays
Player 5, 120 seats are necessary for match 9. In
addition, if 120 seats are allocated for player's
ticket holders for match 9, and Player 15 plays
Player 12 (i.e., pairing #1), all player's ticket
holders for this possibility will also be satisfied.
Since there are only 25 player's tickets that refer to
Player 15 and/or Player 12 for match 9, there may in
actuality be an excess of 95 seats. Therefore, from
column 616 both the 11 iterations and the 63 iterations
from sub-rows 606 and 608, respectively, may be used in
calculating the percentage for sub-row 608 of column
618. That is, this value should be about 2.5% (i.e.,
(11 + 63 - 74) out of 3,000).
10079] This same logic may apply for the remaining
seat requirement options in column 614. For example,
as illustrated in sub-row 610, if 210 seats are
allocated for player's ticket holders for match 9 of
the tournament, this may accommodate all player's
ticket holders about 18.8% of the time. That is
because 210 seats are required when Player 1 plays
CA 02541714 2006-04-04
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Player 12 (i.e., pairing #3). If 210 seats are
allocated and the players pairing is pairing #1 or
pairing #2, both of which require fewer than 210
tickets, then player s ticket holders with these
pairings may still be accommodated. Since Player 1
plays Player 12 490 times out of 3,000 iterations in
column 616 of sub-row 610, the value for column 618 of
sub-row 610 is 18.8% (i.e., (11 + 63 + 490 = 564) out
of 3,000).
10080] Finally, if player 1 plays player 5 (i.e.,
pairing #4) in match 9, then 305 player s tickets may
be required to accommodate all player s tickets that
reference player 1 and/or player 5 for match 9. In
this situation, if 305 seats are allocated, column 618
of sub-row 612 indicates that all player s ticket
holders may be accommodated 100% of the time.
Because 305 seats may be available for player s tickets
referencing match 9, if pairings #1, #2, or #3 occur,
all of which require fewer seats than the 305 seats
required in pairing #4, then all player s ticket
holders may be accommodated.
[0081] As seen in the last example, more seats may
be allocated than may be required resulting in excess
seats being available. In this scenario the unused
seats allocated for player s tickets may be made
available to the general public as ordinary tickets
(e. g., general admission, reserved tickets, unreserved
tickets, etc.). Alternatively, these seats may be made
available as part of a player s ticket option. These
mitigation techniques will be discussed in more detail
below.
10082] Table 700 of FIG. 7 shows the different
options of seats that may be required for player s
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ticket holders for the matches in the third round.
Columns 704, 706, and 708 may provide the same type of
information of 3,000 iterations of the sample
tournament for round 3 as columns 614, 616, and 618
provided for round 2. As shown, there may be more
options (i.e., sub-rows in table 700) for the number of
seats required for player's ticket holders in the third
round than in the second round. As the rounds progress
there may be more options because there are a greater
number of combinations of pairs of players that may be
playing in these later round matches.
[0083] Table 800 of FIG. 8 shows the different
options of seats that may be required for player's
ticket holders in match 15 in the fourth round. In the
sample tournament, the fourth round may be the last
round of the tournament and, therefore, may only
include one match (i.e., match 15). As can be seen in
sub-rows 802, 804, 806, and 808, looking at columns 810
and 812, respectively, allocating 310 seats may satisfy
all player's ticket holders about 54.8% of the time,
allocating 330 seats may satisfy all player's ticket
holders about 75.1% of the time, allocating 340 seats
may satisfy all player's ticket holders about 76.6% of
the time, and allocating 395 seats may satisfy all
player's ticket holders 100% of the time.
[0084] The decision of how many seats to allocate
for player's ticket holders may be made by computer
logic within the ticketing application or player's
ticketing application. As will be described in more
detail below, the ticketing application and player's
ticketing application may be located in legacy server
1210 and player's ticketing server 1214 (as illustrated
in FIGS. 12 and 13). These applications may request
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various inputs from the tournament director in order to
determine how many seats to allocate for a match. The
inputs may allow these ticketing applications to
determine which level of confidence with which to
allocate seats (i.e., choose the percentage of times
that all player's ticket holders will be accommodated
correlating to the tournament director's preferences
set forth by the inputs).
[00851 For the sake of simplicity, processes
performed by the ticketing application and the player's
ticketing application will be referred to as being
performed by the ticketing application, but can be
performed by either application as desired. Details
regarding these applications will be discussed below in
connection with FIG. 13. Many of the determinations
made by the ticketing application are dependent upon
the inputs of the tournament director. These inputs
may explicitly state various conditions under which the
ticketing application should allocate a certain number
of seats for player's ticket holders with certain
levels of risk of not accommodating all player's ticket
holders or certain levels of risk of having an excess
of seats for player's ticket holders. Alternatively,
these inputs may provide guidance to the ticketing
application as to the tournament director's willingness
to risk not accommodating all player's ticket holders
or having an excess of seats for player's ticket
holders. Based on these explicitly stated conditions
or guidance from the tournament director, the ticketing
application may determine how many seats to allocate
for player's ticket holders. Determining how many
seats may be allocated, and mitigation techniques for
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use when too many or too few seats are allocated, will
be discussed in further detail below.
