You might expect that the domains for valuable brands would all be owned by the brand-owners themselves. For many large brands, this is certainly true; cocacola.com is owned by The Coca Cola Company, and mcdonalds.com is owned by McDonalds Corporation.
How many professional sports clubs own the domains for their team names? The results are quite surprising and vary greatly based on the league. We checked the domains of the four major team-sports leagues in the U.S.
The National Hockey League (NHL) has by far the lowest percentage of team name domains, where just 27% of their teams’ domain is an official team site. Nearly half (14/30) of hockey team names names are actually parked with ads! The next lowest with official ownership is the National Football League (NFL),
which has just 50% of their team name domains. Major League Baseball (MLB) and the National Basketball Association are remarkably close, with the former
owning 77% of their team name domains and the former owning 80%.
When a team doesn’t own the brand-name domain itself, they typically own a domain with the brand name preceded by the city name such as orlandomagic.com or njnets.com. In some instances, this works relatively well, but in other cases there is some ambiguity. rams.com would certainly be better than the possible variations: saintlouisrams.com – stlouisrams.com – slrams.com – st.louisrams.com – stlrams.com
One domain to highlight is mavericks.com; the Dallas Mavericks are owned by legendary internet entrepreneur Mark Cuban who sold broadcast.com to Yahoo for over $5 billion. One might expect that of all owners, Cuban would be the one to recognize the importance of domain names and brand management.
Of course, a domain is only available for purchase, if the current owner is willing to sell.
One of the worst professional sport domains may be titansonline.com
Here are the results of our research which was conducted in July 2007:
NBA Domains NOT Under Team/League Ownership
Cleveland Cavaliers, cavaliers.com redirects to a page of ads. Official Cavaliers site: ClevelandCavaliers.com
Utah Jazz, jazz.com: “Jazz.com coming soon.” Official Jazz site: UtahJazz.com
Orlando Magic, magic.com: “Site Not Found” Error. Official Magic site: OrlandoMagic.com
Dallas Mavericks, mavericks.com: page of ads. Official Mavericks site: DallasMavericks.com
New Jersey Nets, nets.com: “Site Not Found” Error. Official Nets site: NJNets.com
Washington Wizards, wizards.com: owned by Wizards of the Coast (retail games). Official Wizards site: WashingtonWizards.com
NBA Domains Owned by Team/League
Philadelphia 76ers – 76ers.com
Charlotte Bobcats – Bobcats.com
Milwaukee Bucks – Bucks.com
Chicago Bulls – Bulls.com
Boston Celtics – Celtics.com
Los Angeles Clippers – Clippers.com
Memphis Grizzlies – Grizzlies.com
Atlanta Hawks – Hawks.com
Miami Heat – Heat.com
New Orleans Hornets – Hornets.com
Sacramento Kings – Kings.com
New York Knicks – Knicks.com
Los Angeles Lakers – Lakers.com
Denver Nuggets – Nuggets.com
Indiana Pacers – Pacers.com
Detroit Pistons – Pistons.com
Toronto Raptors – Raptors.com
Houston Rockets – Rockets.com
San Antonio Spurs – Spurs.com
Phoenix Suns – Suns.com
Seattle SuperSonics – SuperSonics.com
Minnesota Timberwolves – Timberwolves.com
Portland Trail Blazers – TrailBlazers.com
Golden State Warriors – Warriors.com
MLB Team Names Not Under Official Ownership
Los Angeles Angels, angels.com: static image registered in Seoul, Korea. Official Angels site: AnaheimAngels.com
Oakland Athletics, athletics.com: secure login page for Net Athletics, Inc. Official Athletics site: OaklandAs.com
St. Louis Cardinals, cardinals.com: page of ads. Official Cardinals site: StLouisCardinals.com
San Francisco Giants, giants.com: belongs to NFL team NY Giants. Official Giants site: SFGiants.com
