Abstract:
A method of selling season tickets is disclosed in which unrelated purchasers may reserve a seat ticket for one or more selected events in a related series of events. When enough seat tickets have been reserved, a season ticket for that seat is sold, and the individual tickets reserved for each purchaser are paid for and delivered to the purchasers. Provisions for canceling previously made reservations are included. The method is effectuated on one or more computers, and the computers may be connected to a computer network, including the internet, to allow use of the system by prospective purchasers at remote locations.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     In recent years, sports and cultural exhibition events have become increasingly popular throughout the world. Such popularity is due, in large part, to the widespread broadcasting of sports and cultural events worldwide, and to the marketing and offering of such events as a series of performances, or “packages” to be purchased in advance of the series. The selling of a series of events as a “season ticket” package benefits the sponsoring organization by relieving it of the work associated with selling individual tickets for each event in the series, and by assuring advance payment for each event regardless whether the season ticket holder actually attends each event. The season ticket package also benefits the purchaser of the package by ensuring the purchaser of a specific seat, and of a date and time certain, for viewing each of the performances in the series. Thus, the offering of season ticket packages is a widespread common feature of the environment for viewing sports and cultural events. Unless the context indicates otherwise, “season ticket” refers to a specific seat that is available for use by one or more individuals during a season to attend all related events in a series performed at a facility during the season. 
     Because tickets in good viewing locations are the most popular, and often are the highest priced, event sponsors may attempt to sell most of the tickets for desirable viewing areas as season tickets. For events having a large number of performances during a season, and also having a relatively large ticket price, it has become problematic for ordinary spectators to afford the total cost associated with purchasing a season ticket, or to attend each event in a season. Yet, the drawbacks to the individual for not purchasing a season ticket include having to purchase individual tickets to those performances the spectator wishes to see; having to accept a less desirable viewing area for each event, depending upon the overall availability of tickets that have not been sold as season tickets; and taking the risk that a ticket for a highly desired event may not be available if the event should be sold out. For the business that sponsors the events, the loss of early season ticket revenue in advance of the season, and the lack of certainty in anticipating the number of overall sales are drawbacks that this invention is intended to remedy. 
     A popular method for eliminating these risks has been for one person to purchase a season ticket package consisting of one seat (or two or more adjacent or closely proximate seats), and for that person to share the total number of events among two or more persons, each person choosing the individual events that he or she wishes to attend, and paying the season ticket holder for them on a per-event basis. The primary difficulty associated with the sharing of a season ticket package, however, is that people who participate in the sharing arrangement for one season may move away, or otherwise choose not to participate for the next season, leaving the season ticket holder with the problem either of having to find another participant, or of having to pay for more events than the holder wishes to attend. When the number of participants becomes too few, it is common for the season ticket holder to relinquish the season ticket rather than incur the substantial costs of maintaining it. 
     What is needed is a method for season ticket holders to offer and sell some of their unwanted event tickets to third parties, and for persons who are not season ticket holders to join with a season ticket holder in order to purchase one or more of the event tickets from a season ticket holder, and to view those events from a location that is reserved to season ticket holders. Businesses in the business of offering seats also need a method of selling its season tickets to groups of unrelated persons who want access to the season ticket areas but each of whom is interested in purchasing only a portion of the available tickets. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In accordance with this invention, a season ticket holder may offer tickets to selected events by posting them on a computer network or an internet site, along with complete information regarding available seat location, number of seats, dates of events, performances covered by each event, and sales price for each ticket. Third parties may see these offerings, purchase tickets for certain events, and make arrangements for payment for those tickets. 
     In some cases, a season ticket holder will not agree to purchase or renew his or her season ticket unless a predetermined number of tickets are purchased by third parties. In that event, the posting site shall also include information regarding the required level of participation and a cutoff date for the attainment of that level. Persons wishing to participate in that season ticket shall reserve tickets by entering their offers to purchase, and shall provide satisfactory assurances of the payment to be made when and if the predetermined number of ticket reservations has been attained. 