L00861 In the example from FIG. 8, the ticketing
application may allocate 330 seats as opposed to 310
seats for player's ticket holders because this would
significantly increase the likelihood that all player's
ticket holders will be satisfied from about 54.8% of
the time to about 75.1% of the time. The ticketing
application may determine that this is beneficial
because only a small increase in seats allocated
produces a large increase in the likelihood of
accommodating all player's ticket holders. The
ticketing application may determine that increasing the
player's ticket holders allocation to 340 seats may not
be beneficial because it only increases the likelihood
that all player's ticket holders will be satisfied by
about an additional 1.5% of the time to about 76.6% of
the time. The ticketing application may determine that
this is not beneficial because it is a small increase
in seat allocation producing only a small increase in
the likelihood of accommodating all player's ticket
holders. The ticketing application may determine that
it is more beneficial to allocate those seats for
ordinary ticket sales. The ticketing application may
also determine that increasing the ticket allocation to
395 seats to ensure that 100% of all player's ticket
holders are accommodated may not be beneficial based on
inputs of the tournament director. The tournament
director may decide it may be worth risking not
accommodating all player's ticket holders and may
provide measures of accommodating ticket holders if
there are too many player's tickets for seats
allocated. However, for other reasons, the ticketing
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application may determine that it is necessary to
ensure that 100% of all player's ticket holders are
accommodated.
(0087] The allocation of seats for player's tickets
for each match in each round, as described above, may
be computed before the tournament commences. This seat
allocation may persist throughout the tournament.
Alternatively, as the tournament progresses and the
identities of the winners of various matches become
known, the probability distributions of the number of
seats required for player's ticket holders for each
match may be estimated with greater precision.
Similarly, as the tournament progresses and the
identities of the winners of various matches become
known, the probability distributions of the number of
seats required for player's ticket option holders for
each match may be estimated with greater precision.
Moreover, various player's ticket options may be
converted to player's tickets which thus affects the
probability distributions. The ticketing application
may account for this when determining seat allocations
as the tournament progresses.
10088] The estimations may become more precise
because, as the tournament progresses, certain players
will be eliminated and certain player's tickets options
may no longer be capable of being exercised. The
possible seat allocation options may then decrease
because with fewer players remaining in the tournament,
fewer possible pairings of players exist. Fewer
possible seat allocation options for a match remain
because the seat allocations for eliminated players may
not be considered in determining the percentage of
times that all player's ticket holders are
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accommodated. The probability distributions of
required seats may also be more precise if estimated as
the tournament progresses because the identities of the
players in the later rounds may be known. Having the
identities of the players may allow the probabilities
to be recalculated more precisely. Recalculations of
these probabilities may be based on any historical
data, as discussed above in connection with FIG. 2.
L00891 In addition, new data or information may
become available as the tournament progresses which may
affect the probability of a player winning. Some
examples may be an injury to a player, change in
weather conditions which may favor a particular player,
how a player matches up against an unexpected opponent,
or any other new data which may affect this
probability. Because these recalculations may affect
the probabilities of a player winning in the
simulations of the tournament, it may ultimately impact
the percentages of times all player's ticket holders
may be accommodated. As the tournament progresses,
this may impact how many seats the ticketing
application sets aside for player's ticket holders.
The refinement of these estimations may be performed
after each round completes, after each match completes,
or at any desired stage of a tournament.
(0090] The type, price, and quantity of player's
tickets the tournament director offers for sale may
depend upon information the ticketing application can
obtain based on an analysis of the marginal revenue
curve, marginal cost curve, and demand curve for each
type of player's ticket, as well as the profitability
of each type of player's ticket. Economic theory
suggests that the goal of the tournament director will
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be to maximize profits. The Equimarginal Principle in
Economics states that if a venture is possibly
profitable, the profits from pursuing that venture will
be maximized at the point where the venture's marginal
cost equals the venture's marginal benefit.
[0091] FIG. 9 shows graphs 900 of the demand curve
902, marginal cost curve 904, marginal revenue curve
906, total cost curve 908, and total revenue curve 910
for a given type of player's ticket. If it is
profitable to issue this type of player's ticket, then
the number of such tickets issued should desirably be Q*
912 because it is at quantity Q* 912 that marginal
revenue equals marginal cost (i.e., at point of
intersection 914 where marginal revenue curve 906
intersects marginal cost curve 904). If a single price
is to be charged for this type of player's ticket, then
the price at which these tickets should desirably be
issued is price P* 916 because P*916 is the price
corresponding to quantity Q* 912 on demand curve 902 for
this type of player's ticket. Because Total Profits =
Total Revenue - Total Cost, the maximum profits
possible from issuing this type of player's ticket at a
single price are the difference between TR* 918 and
TC*920, where TR* 918 and TC* 920 are, respectively, the
total revenue and total cost corresponding to the
issuance of Q* 912 player's tickets at price P* 916 as
illustrated in FIG. 9. In practice, various
simulations may be run or various formulas may be used
by the ticketing application to calculate best
estimates of demand curve 902, marginal cost curve 904,
marginal revenue curve 906, total cost curve 908, and
total revenue curve 910 depicted in FIG. 9.
