.CLUB Domains, LLC, the company formed to own and operate the new “.CLUB” generic top-level domain name (gTLD), announced today it has signed its Registry Agreement with ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the international organization responsible for managing and coordinating the Domain Name System (DNS).

.Club is Listed in the “Top 10” on Many Pre-Registration Sites, and within the top 30 of 1and1.com, one of the few new gTLD extensions where the applicant has already been determined as 26 of the top 30 new gTLD extensions listed on 1and1.com still have multiple applicants.

.CLUB is also only 1 of 4 new gTLD’s listed on Godaddy which they are not currently taking pre-reservations for.

Colin Campbell, CEO and founder of .CLUB is quoted as saying:

“To date we have already spent more than $5 million on a private auction, legal fees and market awareness campaigns. “

“This has been a long, stressful, and emotional process for myself and the team at .CLUB.”

“We are so excited to have signed the agreement after more than two years of hard work. From the beginning we had only one focus – to help people who have similar passions and interests come together, and to create a new social top-level domain that makes it easy for companies, individuals and communities of all kinds to brand themselves with a great domain name. “

In addition, the company expects to sell domains like poker.club, chess.club, and wine.club after completing a sunrise period, which allows companies with trademarks first rights to their names.

“.CLUB is global brand, which has so many different meanings for so many people,” said Campbell.  “Whether you are an academic club, sports club, social club, business club or fan club, you will be able to find a great domain name that represents your group.”

Formed in 2012 and backed by $8.2 million from 26 private investors including Canadian entrepreneurs William Campbell and Dirk Bhagat, .CLUB will enable clubs, membership organizations or others sharing a common interest to establish memorable “yourname.club” Web addresses.  Every day, people form communities and groups around every imaginable interest, and .CLUB makes it easier than ever for them to acquire a Web address that is convenient, holds meaning and has marketing value.

(Disclaimer: RightoftheDot.com of which the author of this blog is a Director of is working with .Club)