     If the predetermined number of ticket reservations is attained prior to the cutoff date, then all contingent financial arrangements shall be completed, and the season ticket holder shall purchase the season ticket from the sponsoring organization and shall distribute the tickets to each of the other participants in accordance with their commitments. If the predetermined number of ticket reservations has not been reached by the cutoff date, then the season ticket holder must commit to purchase the season ticket having only the reservations that had been made up to that time, or must release the season ticket and notify all persons holding reservations that the season ticket was not purchased and that contingent financial arrangements for making payments have been released. 
     Alternative embodiments of the invention include means for third parties to review in real time the number of reservations accepted for a given season ticket and the number of reservations required before the season ticket holder must commit to purchasing the season ticket. This information will permit third parties to assess the likelihood that their reservations will result in a season ticket being purchased, and to make decisions between two or more offerings related to the same event. Other alternative embodiments may include means for third parties to withdraw their reservations under conditions established by the season ticket holder, or for sponsoring organizations to use the system either independently or in conjunction with holders of season tickets for events sponsored by the sponsoring organization. 
     Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide means for a season ticket holder to offer undesired tickets in a series of events to third persons by providing information that can be viewed from a computer or other suitable device attached to a computer network or to the internet. It is another object of the invention to provide third parties with means for attending events by purchasing one or more tickets from a season ticket holder. It is a further object of the invention to provide season ticket holders with a means for soliciting reservations from third parties for tickets to events that the season ticket holder cannot or does not wish to attend. It is yet a further object of the invention to provide financial arrangements for third parties to pay for their tickets where payment is contingent upon the season ticket holder purchasing a season ticket. Yet another object of the invention is to make available to organizations a system for offering season tickets to individuals by providing a format for groups of individuals who are unknown to each other to purchase one or more season tickets directly from the organization. These and other objects of the invention will become apparent in the following description of the preferred embodiments. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a flow chart depicting an embodiment of the invention in its most basic form. 
         FIG. 2  is a flow chart depicting a second embodiment of the invention in which predetermined events may occur, depending upon the number of reservations existing at any time. 
         FIG. 3  is a flow chart showing a third embodiment of the invention in which reservations may be withdrawn under predetermined conditions. 
         FIG. 4  is a flow chart depicting the steps of the invention when used by a sponsoring organization or other entity having multiple season tickets to offer. 
         FIG. 5  depicts an embodiment of the invention in which multiple computers communicate across a wide area computer network. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     In all drawings, the same reference number will be used to indicate the same, or a substantially similar step in the process of the invention.  FIG. 1  is a flow chart depicting an embodiment of a system incorporating the steps of this invention. Information regarding all seasonal events to be presented by a sponsoring organization and related to a specific seat in the stadium, auditorium, arena, theater, or other event locale, is placed upon a site that is part of a computer network. As depicted in  FIG. 1 , the information is posted by a season ticket holder  10 , although it is equally acceptable for such information to be posted by a sponsoring organization, as shown in  FIG. 4  at  20 . Such information will include, at a minimum, a listing of those performances included in the season ticket for which the specific seat is available, and a price of a ticket for that seat for each available performance  30 . The site may also include information such as a seating chart to assist a third party in making a decision whether to purchase a ticket for an event. A third party prospective purchaser will access the site  40  through a computer network or the internet to retrieve a display  50  of such information as is necessary to make a decision regarding available events. The third party may select a particular event from those that are shown as having a seat available  60 , and may reserve the seat for the selected event. The seat selected will then be removed from the list of available events selected by the third person  70 , and will be reserved for the third party. If the third party wishes to purchase a ticket for other events in the series, he or she will so indicate  80 , and will repeat the process by selecting another event. At the conclusion of all such selections, the third party&#39;s payment information will be processed  90  and the user may exit the program  100 . The system will be available for concurrent or subsequent use by another third party. Repeated uses by third parties will result in season tickets being allocated among various third parties, and season ticket holders being paid for tickets to performances that will be attended by third parties. 