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10092] This economic analysis may be performed by
the ticketing application for all types of player's
tickets and the results of this analysis should be used
to determine the quantity and price of each type of
player's ticket to be issued. The number of player's
tickets of various types to be issued may then be
established and listed as in FIG. 3. This analysis may
also be used to estimate the profit to be made from
issuing player's tickets. It may be that some types of
player's tickets are never profitable to issue. This
may occur, for example, due to the high fixed costs of
issuing some types of player's tickets. Regardless of
whether the marginal cost and marginal revenue for a
particular type of player's ticket are ever equal, due
to the high fixed costs of issuing this particular type
of player's ticket, it may never be profitable and this
particular type of player's ticket should not desirably
be issued. An example of this situation may occur for
the all-rounds player's ticket for Player 16 since no
such player's tickets referencing Player 16 are listed
in Fig. 3. Another example of high fixed costs
possibly being prohibitive in issuing player's tickets
may occur if a tournament director decides to offer new
types of player's tickets. In this situation, there
may be high fixed costs associated with upgrading the
ticketing application to enable providing new types of
player's tickets. The refinement of this economic
analysis for both profitable and unprofitable player's
tickets may be performed by the ticketing application
after each round completes, after each match completes,
or at any desired stage of a tournament.
10093] One consequence of the Equimarginal Principle
discussed above is that if a player's ticket remains
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profitable to issue, then desirably only changes in
marginal cost and/or marginal revenue would change the
quantity issued of a particular type of player's
ticket. Further, while it has been assumed thus far
that a given type of player's ticket is offered for
sale at a single price, there may be cases where
tournament directors may increase their profits by
practicing price discrimination. Price discrimination
occurs when different prices are charged for the same
item (e. g., by charging higher prices for player's
tickets sold on the day of the tournament, by charging
lower prices for a senior citizen or a student, by
providing volume discounts to customers who buy a large
number of tickets, etc.). If price discrimination is
practiced, then a given type of player's ticket might
effectively be sold at various prices rather than a
single price. If price discrimination is practiced,
then the number of player's tickets sold may exceed Q*.
[0094) An important component of the marginal costs
associated with a given type of player's ticket may be
the opportunity cost associated with forgone profits
from the ordinary tickets that each additional player's
ticket is expected to replace. Typically, each
tournament venue will have a limited capacity and, to
maximize profits, it may be desirable to have the
ordinary tickets and the player's tickets for a match
fill all available seats for that match. Accordingly,
each player's ticket issued will replace one ordinary
ticket in every match in which the player's ticket is
used. The greater the expected number of matches that
a player's ticket is used for, the greater the expected
number of ordinary tickets that will be replaced in
this manner. Therefore, the issuance of a player's
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ticket will cause the tournament director to forgo
earning the profits that would have been earned if one
or more ordinary tickets had been issued instead of
this player's ticket. These forgone earnings may be
part of the marginal cost of issuing each additional
player's ticket, and will thus affect the price P*and
quantity Q* .
[0095] Marginal revenue curve 906 may lie below
demand curve 902 as shown in FIG. 9 and may be
influenced by the same factors that influence demand
curve 902. Accordingly, any factor which increases
demand may increase marginal revenue and any factor
which decreases demand may decrease marginal revenue.
Some factors which may influence demand curve 902 and
marginal revenue curve 906 are discussed below.
[0096] An increase in the popularity of a player
may, all else being equal (e. g., the same ticket type
at the same price), increase the demand for player's
tickets for that player. The popularity of a player
may be related to the quality or talent of that player,
how well-known to sports fans that player may be, if a
player is hyped, if that player is new and up-and-
coming, or any other popularity criteria. For example,
if new information concerning a particular player's
romantic involvement with a prominent actor is made
public, this may lead to that player becoming more well
known. This may lead to an increase in the popularity
of that player which may in turn lead to an increase in
demand for player's tickets for that player. A
popularity index may be determined for each player to
aid in quantifying the demand for player's tickets for
each player.
CA 02541714 2006-04-04
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100971 The demand for a player's ticket may depend
upon the type of player's ticket. As described above,
two types of player's tickets may be the all-rounds
ticket type and round "x" onwards ticket type, where x
> 1. All else being equal, if the only difference
between two player's tickets is the number of rounds
they are valid for, then player's tickets valid for
more rounds may be in greater demand than player's
tickets valid for fewer rounds. For example, assuming
the player's tickets are priced the same, an all-rounds
(i.e., valid for rounds 1 - 4) player's ticket for
Player 1 may be in greater demand than a player's
ticket for Player 1 that is valid for rounds 3 and 4
only.
100981 Similarly, the demand for a player's ticket
may be influenced by the number of matches a player is
expected to play in. More specifically, if all else is
equal (e. g., same ticket type, which thus has the same
number of potential matches, at the same price, for
players of equal popularity), a player's ticket for a
player expected to play in more matches may be in
greater demand than a player's ticket for a player
expected to play in fewer matches. For example,
consider player's tickets sold for Player C and
Player D. In this example the player's ticket is sold
at the same price and is valid for all four rounds of
the sample tournament described above. In addition,
for this example assume Players C and D are equally
popular and the only significant variation between
these two player's tickets is that Player C is expected
to play in more matches than Player D in this
tournament. Based on historical data, Player C may be
expected to play in 3.5 matches and Player D may be
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expected to play in 2.3 matches. Because Player C is
expected to play in more matches than Player D, the
demand for the player's ticket for Player C may be
greater than the demand for the player's ticket for
Player D.
