Systems and methods for contingency-based options and futures for game tickets based upon game participant standings
View Patent ↗Methods and systems of establishing a network-based system for purchase and sale of at least one of an option contract and a futures contract to acquire an item or to attend an event, wherein the contract is exercisable upon the occurrence of a contingency. The contingency may relate to the presence of a particular team in a game and the location of the game. In some instances, the contingency may relate to the position of a participant in the event in the standings at a time proximate to the occurrence of the event.
1. A method of electronic commerce, comprising:
identifying, from a database, a participant who could participate in a game;
providing, in a register, a plurality of tickets for said game;
establishing a network-based on-line system for sale of futures contracts to acquire said tickets for the game, wherein each futures contract is exercisable upon occurrence of a contingency, wherein the contingency relates to the position of said participant in the game in a standings at a time proximate to the occurrence of the game, wherein said participant could attain a position in the standings yet which position is unknown at the sale of said futures contract;
offering, via a buyer device, said futures contracts for sale for each of said tickets for said participant that could, at the time of the offer for sale, attain a position in the standings; and
triggering, in an order processing module of the network-based on-line system, the exercisability of said futures contracts associated with said participant when a position in the standings has been attained.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the game is a participant-game.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the participant-game is a team-round-game.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of said futures contracts is tradable, via the network-based on-line system, prior to said participant attaining a position in the standings.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of said futures contracts is tradable for another of said futures contracts.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of said futures contracts is tradable for a payment.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of said futures contracts further comprises an option for a travel accommodation associated with the game.
8. A computer program product embodied in a computer readable medium that, when executing on one or more computing devices, performs the steps of:
identifying a participant who could participate in a game;
providing a plurality of tickets for said game;
establishing a network-based on-line system for the sale of futures contracts to acquire said tickets for the game, wherein each futures contract is exercisable upon occurrence of a contingency, wherein the contingency relates to the position of said participant in the game in a standings at a time proximate to the occurrence of the game, wherein said participant could attain a position in the standings yet which position is unknown at the sale of said futures contract;
offering said futures contracts for sale for each of said tickets for said participant that could, at the time of the offer for sale, attain a position in the standings; and
triggering the exercisability of said futures contracts associated with said participant when a position in the standings has been attained.
9. The computer program product of claim 8 , wherein the game is a participant-game.
10. The computer program product of claim 9 , wherein the participant-game is a team-round-game.
11. The computer program product of claim 8 , wherein at least one of said futures contracts is tradable prior to said participant attaining a position in the standings.
12. The computer program product of claim 8 , wherein at least one of said futures contracts is tradable for another of said futures contracts.
13. The computer program product of claim 8 , wherein at least one of said futures contracts is tradable for a payment.
14. The computer program product of claim 8 , wherein at least one of said futures contracts further comprises an option for a travel accommodation associated with the game.
15. A system for allowing a user to bid on an option to purchase a ticket to a game for which a plurality of participants could qualify to participate but have not qualified for said playoff game, comprising:
a database having stored therein an option record having a participant field representative of one of said plurality of participants being a candidate for participation in the game, an event field representative of the game, and a value field representative of a value of a minimum winning bid to purchase an option, the option being an option to purchase a ticket for the game on occurrence of a specified participant attaining a position in a standings at a time proximate to the occurrence of the game;
a server, in connection with said database, processing a bid representative of a request to purchase the option, and processing said bid and said option record to allocate an option contract to a winning bid; and
an order processing module to exercise said option associated with a selected participant in response to said selected participant attaining a position in a standings.
16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the game is a participant-game.
17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the participant-game is a team-round-game.
18. The system of claim 15 , wherein the option is tradable prior to said participant attaining a place in the standings.
19. The system of claim 15 , wherein the option is tradable for a different option.
20. The system of claim 15 , wherein the option further comprises an option to purchase a travel accommodation associated with the game.