Cowboys.com Domain Intercepted by Investors
Update: COWBOYS Lose Domain Name in OT
A week after the Dallas Cowboys football organization bid on, won, then backed out of purchasing the domain name cowboys.com, the domain was sold on silent auction for $370,000. A group of investors stepped in to pick up the option on the free agent domain name. Most domain experts agree that the Cowboys were foolish to let this gem go. The resale price of the newly purchased name is expected to go into six figures. The Cowboys won the domain name through a Moniker auction on Oct. 12th with a phone in bid of “275,” a number which lawyers later said represented $275 dollars, not the actual $275,000 sales price. I guess the organization should stick to pigskin, when it comes to the buck, they are rookies for sure.
When it came time to pay up for their recent purchase of cowboys.com, attorneys for the legendary football empire, the Dallas Cowboys, balked. $275,000? Oops, they thought is was $275.00! That was the lousy excuse offered by America’s team. It seems the Cowboys franchise won the domain in a live auction sponsored by Moniker on Friday, Oct. 12th at the Traffic Domain Name Conference in Hollywood, Florida.
Playing Games
According to Monte Cahn, the head of Moniker, a phone in bid was reported to have come in from a representative of the organization. About a week later when the bill came in, the attorney claimed there was a misunderstanding about the words “Two hundred and seventy-five,” claiming the team would never have bid on such a pricey moniker. This claim seems ridiculous in light of the fact that the minimum bid for the name was listed at $250,000, and the expected sales price was estimated to go as high as $500,000.
There may be more to the story than meets the eye, however. Apparently, the cowboys.com domain may come with some strings attached. The previous owner of the domain claimed to have received the first trademark ever given a domain name on May 15, 1995. Certificate #27303 issued by the Office of the Secretary of State for the state of Oklahoma may present legal issues for the football organization. Under current law, trademark owners are allowed to lay some claim to domains that include their trademark.
Maybe the football dynasty should just do what any respectable Texan would do… Cowboy up and pay the bill. Then let the battle over trademark be settled in a good old fashioned shoot out.
[tags]cowboys, dallas cowboys, domain sales, cowboys.com[/tags]
October 21st, 2007 at 8:55 pm
They’d be crazy not to get the domain
October 22nd, 2007 at 1:23 am
is it really worth the money?
October 22nd, 2007 at 1:44 am
That is just stupid!
October 22nd, 2007 at 2:34 am
Oh my god,…my heart. I don`t know what is more worse: Loosing a domain like cowboys.com for 250.000 only - Or that things like that also happen at Moniker.
October 23rd, 2007 at 1:38 pm
rofl…probably too casual and laid back, phoning in 275…spell it OUT! That does suck though and I guess it will be bought for more by them or take it to court.
October 23rd, 2007 at 7:42 pm
I have seen lots of funny parked domains but I have to say that this one tops it all.
October 24th, 2007 at 3:15 am
Its just insensible.
October 25th, 2007 at 2:51 am
They should wake up from their dreams to get a domain like that for few hundred dollars.
October 25th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
I agree.. I mean, who in their right mind would think you could just buy that kind of domain for $275? I honestly can not believe they did not jump on that domain.
And that snow mobiling page in your other post is absolutely hysterical.
October 26th, 2007 at 7:53 am
There’s no way he was registered for that auction without looking around and knowing the names sell in the thousands, tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands. Someone did some serious backpedaling. Lawyers lie too you know - all the time actually if they have to.