     Another embodiment of the invention is depicted in  FIG. 2 . In this embodiment, the season ticket holder has determined a level of participation that must be met before he or she will commit to purchase a season ticket  32 . The requisite level of participation  32  may be included in the display  50  presented to third parties accessing the site  40 . The level of participation can be expressed as a number of performances, or as a percentage of the entire season package, or in any other suitable manner. Where the instantaneous level of participation is furnished to third parties who view the site  50 , it will provide those third parties with a basis for estimating the chances that a sufficient number of event tickets will be sold, and that a season ticket will be issued for the seat in question. In this embodiment, a reservation must be accompanied by a promise to make payment if a season ticket is purchased, and appropriate arrangements to secure such contingent payment are taken. As tickets are reserved for purchasers  70 , the level of participation  32  will be modified  72  and displayed to subsequent third parties  50 . When the predetermined level of participation is reached  74 , the season ticket will be purchased or other appropriate action taken  75 , and event tickets will be distributed to participants according to their reservations. If there are unpurchased event tickets remaining for the season ticket, the season ticket holder may leave the season ticket available for viewing and the acceptance of further reservations  76 ; or the season ticket holder may remove the season ticket from further solicitation  78  and incur the cost of the unsold tickets. 
     A third embodiment of the invention is shown in  FIG. 3 . In this embodiment, a season ticket holder may allow third parties who have reserved an event ticket to withdraw their reservations under certain circumstances  120 . Exemplary of such circumstances might be that another third party has been listed on a waiting list for an event ticket, and will purchase the event ticket that is released by an earlier purchaser; or that the predetermined number of required reservations to purchase a season ticket has been exceeded, and the withdrawal of a single event ticket reservation will not reduce the number of reservations below the predetermined level of participation; or that the third party may withdraw a reservation so long as the withdrawal is accomplished a predetermined number of days prior to the event for which an event ticket was reserved. These examples are not exclusive, as the season ticket holder will normally have the final decision on accepting a withdrawal of a reservation unless contractually restricted from doing so. 
     In  FIG. 3 , as information is displayed to the third party  50 , if the withdrawal of a reservation is permitted, then that information will be displayed to the user  130 . Whether such information is displayed or not may depend upon whether the purchaser has previously purchased an event ticket that could be relinquished, and whether other conditions established by the season ticket holder have been satisfied. 
     A fourth embodiment of the invention shown in  FIG. 4  permits the event organizer to offer season tickets to groups of otherwise unrelated individuals using the same methods disclosed for other embodiments. Here, however, the event organizer may also be able to offer additional services, such as presenting the third party with a number of seating options  31 , depending upon the particular event and the third party&#39;s choice of ticket prices and seating locations, or including a published cutoff date for the offer  33 . In this embodiment, the sponsoring organization takes the place of the season ticket holder, but the system of the invention is otherwise the same. Because event organizers typically permit customers to change seats or date for an event having multiple performances, a choice to withdraw a reservation is given  130 , and steps to accommodate that choice by displaying seats currently held  140 , allowing the withdrawn reservation to be selected  150 , and modifying the list of available seats  160  are shown. 
       FIG. 5  depicts an embodiment of the invention in which event and seating information is placed on a first computer  200 . The first computer may share all or part of its information with a second computer  210 . The computers may be part of a local area network or, as depicted, may have individual attachments  260 ,  270  to the internet or some other wide area network  280 . Prospective purchasers using remote computers or other network devices  220  and  230  retrieve information through remote connections  240  and  250 , respectively, and reserve or cancel prior reservations in accordance with the methods of the invention. Computers  200  and  210  communicate to update their data to maintain current information regarding reserved and available event tickets. Database sharing and record locking may be used to ensure that the same event ticket is not reserved to simultaneous purchasers. 
     The invention disclosed and described herein is susceptible of many uses and alternative embodiments, and the methods shown and described are exemplary of the invention, and are not limited either in the order of steps shown, or in the specific conditions that may be imposed upon the sale or withdrawal from sale of reservations and tickets, and one may practice such uses and embodiments without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention disclosed herein, which is limited solely by the appended claims.