(0099] Taking this a step further, the expected
number of matches that two players may play in may be
equal or sufficiently close that it may seem equal to a
sports fan. However, looking at historical data, these
l0 two players may have arrived at this expected number of
matches differently. One player may, for example,
consistently win in the first two rounds of the
tournament, but only in rare instances advance past the
third round. Another player may be more sporadic in
performance. At times, the player may lose in the
first or second round, but at other times may reach the
third or fourth round. Despite their different winning
tendencies, their expected number of matches may be
equal. This difference in winning tendencies may be
quantified by the standard deviation of the number of
matches in which these two players may play. In the
above example, the standard deviation will be lower for
the more consistent player.
10100] As an example, consider that the expected
number of matches that Player C and Player D play in
may be equal (e. g., 2.5 matches) for the sample
tournament discussed above. The standard deviation of
the number of matches that are played in may be less
for Player C (e. g., standard deviation = 0.2) than
Player D (e.g., standard deviation = 1.5). Player C's
lower standard deviation may be like the consistent
player described above, whereas Player D's higher
standard deviation may be like the more sporadic player
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described above. All else being equal (e. g., same
ticket type, which thus has the same number of
potential matches, at the same price, for players of
equal popularity, for players expected to win the same
number of matches, etc.), the demand for player's
tickets for Player C may be greater than the demand for
player's tickets for Player D based on Player C's lower
standard deviation. In other words, all else being
equal, there may be greater demand for player's tickets
for the more consistent player.
10101] The expected number of matches may be
determined differently in some types of tournaments
where certain players may get a "bye" (i.e., automatic
advancement to the next round of the tournament). In
one embodiment, the expected number may be the expected
round that a player advances to rather than the number
of matches played in. This embodiment considers that a
sports fan may attach greater importance to seeing
later round matches. In another embodiment, the
expected number may include the round that is the bye
round, but may count that match as less than one match
when determining the expected number of matches.
[0102] If the only difference between two multiple-
players' tickets is that one of the tickets may
potentially provide access to more matches, then the
multiple-players' ticket potentially providing this
greater access may be-in greater demand. For example,
all else being equal (e.g., tickets are sold at the
same price, tickets reference the same number of
rounds, etc.), a multiple-players' ticket referencing
Players C, D and E may be in greater demand than a
multiple-players' ticket referencing Players C and D as
long as the multiple-players' ticket referencing
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Players C, D and E may potentially provide access to
additional matches.
10103] The above description of some of the economic
considerations involved in issuing player's tickets is
not meant to be an exhaustive discussion of such
considerations. Rather, it is provided for
illustration of the invention. Depending on the
situation, the ticketing application may analyze its
economic choices differently from the discussion above.
l0 This may result in, for example, different pricing
strategies from those discussed above. As another
example, in some cases, the ticketing application may
choose to impose a cap on the number of tickets that
can be sold for each type of player's ticket. The
imposition of such a cap may affect the economic
considerations associated with issuing player's tickets
and so may result in changes in the quantity of
player's tickets issued and prices of various player's
tickets.
L0104] Depending upon how many seats are allocated
for player's tickets holders for each match, there may
be a shortfall or an excess of seats required for
player's tickets holders for a particular match. The
number of seats allocated for each match may be
determined by the ticketing application based on the
probability distributions of accommodating all player's
ticket holders as described in connection with
FIGS. 6 - 8. Assume the number of seats for a match
allocated for player's ticket holders is "x" and the
number of seats required for player's ticket holders is
"y." If x = y, then there may be no shortfall or
excess and all player's ticket holders are
accommodated. If y < x, then there may be an excess in
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the number of seats for player's tickets and extra
seats available in the venue for that match. This
scenario may be mitigated by selling tickets for up to
x - y seats for that match.
10105] These excess tickets may be sold as soon as
it is known that there are excess seats available for
that match. The sale of unused seats (i.e., x - y
seats) may be made available as ordinary tickets or may
be "repackaged" as part of a new player's ticket or a
new ticket option convertible into player's tickets or
ordinary tickets. The new player's ticket option may
be available if the unused seat is in a match that is
not in the last round of a tournament. The number of
player's tickets to be issued may be decided through
the economic analysis discussed above.
10106] If x < y, then there may be a shortfall in
y - x number of seats for player's tickets in the venue
for that match. This scenario may be mitigated by
using unsold seats allocated for ordinary ticket
holders to seat player's ticket holders. Compensation
may also be provided to ordinary ticket holders or
player's ticket holders in exchange for the ordinary
ticket holders' or player's ticket holders' seats. In
addition, compensation may also be provided to player's
ticket option holders in exchange for the seats that
player's ticket option holders may be entitled to.
