According to a press release we received overnight, a British company, Accent Media Limited, won the private auction for the new gTLD .Tickets beating Donuts, Famous Four Media, Shubert Internet, Inc., and Afilias.
According to the PR, “The company will offer domain names to approved organisations to provide safer online ticket sales with the intention to establish the “.tickets” top-level domain as a global gold standard of trust for consumers.
According to a separate press release by publicly traded Centralnic, the company invested $1.62 Million towards the auction and now owns 12% of the company.
“CentralNic plc (AIM: CNIC), is investing US$ 1.62 million in Accent Media Ltd (“Accent Media”), the successful applicant for the .tickets new Top-Level Domain (“TLD”). CentralNic’s investment will equate to around 12% equity stake in the share capital of Accent Media (£1 ordinary shares).”
The Group’s invested funds were used by Accent Media to acquire the .tickets domain in a private auction, winning a contention set which included four other applicants. In addition to this, CentralNic has entered into a contract with Accent Media to be both the exclusive wholesaler (“registry service provider”) and one of the retail partners for the .tickets TLD.
Commenting on the investment, Ben Crawford CEO, of CentralNic plc, said: “The .tickets Top-Level Domain will be a compelling new tool to assist consumers in easily identifying legitimate and trusted ticket sales sites, as well as empowering venues, entertainers and sports organisations to improve their use of the internet by enabling fans to purchase tickets safely and securely. We are delighted to be working with Accent Media in delivering this innovative new tool for the ticketing industry, and we look forward to delivering real benefits to consumers as soon as possible.”
Accent Media Founder Steve Machin added: “We have brought together top specialists from across the ticketing and domain name industries to execute the vision for the .tickets domain. We look forward to working with CentralNic to deliver what we believe will be one of the most innovative uses of a new Top-Level Domain bringing significant benefits to online consumers and businesses in the global ticketing industry.”
Accent Media is also pleased to announce investment from British organisation, CentralNic. Commenting on the investment, Ben Crawford CEO of CentralNic plc, said “The “.tickets” Top-Level Domain will be a compelling new tool to assist consumers to easily identify legitimate and trusted ticket sales sites, as well as empowering venues, entertainers and sports organizations to improve their use of the internet for enabling fans to purchase tickets. This investment realizes our strategy of investing in Top-Level Domain applicants as well as operating as a business partner to their operators. We are delighted to be working with Accent Media in delivering this innovative new tool for the ticketing industry, and we look forward to delivering real benefits to consumers as soon as possible”.
.Tickets was one of many new gTLD’s auctions that were held both publicly in Last Resort ICANN auction and through private auctions last week.
