According to a press release by the ICM Registry, sponsors of the .XXX TLD, the Sunrise period closed today for the .XXX extension, with over 80,000 applications submitted for domain names.
We believe this is by far the largest number of Sunrise applications ever submitted for a new TLD, even surpassing other launches of new extensions considered to be extremely successfully.
The Sunrise period was opened to Trademark holders and existing domain holders.
Here is the full press release below:
ICM Registry, the company behind the .XXX top-level domain (TLD) officially closed its Sunrise A and Sunrise B periods at Noon EST yesterday with more than 80,000 applications for domain names, it was announced by Stuart Lawley, CEO of ICM Registry.
The Sunrise Period, which was extended by three days to accommodate overwhelming demand, was designed to allow trademark and brand holders ample opportunity to apply for their corresponding .XXX domain names. During this time, 78,938 trademarked/pre-owned names were submitted, while 1,524 other names were allocated as part of The Founders Program.
“We couldn’t be happier about the success of the Sunrise period,” said Lawley. “There is always a risk with a new TLD that you may build it and nobody will come. We are thrilled that over 80,000 applications came! In fact, the .XXX Sunrise period results far exceeds those of any other new sTLD, including .mobi, .asia and even that of .co that re-launched last year with a significant marketing campaign. We look forward with great anticipation to Landrush, opening next week and General Availability on December 6, which is when the fun really starts.”
Landrush, which opens on Tuesday, November 8th is a restricted 17-day period set aside for members of the adult Sponsored Community who want to secure premium .XXX domain names, guaranteeing them the chance to either buy them outright or to participate in a closed mini-auction where they can bid for them. Unlike General Availability, Landrush is not administered on a first come, first served basis, thereby guaranteeing anyone applying for an available domain name the chance to obtain it. At the end of the Landrush period, domain names with only one application will be simply awarded, while those with two or more applications will proceed to a closed mini-auction between the respective applicants.
good luck to the buyers (they really need of)
Where is the dot co hype?
80,000 just in the extended days. Nice numbers..
and yeah where is the .co hype ?
Good to see soo many applications
Oh wow! They got more applications than .mobi, .asia and even .co!!! Now THAT’S a success.
.XXX is doing an amazing marketing job, and outside of .TV, I feel this has the best potential of any extension outside of .com. .CO, great marketing job as well, but I registered 5 top .co, including peliculas.co (movies in spanish) and never have received even 1 offer, and maybe 2-3 type-ins a day, that’s it!!! Horrible!!! I think .co although great marketing, lot’s of hype as well, and the buzz will die fast. .XXX will always have the type-ins because of it’s strong branding and just curiosity.
Thanks, Jim
What people are really paying for here? Is it for domains,.or more correctly, to protect their reputation?
@Jj
But they are selling – that is what free market capitalism is all about – i.e. creating a need and then selling something to fill that need. IMO higher than 95% of these domains will be defensive – maybe even 99% – and of the remaining 1% probably 10% of those will ever be built out – which will be a lot
But who care – absoultely genius business model.
On what planet is this good news? According to their own accounts, ICM spent 14 million dollars just getting the sTLD. They have a 5 million dollar contract for PR/marketing. They signed an 8 million dollar contract with McAfee. They owe ICANN $160,000 ($2 per registration) and they owe IFFOR $800,000 ($10 per registration). And these numbers do not include their operating expenses. Anyone who is capable of performing basic addition sees that this TLD can not succeed.
JJ
There were three different kind of holders that could apply during sunrise
Trademark holders of non-adult terms like Disney or CNN who could either register the domain for use as a TM or apply to block it for 10 years for a one time fee.
Adult trademark holders like hustler and playboy who once again had the same two options as above.
applications for matching domains.
So to answer your question we would have to know how many of the 80K apps fell into each of these categories, which info ICM hasn’t released
Ann
So ICM took 80,000 Sunrise Apps, when the previous best was I think less than 20K for any extension in Sunrise.
So they took in $162 per app including the $2 ICANN fee or $13M + just on Sunrise.
There is landrush and General Availability to go and operating a registry is a long term business not a one time and done deal.
So like any business no one invests tens of millions and expects it all back in the first year of operation.
Except in this case I think he will ++++
They have also sold several million in premium domain sales.
Looks like they are doing pretty well to me
“Looks like they are doing pretty well to me”
You are correct = .xxx is a whole different animal – vs. all the other non.coms – having chatted with Stuart Lawley at TRAFFIC – he is a very sharp – soft sell man – and knows exactly what he is doing and knows how to make dough.