Compensation may be provided by buying back the
ordinary ticket holders' or player's ticket holders'
seats. In this scenario the tickets or options may be
bought back at their original selling price, the
tickets or options may be bought back at a higher
price, the tickets or options may be bought back at
their original selling price with other compensation,
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the tickets or options may be exchanged for vouchers to
purchase tickets for another tournament for a value
greater than the ticket price or option price, or any
other way of buying the tickets or options back may be
used. The other compensation provided with the refund
for the ordinary tickets may be the option to buy
better seats for another match or any other credit the
tournament director may offer.
10107] Another mitigation option available may be to
provide player's tickets which guarantee a seat for all
matches they are potentially valid for, player's
tickets which guarantee a seat for some but not all of
the matches they are potentially valid for, and
player's tickets which do not guarantee a seat for any
match they are potentially valid for. Similar
mitigation options involving variations of guaranteeing
seats may also be available for player's ticket
options. The principles that follow for player's
tickets may apply equally for player's ticket options.
The player's tickets for each of these options may be
priced accordingly. All else being equal (e. g.,
including the players referenced by the player's
tickets and the number of matches the player's tickets
are potentially valid for), player's tickets which
guarantee a seat for more matches may be priced higher
than player's tickets which guarantee a seat for fewer
matches. If desired, player's ticket holders with non-
guaranteed seats that are unable to view a match may be
compensated through cash payments, credit for tickets
for another match, credit for merchandise, or any other
compensation technique. Compensation for player's
ticket option holders that do not guarantee a seat may
occur in, for example, at least two different
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scenarios. In a first scenario, the player's ticket
option holder may be unable to view a match despite
exercising the option. In a second scenario, if
insufficient seats are available for a match, the
player's ticket option holder may not be allowed to
exercise the option.
(0108] With the mitigation options based on
different variations of guaranteeing seats, it may be
beneficial to provide for three different allotments,
or classes, of seats for player's tickets in accordance
with the seat allocation results set forth in FIGS. 6 -
8. Similarly, it may be beneficial to provide for
three different allotments, or classes, of seats for
player's ticket options in accordance with the seat
allocation results set forth in FIGS. 6-8. The
principles that follow for player's tickets may apply
equally for player's ticket options. In this scenario,
it may be beneficial to run separate computer
simulations of a tournament for each allotment. For
. the cases when a player's ticket may guarantee a seat,
seats may be allocated in which 100% of the time all
player's ticket holders may be accommodated. If there
is then an excess in the number of seats, the
mitigation strategies described above may be employed.
In the cases when a player's ticket may not guarantee a
seat, the ticketing application may determine, in
accordance with the principles described herein above,
to allocate seats in which less than 100% of the time
all player's ticket holders may be accommodated.
101091 Other class-based ticket allotments may also
be established in accordance with the principles of the
present invention. Classes of seats may be established
based on the quality of the seats. The quality of the
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seats may be based on location (e. g., courtside seats
may be considered better than seats in the tier level),
services provided at the seats (e.g., luxury box
seats), or any other seat quality determination. All
else being equal, the price for seats that may be
considered higher quality may be higher than for seats
that may be considered lower quality. Similar to the
guaranteed-seat, partially-guaranteed seat, and non-
guaranteed seat player's ticket class allotments, it
may be beneficial to run separate computer simulations
of the tournament for each of the classes of tickets
and ticket options. It may be desirable to have other
classes of tickets not discussed herein. The principle
of running separate simulations for each class of
tickets may apply equally to those classifications of
tickets.
10110] In addition, different classes of tickets may
be combined to form hybrid classes of tickets. For
example, it may be desirable to have a class of tickets
that are guaranteed and courtside. Because these
tickets may be more desirable than seats that are non-
guaranteed and in the tier level, the guaranteed,
courtside tickets may be priced higher.
10111] Another factor to consider in allocating
seats for player's ticket holders may be events
external to the tournament. Events external to the
tournament may be that a match may occur at the same
time as a concert, other sporting event, or other large
event, the weather forecast may be negative, there may
be construction on the roads near the match, or any
other external event that may limit or enhance why
player's ticket holders may attend a match. In the
situation where the external event may limit why
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player's ticket holders may attend a match, the
ticketing application may "dampen" the probability
distributions calculated for a particular match.
10112] FIG. 10 shows the dampening effect on match
12 in the second round as an illustration of how to
dampen the seat allocations for the probability
distributions. Columns 1004 and 1006 provide the same
information found in columns 616 and 618 of table 602
in FIG. 6 for match 12. The information provided ~n
column 1002, differs in that the number of tickets
allocated in column 1002 may be 25% less than the
number of tickets allocated in column 614. Column 614
may represent the number of tickets allocated for
match 12 without the dampening effect. In this
example, the number of tickets allocated for each
possibility may be dampened, or reduced, based on bad
weather. The dampening percentage chosen may reflect
the dampening effect based on historical data as to
what is the typical reduction in attendance at the
tournament based on similar external events. Dampening
may also be done for certain matches in the absence of
a common external event that affects a large number of
player's ticket holders. This may occur if, for
example, it is expected that a certain percentage of
player's ticket holders will not attend a match even
though they have a player's ticket referencing that
match.
