tr1 Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 Dallas Cowboys http://www.billhartzer.com/pages/dallas-cowboys-returns-cowboyscom-domain-name/ Last week I spoke about SEO, Search, and Domain Names at the TRAFFIC domain name conference, held in Hollywood, Florida. The highlight of the conference was the live internet domain name auction on Friday, October 12th, at 2pm, hosted by Moniker. One of the domain names that was up for sale was Cowboys.com, a great domain name. The Dallas Cowboys apparently was amongst the many bidders for this name and ultimately won the auction for $275,000. Now, about a week later, they want to give it back. According to a post in this thread by Monte Cahn, the head of Moniker, when contacted, the Dallas Cowboys said that they want to return it: when I spoke to their attorney…he was dead serious, had no idea that it was $275K and was shocked when he received the purchase agreement ( he thought he bought it for $275.00 - thats right two hundred and seventy five dollars!). I almost asked him what he was smoking. after falling out of my chair….not ever experiencing anything like this one, we are going to let this dog stay sleeping for a while. someone should pick this name up and it will ultimately cost the cowboys millions when they finish that $800M stadium they are building. I told the attorney that my guess was that they probably sell $275K in popcorn and beer in one game and that they were foolish not to look at their brand in a different way. We find a way to turn dirt into diamonds anyway and this will be well past us. In my opinion, it’s just not possible or feasible that the representative from the Dallas Cowboys’ organization thought that they had paid $275 dollars for the domain name. When asked recently, Monte Cahn of Moniker said: yes - they paid more in admission than sale price…. remember they say that they were going to bid up to $10K when I spoke to him. The pre-published initial minimum bidding range was $250,000 to $500,000, and I personally do not remember if there was a reserve price. But, if the minimum bidding range was $250,000, then the Dallas Cowboys are doing everything they can to “get out of” paying for the domain name Cowboys.com. Apparently there may be more to this story than what’s being reported. By looking at this link, there appears to be a trademark on the name Cowboys.com, and there may be other issues involved with the acquisition of this domain name. Currently, trademark owners are allowed to essentially “take over” any domain names that include their trademark. By the way, I should point out that I’m from Dallas, Texas. Apparently I’m not the only one talking about this goof by the Dallas Cowboys’ organization. Here’s more people talking about it: Dallas Cowboys Back Off On Deal To Buy Cowboys.com Domain Dallas Cowboys Fumble Cowboys.com Deal Dallas Cowboys try to buy Cowboys.com for $275 Dallas Cowboys.. Too Cheap For their Own Good Dallas Cowboys buys ‘Cowboys.com’ for $275? And more domain foolishness - Cowboys.com What’s in a Domain Name? About $275000, Discover Your Dallas Cowboys. Did the Cowboys fumble online? Dallas Cowboys fumble Cowboys.com Dallas Cowboys fumble Cowboys.com Proposal: Moron of The Year Award To The Dallas Cowboys Cowboys.com sold at auction for $275000 - oops they meant to bid $275 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DWinzit Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 Attempting to back out of a deal is pretty cheesy. Currently, trademark owners are allowed to essentially “take over” any domain names that include their trademark.Am I reading this correct, they could have taken it over for nothing?:laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjfootballer Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 Ha, ha. Nobody wants that stupid name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Jones Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 Maybe they should settle for pukes.com and call it a day. I believe that site can be had for real cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TC4 Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 This was on ProFootballTalk.com today about this mess: http://www.profootballtalk.com/rumormill.htm DID DALLAS FUMBLE CHANCE TO GET COWBOYS.COM? According to DomainNameNews.com, by way of SportsByBrooks, the Dallas Cowboys apparently thought that they were buying the "cowboys.com" web address, but that a misunderstanding arose regarding price. The Cowboys reportedly believed that the "275" tag meant $275.00. It actually meant $275,000. So the deal, as the reports go, fell apart. Frankly, we're not sure how much stock we put into this report. Surely, the Cowboys are sufficiently sophisticated to realize that a domain name as simple as "cowboys.com" wouldn't go for the price of a few tanks of gas. For example, we could have had "PFT.com" earlier this year for $10,000. We opted against the expenditure, primarily because we're cheap. But also because we realize that folks who want to find us will find us. And the same is even more true for the Dallas Cowboys. While the "cowboys.com" domain has value to others because it will pick up plenty of unintended traffic from folks looking for the NFL team -- I still punch in the short version from time to time -- folks who want to find the team's official web site will do so, whether the name is "DallasCowboys.com" or "DallasCowboys.net" or "GetchaPopcornReady.gov." And remember that there's also a direct pipeline to it at the top of NFL.com, which we encourage you to visit often through the links on this site. UPDATE: The Dallas Morning News reports, and Cowboys P.R. director Rich Dalrymple has confirmed to us via e-mail, that the Cowboys did indeed believe that they had purchased "cowboys.com" for $275. SECOND UPDATE: A reader asks, "Are the Cowboys aware that their new stadium costs $1 billion dollars and not $1 million?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tr1 Posted October 19, 2007 Author Share Posted October 19, 2007 This was on ProFootballTalk.com today about this mess:http://www.profootballtalk.com/rumormill.htm DID DALLAS FUMBLE CHANCE TO GET COWBOYS.COM? According to DomainNameNews.com, by way of SportsByBrooks, the Dallas Cowboys apparently thought that they were buying the "cowboys.com" web address, but that a misunderstanding arose regarding price. The Cowboys reportedly believed that the "275" tag meant $275.00. It actually meant $275,000. So the deal, as the reports go, fell apart. Frankly, we're not sure how much stock we put into this report. Surely, the Cowboys are sufficiently sophisticated to realize that a domain name as simple as "cowboys.com" wouldn't go for the price of a few tanks of gas. For example, we could have had "PFT.com" earlier this year for $10,000. We opted against the expenditure, primarily because we're cheap. But also because we realize that folks who want to find us will find us. And the same is even more true for the Dallas Cowboys. While the "cowboys.com" domain has value to others because it will pick up plenty of unintended traffic from folks looking for the NFL team -- I still punch in the short version from time to time -- folks who want to find the team's official web site will do so, whether the name is "DallasCowboys.com" or "DallasCowboys.net" or "GetchaPopcornReady.gov." And remember that there's also a direct pipeline to it at the top of NFL.com, which we encourage you to visit often through the links on this site. UPDATE: The Dallas Morning News reports, and Cowboys P.R. director Rich Dalrymple has confirmed to us via e-mail, that the Cowboys did indeed believe that they had purchased "cowboys.com" for $275. SECOND UPDATE: A reader asks, "Are the Cowboys aware that their new stadium costs $1 billion dollars and not $1 million?" 'dems some sfisticate cowbouys, um hum.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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