Rumors are circulating that the sale for the domain name Cowboys.com will not be moving forward. The domain name brought in a $275,000 bid from a phone-in bidder at the recent TRAFFIC domain live auction in Hollywood, Florida. The bidder had been earlier identified to be a representative from the Dallas Cowboys NFL team. An inside source confirmed with DomainNameNews that the deal began to fall apart over a misunderstanding with the bidder on what the bid of “275″³ actually meant. It appears the bidder thought they were buying the domain for $275.00 rather than $275,000.
This isn’t a rumor anymore and was confirmed to me by both Rick Schwartz (co-founder TRAFFIC) and Monte Cahn (co-founder/ceo Moniker.com).
Rick says:
You can’t take your family to a football game for $275!!!
No kidding!
My take on it:
First, this sounds like total nonsense. It cost more to participate in the auction than 275$.
Second, even if you consider this domain for its generic value, regardless of the football team, it is still a steal at USD275K. If it was my domain they (or anyone else for that matter) would be looking at 5M++ price range.
Third, after agreeing to buy they now look pretty foolish, deadbeat for business. It takes a lifetime to build a good reputation but a second to destroy it.
Forth, for the Dallas Cowboys this domain, because it gets massive type-in traffic partially because of their brand, should convert to tens of millions of dollars, without a single penny in advertising. Not to mention it is the best domain for their team, brand protection, and bragging rights.
Whoever is calling the shots on Dallas Cowboys’ side here imo should be fired immediately. Moronic behavior to say the least.
Couldn’t agree more, especially since I’m Dallas resident
Very stupid of them to back out after such a publicized sale and I really hope they don’t try to play the legal angle of “bad faith” by trying to WIPO/UDRP the domain because that will top off the stupidity charts.
Such a generic and truly beautiful domain that would easily pay back for them in no time when traffic converts and unfortunately this is the latest testament that despite the education on domains this shows that Corporate America still doesn’t get it…
I second that proposal! ALL IN FAVOR….
Watching the Red Sox vs. Indians baseball games I noticed that the Indians own and use Indians.com.
Dumbest move ever in the history of broken domain deals.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it is now sold to someone else. Look at the buzz Cowboys.com is getting. Imagine if this hits the main stream media?
Add a 0 to the end of that price!
What a right old carry-on!
What I don’t get as a newbie domainer is ….you suggest it’s worth way more than $275K but ….that’s what it went for in an open (?) auction. So that suggests to me that other serious domain investors didn’t think it was an absolute bargain?
What am I missing?
Cheers
John
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Domains, besides the cash flow they sometimes provide, are like Art. It’s in the eye of the beholder.
As a side note, the name will most likely be sold today for the price or more.
Considering the face value of a ticket it would take around 3000 tickets to pay for that domain. That’s around 3% of the capacity of a single game. Also consider the minimum salary for a single rookie player is nearly $250,000 and I guarantee that domain would generate more revenue and branding that that third string kicker ever will.
For the Dallas Cowboys this was the biggest bargain they’ll ever see.
—-ANSWER—-
Well said!
Maybe they are interested in buying this domain: http://www.dallascowidiots.com which is comes right along with their moron of the year award. It’s already up, running and pointing right at their site.
You really gotta give it those boys in Dallas.
While I agree they missed out on great deal, the main reason that Cowboys.com holds any value is because of the Dallas Cowboys. It’s definitely not because of western wear.
You say: “Forth, for the Dallas Cowboys this domain, because it gets massive type-in traffic partially because of their brand, should convert to tens of millions of dollars, without a single penny in advertising.”
“Partially?” You should change that to Mainly.
This story really failed to bleed into mainstream media, or even capture much of the attention of the public, who mostly could care less and don’t seem to really think about the longterm value of Cowboys.com. So, Moron of the Year may be a good moniker for domainers, but the Dallas Cowboys really slipped out with very little egg on their face.