10113] The ticketing application may utilize the
dampening technique in order to determine the
allocation of seats based on the potential exercise of
player's ticket options. A separate class of seats may
be allocated for each match for player's ticket option
holders. (In some embodiments, a separate class of
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seats may also be allocated for each match of ordinary
ticket option holders.) The dampening percentage
chosen for player's ticket options may be based on how
many of the player's ticket option holders may choose
to exercise their option. In some embodiments,
historical data may be used in order to determine the
dampening percentage. As an example, if generally 75%
of all player's ticket option holders exercise the
option, then the dampening effect may be 25% less than
the number of seats that would typically be allocated
for that player's ticket option if it were a player's
ticket. Therefore, if one hundred seats would normally
be allocated for a player's ticket for Player 1 in
round 1, than 75 seats may be allocated for a player's
ticket option for Player 1 in round 1.
10114] The benefits of predicting which players may
be playing in particular matches may be applied beyond
sales for seats in a stadium and sales for options to
buy seats in a stadium. For example, the "player's
ticket" and the "player's ticket option" may apply
equally to units of airtime for television advertisers,
radio advertisers, satellite radio advertisers, or any
other type of advertisement medium. A company, which
may endorse a particular athlete or player, may want to
buy airtime for commercials when that athlete is
playing in a match. This may provide a company with
the opportunity to buy airtime to advertise the
company's product endorsed by the athlete only when
that athlete is playing in a match that is broadcast on
television, over-the-air radio, satellite radio, or any
other medium.
I0115~ Another application of "player's ticket" and
"player's ticket options" may be to link the number of
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nights guests) may stay in hotel rooms) (or other
lodging accommodations) to whether one or more players
(potentially referenced on a player's ticket or
player's ticket option) still have remaining matches to
play in a sports tournament. In another application,
entities which provide travel tickets (such as
airlines, railways, car rental firms, bus services,
travel agents, ticket consolidators, etc.) may provide
travel tickets or travel arrangements linked to the
success of one or more players (potentially referenced
on a player's ticket or player's ticket option) in a
sports tournament. For example, the number of days for
which a sports fan may rent a car from a car rental
firm may be linked to the number of days that the one
or more players (potentially referenced on a player's
ticket or player's ticket option) may play in a
tournament. In this example, the number of days in the
car rental period may be linked to the number of days
that the potential player's ticket or player's ticket
option may be valid for in the relevant sports
tournament. In another example, a round-trip airline,
rail or bus ticket from the sports fan's home city to
the city of the sports tournament may be linked to the
first day (or a day near the first day) and the last
day (or a day near the last day) that one or more
players (potentially referenced on a player's ticket or
player's ticket option) play in a sports tournament.
It follows, as an extreme example, that if the number
of days in the period for which the sports fan has
purchased travel services linked to a potential
player's ticket or player's ticket option is zero --
because the player has been eliminated from or not
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qualified for the tournament -- then the sports fan may
not receive any car rental days or travel tickets.
10116] Although the invention has been described as
it applies to tennis, this invention may be applied to
any desirable sport and any desirable tournament
playoff or scheduled matches or game. For example, in
a sport such as baseball, a sports fan may purchase a
team's ticket (i.e., what corresponds to a player's
ticket for a team) for the playoff games. The team's
ticket may be purchased before the season begins or
during the season. For the playoffs, it may be unknown
if a team may be involved in the playoffs and, if so,
when and where the team may play their games in each
round. The price of tickets may fluctuate based on the
different times in the season tickets are purchased and
for what round of the playoffs tickets are purchased.
The validity of player's tickets (or player's ticket
options) may also be made dependent on various
combinations of players, matches, venues, time or time
ranges as desired.
[01171 One embodiment of a player's ticketing
process that may be used in accordance with the
principles of the present invention is illustrated in
process 1100 of FIG. 11. In practice, one or more
steps shown may be combined with other steps, performed
in any suitable order, performed in parallel -- e.g.,
simultaneously or substantially simultaneously -- or
deleted. In addition, the principles of process 1100
may apply equally to player's ticket options. At step
1102, the player ranking and tournament draw may be
acquired. The ranking and draw of the tournament may
be performed in accordance with the techniques
described in connection with FIG. 1. At step 1104, the
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probabilities of each player winning in each round may
be acquired or determined. The probabilities may be
determined in accordance with historical data as
described in connection with FIG. 2. In addition, the
probabilities may be recalculated as the tournament
progresses as discussed in connection with FIGS. 2 and
8. Ticket allocations for each player's ticket sold in
each round may be determined at step 1106. Player's
ticket allocations in each round may be determined in
accordance with the techniques described in connection
with FIGS. 3 and 9.
101181 At step 1108, multiple simulations of the
tournament may be run in accordance with the simulation
described in connection with FIGS. 4 and 5. After
multiple simulations have been run, the simulation data
may be compiled at step 1110. The simulation data may
be compiled in accordance with the techniques described
in connection with FIGS. 6 - 8. Once the simulation
data is compiled, the probability distributions for
accommodating all player's ticket holders may be
determined at step 1112. Seats may then be allocated
for player's ticket holders in accordance with the
techniques described in connection with FIGS. 6 - 8 and
10. Finally, mitigation options may be utilized, in
accordance with the description provided above, if
there is a shortfall or excess of seats, at step 1116.
