FC Barcelona, Manchester United, WWE, and Beyoncé are among hundreds of major brands and performers to sign-up for new ‘.fans’ internet domain names.
The new domain extension is powered by CentralNIC (LON:CNIC), and it is being fully launched today though trademark-only registration has already been possible.
dotFans, the company that owns the rights to the .fans domain, says it has been “blown away” by the response during the initial 60 day registration period.
“Many of the world’s leading brands have recognised the value that securing a .fans domain name has for them,” said Sam Taylor, dotFans director of global marketing. The .fans domain, according to dotFans, offers an ‘intuitive and resonant signpost’ for fans seeking content online.
AIM quoted CentralNIC is the technical partner and wholesale distributor for dotFans. Essentially, its platform manages the technical side of running a top-level web domain and makes it available for domain name sellers like GoDaddy, who in turn sell the full domain names (i.e. everything before and after the ‘dot’) to website owners.
It is the key intermediary between the entrepreneurs that secure the rights to new top level domains and the domain name sellers. CentralNIC, in return, receives a share of the revenues received for the use of domain names.
“We are delighted to be the key technical partner enabling dotFans to launch what we believe will be one of the most exciting TLDs in the market to date,” said Ben Crawford, CentralNIC’s chief executive.
“This strong start - with some of the world’s leading sports, consumer and entertainment brands rapidly coming on board - signals the value these clients are assigning to the .fans extension.
“Through years of experience in the domain name industry, we at CentralNic understand the value and potential of TLDs such as .fans and are excited by the potential we see for this extension.”
According to dotFan, everybody is a fan of something and ‘fandom’ is a huge part of the ‘online experience.
Fandom drives a huge part of the appeal of social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, Taylor highlights.
“Many people spend hours online consuming content about the things they love,” he added.
“We know that .fans domain names are a brilliant way to better signpost this content to engage with fans, and a great way to capture attention of true fans.”
