System and method for a lottery and auction based tournament entry exchange platform

Abstract

A method of distributing, managing, and exchange entries in one or more activities is provided. The entries may be distributed by any suitable process including, without limitation an auction or lottery process. The distributed entries may be exchanged in a market environment. The exchange may operate on an electronic platform. Revenues may be collected from distributions and/or exchanges of entries. A portion of the revenues may be paid to one or more users who hold an one or more particular winning entries determined by any number of parameters and at the occurrence of any number of events.

1 . A method for conducting an exchange, comprising:
 distributing a first set of entries in at least one activity;   conducting after market trading of at least one of the entries between at least one buyer and at least one seller.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of conducting after market trading comprises:
 receiving, from a first user, at least one buy request associated with at least one entry of the first set of entries;   receiving, from a second user, at least one sell request associated with the at least one entry of the first set of entries;   matching the at least one buy request with the at least one sell request; and   transferring the at least one entry of the first set of entries from the second user to the first user.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of conducting after market trading comprises:
 receiving, from a first user, a buy order associated with at least one entry of the first set of entries;   receiving, from a second user, a short sale order associated with the at least one entry of the first set of entries;   
       matching the buy order with the at least one short sale order to create a short sale;
 settling, at a predetermined time, the short sale. 
 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein distributing comprises one of: conducting a lottery for the first set of entries, and conducting an auction for the first set of entries. 
     
     
         5 . (canceled) 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising distributing a second set of entries for the first activity and conducting after market trading of the second set of entries. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the after market trading of the first set of entries is one of: discrete from the after market trading of the second set of entries, and commingled with the after market trading of the second set of entries. 
     
     
         8 . (canceled) 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising distributing a second set of entries for a second activity. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the first activity is one of: the same type of activity as the second activity, and a different type of activity from the second activity. 
     
     
         11 . (canceled) 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the after market trading of the first set of entries is one of: discrete from the after market trading of the second set of entries, and commingled with the after market trading of the second set of entries. 
     
     
         13 . (canceled) 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the after market trading of the first set of entries comprises conducting an auction of at least one entry of the first set of entries. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein conducting the auction comprises receiving from a first user a request to auction at least one entry held by the first user, and receiving from a second user a first bid request for the at least one entry. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising receiving from a third user a second bid request higher than the first bid request and transferring the at least one entry to the third user. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the activity is at least one of: a sports activity, an entertainment activity, a competition, a financial market activity, a tournament, a single game, a basketball tournament, and a political election. 
     
     
         18 . (canceled) 
     
     
         19 . (canceled) 
     
     
         20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . (canceled) 
     
     
         22 . (canceled) 
     
     
         23 . (canceled) 
     
     
         24 . (canceled) 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising accepting payment for the entry from the first user. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising accepting confirmation of payment for the entry by the first user. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising distributing all or a portion of the entries in a single bundle to one or more users. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the single bundle is one of: distributed prior to conducting the after market trading of the first set of entries, and distributed after commencement of the after market trading of the first set of entries. 
     
     
         29 . (canceled) 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein conducting the after market trading comprises receiving a short sell order from a first user and a buy order from a second user. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the after market trading comprises one of: conducting at least one transfer of at least one entry, conducting at least one sale of at least one entry, conducting at least one short sale, and at least one auction. 
     
     
         32 . (canceled) 
     
     
         33 . (canceled) 
     
     
         34 . (canceled) 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the auction comprises an auction in which a payout of a certain minimum amount at a certain time is guaranteed to be made to the holder of a winning entry. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining at least one winning entry at least one predetermined time and paying a payout to the holder of the at least one winning entry. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein the payout is one of: money, and a non-cash prize. 
     
     
         38 . (canceled) 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein the payout comprises at least a portion of fees paid for the first set of entries during the distributing step. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein the payout is based on an amount of revenues generated by the distributing step. 
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving a commission or fee for the transfer of at least one entry. 
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the after market trading begins as soon as at least one entry is distributed, after all of the entries are distributed, or after a predetermined number of entries are distributed. 
     
     
         43 . (canceled) 
     
     
         44 . (canceled) 
     
     
         45 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the after market trading is closed at a predetermined time, before the start of the activity, or at the end of the activity. 
     
     
         46 . (canceled) 
     
     
         47 . (canceled) 
     
     
         48 . An exchange system for conducting the exchange of an interest in at least one entry in an activity, the system comprising:
 a processor operable to transfer the interest from a first user to a second user.   
     
     
         49 . The exchange system of  claim 48 , wherein the interest is the at least one entry, and wherein the processor is further operable to receive a buy request from the second user and a sell request from the first user, and is operable to match the buy request and the sell request, and operable to transfer the entry from the first user to the second user. 
     
     
         50 . The exchange system of  claim 48 , wherein the interest is a short position in the at least one entry, and wherein the processor is further operable to receive a short sale order from the second user and a buy order from the first user, and is operable to match the short sale order with the buy order to create a short sale, and operable to settle the short sale at a predetermined time. 
     
     
         51 . The exchange system of  claim 48 , wherein the processor is further operable to distribute the entries. 
     
     
         52 . The exchange system of  claim 48 , wherein the entries are distributed according to one of: a lottery, and an auction. 
     
     
         53 . (canceled) 
     
     
         54 . The exchange system of  claim 48 , further comprising a memory operable to store at least one entry associated with an identity of at least one user.