[0119] One or more of steps 1108 - 1114 may be
deleted and replaced with one or more steps of another
technique to determine how seats may be allocated for
player's ticket holders. Other techniques may be used
other than running simulations to determine the
probability with which each number of seats option may
be required for each match in the tournament. For
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example, rather than running simulations, various
formulas may be used to determine these values. The
seat allocations for player's ticket holders may also
be determined by various formulas.
101201 A further embodiment of this invention may
involve performing steps 1106 - 1114 in parallel --
e.g., simultaneously or substantially simultaneously --
in order to maximize expected profit for the entire
tournament. This parallel performance of steps 1106 -
1114 may be done, for example, iteratively through a
feedback loop. In this way, the results of step 1114
feedback to step 1106 and the entire procedure up to
step 1114 is repeated until expected profit for the
entire tournament is maximized. A system of equations
solved in parallel may also be used to effectively
perform steps 1106 - 1114. The impact of various
mitigation options to be utilized in step 1116 may also
be taken into account while attempting to maximize
expected profit for the entire tournament in this
embodiment. This may lead to those mitigation options,
that are consistent with maximizing expected profit for
the entire tournament, being utilized in step 1116.
10121] A ticketing application may be provided to
provide sports fans with player's tickets. It will be
understood that the ticketing application may be any
suitable, software, hardware, or both configured to
implement the features of the present invention. The
ticketing application may be located at a central
location (e. g., a central server). In another suitable
approach, the ticketing application may reside among
different locations (e. g., a network).
10122] In one particular embodiment, the ticketing
application may include client-side software, hardware,
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or both. For example, the ticketing application may
encompass one or more Web-pages or Web-page portions
(e. g., via any suitable encoding, such as XML,
ColdFusion, etc.).
(0123] Although the client-side ticketing
application is described herein as being implemented on
a workstation, this is only illustrative. The
ticketing application may be implemented on any
suitable platform (e. g., personal computer, palmtop
computer, laptop computer, personal digital assistant,
cellular phone, ticketing kiosk, etc.) to provide such
features.
10124] Referring to FIG. 12, an exemplary system
1200 for implementing the present invention is shown.
As illustrated, system 1200 may include one or more
ticketing workstations 1202. Workstations 1202 may be
local or remote, and are connected by one or more
communications links 1204 to a network 1206 that is
linked via communications link 1208 to legacy server
1210 and communications link 1212 to player's ticketing
server 1214. Servers 1210 and 1214 are connected by
communications link 1216 to each other.
[0125] In system 1200, servers 1210 and 1214 may be
any suitable server, processor, computer, or data
processing device, or combination of the same.
Computer network 1206 may be any suitable computer
network including the Internet, an intranet, a wide-
area network (WAN), a local-area network (LAN), a
wireless network, a digital subscriber line (DSL)
network, a frame relay network, an asynchronous
transfer mode (ATM) network, a virtual private network
(VPN), or any combination of any of the same.
Communications links 1204, 1208, 1212, and 1216 may be
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any communications link suitable for communicating data
between workstations 1202, legacy server 1210, and
player's ticketing server 1214, such as network links,
dial-up links, wireless links, hard-wired links, etc.
Workstations 1202 enable a sports fan to purchase
tickets. Workstations 1202 may be personal computers,
laptop computers, mainframe computers, dumb terminals,
data displays, Internet browsers, personal digital
assistants (PDAs), two-way pagers, wireless terminals,
portable telephones, ticketing kiosks, wireless phones,
etc., or any combination of the same.
10126] The servers and one of the workstations
depicted in FIG. 12 are illustrated in more detail in
FIG. 13. Referring to FIG. 13, workstation 1202 may
include processor 1302, display 1304, input device
1306, printer 1307, and memory 1308, which may be
interconnected. In a preferred embodiment, memory 1308
contains storage device 1309 for storing a workstation
program for controlling processor 1302. Memory 1308
also preferably contains ticketing application 1310
according to the invention.
[0127] Processor 1302 uses the workstation program
to present on display 1304 the ticketing application
relating to ticketing received through the
communications link 1204. Furthermore, input device
1306 may be used to manually enter commands and numbers
in order for these commands and numbers to be
communicated to the ticketing application.
Printer 1307 may be any hardware that prints
information provided from workstation 1202 onto paper.
Printer 1307 may be used to print tickets (i.e.,
player's tickets, ordinary tickets, or any other type
of ticket) for the sports fan (i.e., ticket holder).
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10128] Legacy server 1210 may include
processor 1320, display 1322, input device 1324, and
memory 1326, which may be interconnected. In a
preferred embodiment, memory 1326 contains storage
device 1328 for storing information relating to
ticketing received through communications link 1208 or
through other links. Storage device 1328 further
contains a server program for controlling processor
1320. Memory also preferably contains ticketing
application 1330 according to the invention.
Processor 1320 uses the server program and ticketing
application 1330 to transact the sale and issuance of
tickets and to perform the above-mentioned systems and
methods.
