Cowboys.com was sold for $275,000 at the recent TRAFFIC auction to a phone-in bidder - an attorney representing the Dallas Cowboys.
Except he thought he was bidding $275.00.
More info here: [dallasnews.com...]
[keep in mind that the Bobcats paid $50k for bobcats.com]
[side note: Compete.com didn't even notice compete.net expired and was picked up at snapnames]
[edited by: Webwork at 1:41 pm (utc) on Oct. 19, 2007]
[edit reason] Updated news story link [/edit]
Oops? :)
Ouch. In fact, that deserves another OUCH!
Still - it was sold:
[dallasnews.com...]
and for more than $275k.
[edited by: Webwork at 1:34 pm (utc) on Oct. 19, 2007]
Well done, Dallas. I hope the investors who bought it at least hold out for 7 figures. I'd rather see them hold the name indefinitely just to punish whatever (now hopefully unemployed) suit at the Cowboys let this one go.
Yeah, I know. I just don't "get it".
Sure, DallasCowboys is a heckuva brand, but then there's those highs and lows in the competitive market of football.
Is cowboys - as in DallasCowboys - loosing something along the way - something the Marlboro Man manages to hold onto despite years of bad news?
Are "the cowboys" just too hip and brand myopic to be big enough to also be just plain old, good old boy cowboys?
Are "the Cowboys" giving up something up along the way that, in retrospect, they may wish they held onto - for a day when they're just another major media market football team?
Tough one to call but my call is "fumble".
The DC could have had the best of both worlds. Use DallasCowboys to push the franchise brand and use Cowboys.com to draw in a wider audience, hold onto a bit of folklore roots, and cross-market between both DallasCowboys.com and Cowboys.com.
There's still a place for a certain real world and folkloric cowboy. The Dallas Cowboys just showed him the door.
[edited by: Webwork at 6:42 pm (utc) on Oct. 19, 2007]
That is what I thought was their domain (before hearing all this). All of the sports teams I know own their NAME.com - remember how the Bobcats paid $50k just a few months ago for Bobcats.com?
Branding is about mindshare - and if I go to cowboys.com and don't get the Dallas Cowboys, their brand is being diluted that way.
their brand is being diluted that way
I've been a bit of a fan of the Dallas Cowboys for years and I can't say that to my mind the existence of Cowboys.com dilutes their brand in any way. In fact, I think it's the other way around. I think that at one point in time "cowboy" was the builder of brand in their brand image. However, as Dallas built its glass towers and grew gentrified it was the J.R. Ewing version of "country" - and not dust, well worn leather and a man alone on the range - that supplanted the "cowboy" in DallasCowboys.
The Dallas Cowboys are about as cowboy as the Greenbay Packers are meat packers.
Rather than dilute their brand I say the Dallas Cowboys could have benefited from an injection of "cowboy aura" back into their brand.
But, then again, I own and drive a beat up 1987 Ford pickup truck so maybe I'm not with the times. My guess is that Lexus is the new Cowboy's brand. ;-P
The only reason I could see someone justifying paying 325K for it is if they plan on the type in traffic to sell football related stuff, and the Dallas Cowboys would then have a valid complaint.
William.
The only reason I could see someone justifying paying 325K for it is if they plan on the type in traffic to sell football related stuff
The investors who bought it for $370,000 are getting an incredible deal on that domain name.
Having held and then dropped the domain (and the ball by the look of things) I would think that at that point any complaint they had, would then be a lot less valid than it was before.
I think the Dallas Cowboys will have the last laugh when they get it from ICANN for free.
Not when, but if. And it'll cost them at least $1,200, not inclusive of attorney
fees, with no guarantess of getting what they want.
It won't be surprising if they eventually opt for that option.
David
Hmm...
I wonder if the "losing bidder" was given the option to match the withdrawn bid, before the domain was assigned to the silent auction?
Anyone know if there were written rules for this auction? If so, do they say anything about what follows upon a default by the highest bidder?
I think the Dallas Cowboys will have the last laugh when they get it from ICANN for free.
Given the situation I think the Dallas Cowboys organization would probably lose and may even be found guilty of attempting reverse domain hijacking.
Given the situation I think the Dallas Cowboys organization would probably lose and may even be found guilty of attempting reverse domain hijacking.
Plus two other factors:
1) They HAD it but then decided that THEY didn't want it. I think that if you have a domain but let it go, either though a drop, sale, or retracted bid, you lose all rights to suing though ICANN to get it by copyright infringement etc..
2) It is a generic keyword and it looks like the winning bidder is going to keep it as the way it was before (very smart move!). Talk about tons of free advertising right now. I may go there just go get some boots. :D
i think the guy running the popcorn stand would have had more on the ball. he makes his money a buck at a time.
Good for the investment group.
They'll make their money back by the end of the decade I suspect.
I wonder if they offered the domain name to the next lowest bidder before auctioning it again?
And what if the "Dallas" Cowboys move to Vegas?
And what if the "Dallas" Cowboys move to Vegas?
On Sunday the Cowboys/Patriots game drew 29.1 million viewers. That is the highest number of regular season viewers since 1996, when the Cowboys/49'ers drew 29.7 million viewers.
I am sure Jerry Jones is quite happy where he is :)
In this case, I don't think the fact that they had it and dropped it due to a price misunderstanding would prejudice any ICANN case. They could argue that they would have bought it for $275 to avoid legal costs and delays, but were unwilling to pay $275,000 for that privilege. The generic nature of the domain name is a much bigger obstacle, IMO, and one that would be hard to overcome.