10129] Player's ticketing server 1214 may include
processor 1332, display 1334, input device 1336,
memory 1338, historical-data database 1340, and
admissions accommodation database 1342, which may be
interconnected. Historical-data database 1340 may
contain data gathered from previous tournaments and
matches. As described above, this historical data may
provide statistical data to aid in determining the
possible winners of a tournament. The historical data
may be gathered from any desirable source, such as, but
not limited to, the Internet, an internally populated
database, an externally populated database, and/or any
other desirable source. In a preferred embodiment,
memory 1338 contains storage device 1344 for storing a
server program for controlling processor 1332.
Memory 1338 also preferably contains player's ticketing
application 1346 according to the invention. Processor
1332 may use the server program and player's ticketing
application 1346 to determine the possible winners of
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the tournament by computer simulations or using various
formulas as described above. Processor 1332 may also
use the server program and player's ticketing
application 1346 to determine the type and number of
various player's tickets to be issued and the number of
seats that may be allocated for each match to
accommodate all player's ticket holders. The results
of these determinations may be loaded into admissions
accommodation database 1342. If computer simulations
are used to make some or all of these determinations,
then the results of the computer simulations may also
be loaded into admissions accommodation database 1342
to facilitate ad-hoc querying of the simulation results
as deemed necessary.
[0130] In the preferred embodiment, as illustrated
in FIGS. 12 and 13, legacy server 1210 and player's
ticketing server 1214 are provided as separate servers.
Legacy server 1210 may provide the ticketing
application without the player's ticketing
capabilities, but may be customizable to include the
player's ticketing capabilities. In one approach,
legacy server 1210 may be designed such that it is
scalable and can easily be customized to include
additional applications, such as the player's ticketing
application. In another approach, legacy server 1210
may be designed such that it may require major
modifications to include the player's ticketing
application. Legacy server 1210 may be customized to
include the player's ticketing application by
connecting it to player's ticketing server 1214 (which
has player's ticketing application 1346) through
communications link 1216. Legacy server 1210 may also
be customized to include the player's ticketing
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application by incorporating the required features of
player s ticketing server I2I4 into legacy server 1210.
In addition, player s ticketing server 1214 may be
designed as a stand-alone ticketing system in that it
includes all the required ticketing features of legacy
server 1210.
10131] FIG. 14 presents a cross-section of a
magnetic data storage medium 1400 which can be encoded
with a machine executable program that can be carried
out by equipment such as workstation 1202, legacy
server 1210, and/or player s ticketing server 1214 of
FIGS. 12 and 13 to implement methods discussed in
connection with FIGS. 1-13. Medium 1400 may be a
storage device of workstation 1202, legacy server 1210,
and/or player s ticketing server 1214 of FIGS. 12 and
13. Medium 1400 can be a floppy diskette or hard disk,
having a suitable substrate 1401, which may be
conventional, and a suitable coating 1402, which may be
conventional, on one or both sides, containing magnetic
domains (not visible) whose polarity or orientation can
be altered magnetically. Medium 1400 may also have an
opening (not shown) for receiving the spindle of a disk
drive or other data device used to access the data
stored on medium 1400.
10132] The magnetic domains of coating 1402 of
medium 1400 are polarized or oriented so as to encode,
in manner which may be conventional, a machine-
executable program such as those described above in
connection with FIGS. 1-13, for execution by equipment
such as workstation 1202, legacy server 1210, and/or
player s ticketing server 1214 of FIGS. 12 and 13.
(0133] FIG. 15 shows a cross-section of an
optically-readable data storage medium 1500 which also
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can be encoded with such a machine-executable program,
which can be carried out by equipment such as
workstation 1202, legacy server 1210, and/or player s
ticketing server 1214 of FIGS. 12 and 13. Medium 1500
can be a conventional compact disk read only memory
(CD-ROM) or digital video disk read only memory (DVD-
ROM) or a rewritable medium such as a CD-R or CD-RW,
DVD-R, DVD-RW or DVD-RAM or a magneto-optical disk
which is optically readable and magneto-optically
rewritable. Medium 1500 preferably has a suitable
substrate 1501, which may be conventional, and a
suitable coating 1502, which may be conventional,
usually on one or both sides of substrate 1501.
[0134] In the case of a CD-based or DVD-based
medium, as is well-known, coating 1502 is reflective
and is impressed with a plurality of pits 1503,
arranged on one or more layers, to encode the machine-
executable program. The arrangement of pits is read by
reflecting laser light off the surface of coating 1502.
A protective coating 1504, which preferably is
substantially transparent, is provided on top of
coating 1502.
[0135] In the case of a magneto-optical disk, as is
well-known, coating 1502 has no pits 1503, but has a
plurality of magnetic domains whose polarity or
orientation can be changed magnetically when heated
above a certain temperature, as by a laser (not shown).
The orientation of the domains can be read by measuring
the polarization of laser light reflected from coating
1502. The arrangement of the domains encodes the
program as described above.
[0136] Thus, systems and methods for providing a
player s ticket based on the probabilities of players
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winning their matches and the number and type of
player s tickets sold for each player for each match
have been described. Persons skilled in the art will
appreciate that the present invention can be practiced
by other than the described embodiments, which are
presented for purposes of illustration and not of
limitation, and that the present invention is limited
only by the claims which follow.