Texas Rangers, rangers.com: redirects to oxide.com, page of ads. Official Rangers site: TexasRangers.com
Colorado Rockies, rockies.com: The Rocky Mountain Authority, tourist resources for the Rocky Mountains. Official Rockies site: ColoradoRockies.com
Minnesota Twins.com, twins.com: personal website of D & D Miller. Official Twins site: MinnesotaTwins.com
MLB Team Names Under Official Ownership
Houston Astros – Astros.com
Toronto Blue Jays – Bluejays.com
Atlanta Braves – Braves.com
Milwaukee Brewers – Brewers.com
Chicago Cubs – Cubs.com
Tampa Bay Devil Rays – Devilrays.com
Arizona Diamondbacks – Diamondbacks.com
Los Angeles Dodgers – Dodgers.com
Cleveland Indians – Indians.com
Seattle Mariners – Mariners.com
Florida Marlins – Marlins.com
New York Mets – Mets.com
Washington Nationals – Nationals.com
Baltimore Orioles – Orioles.com
San Diego Padres – Padres.com
Philadelphia Phillies – Phillies.com
Pittsburgh Pirates – Pirates.com
Cincinnati Reds – Reds.com
Boston Red Sox – RedSox.com
Kansas City Royals – Royals.com
Detroit Tigers – Tigers.com
Chicago White Sox – WhiteSox.com
New York Yankees – Yankees.com
NFL Team Names Not Under Official Ownership
Chicago Bears, bears.com: page of ads. Official Bears site: ChicagoBears.com
Buffalo Bills, bills.com: owned by Bills.com, LLC; financial services. Official Bills site: BuffaloBills.com
Denver Broncos, broncos.com: page of ads. Official Broncos site: DenverBroncos.com
Cleveland Browns, browns.com: page of ads. Official Browns site: ClevelandBrowns.com
Arizona Cardinals, cardinals.com: page of ads. Official Cardinals site: AZCardinals.com
Dallas Cowboys, cowboys.com: owned by Cowboys.com; cowboy-themed retail. Official Cowboys site: DallasCowboys.com
Miami Dolphins, dolphins.com: page of ads. Official Dolphins site: MiamiDolphins.com
Philadelphia Eagles, eagles.com: page of ads. Official Eagles site: PhiladelphiaEagles.com
Atlanta Falcons, falcons.com: page of ads. Official Falcons site: AtlantaFalcons.com
New York Jets, jets.com: owned by CharterAuction.com, Inc; membership-only private jet travel site. Official Jets site: NYJets.com
Detroit Lions, lions.com: Lions Park Computers, Ltd. Official Lions site: DetroitLions.com
St. Louis Rams, rams.com: redirects to Photo Vault images of rams. Official Rams site: StLouisRams.com
Baltimore Ravens, ravens.com: redirects to a history site about Yale University’s football team. Official Ravens site: BaltimoreRavens.com
New Orleans Saints, saints.com: page of ads. Official Saints site: NewOrleansSaints.com
Houston Texans, texans.com: page of ads. Official Texans site: HoustonTexans.com
Tennessee Titans, titans.com: broken. Official Titans site: TitansOnline.com
NFL Team Names Under Official Ownership
San Francisco 49ers – 49ers.com
Cincinnati Bengals – Bengals.com
Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Buccaneers.com
San Diego Chargers – Chargers.com
Kansas City Chiefs – Chiefs.com
Indianapolis Colts – Colts.com
New York Giants – Giants.com
Jacksonville Jaguars – Jaguars.com
Green Bay Packers – Packers.com
Carolina Panthers – Panthers.com
New England Patriots – Patriots.com
Oakland Raiders – Raiders.com
Washington Redskins – Redskins.com
Seattle Seahawks – Seahawks.com
Pittsburgh Steelers – Steelers.com
Minnesota Vikings – Vikings.com
NHL Team Names Not Under Official Ownership
Colorado Avalanche, avalanche.com: page of ads. Official Avalanche site: ColoradoAvalanche.com
Chicago Blackhawks, blackhawks.com: redirects to cnews.com, page of ads. Official Blackhawks site: ChicagoBlackhawks.com
St. Louis Blues, blues.com: page of ads. Official Blues site: StLouisBlues
Boston Bruins, bruins.com: page of ads. Official Bruins site: BostonBruins.com
Washington Capitals, capitals.com: page of ads. Official Capitals site: WashingtonCapitals.com
Phoenix Coyotes, coyotes.com: page of ads. Official Coyotes site: Phoenixcoyotes.com
New Jersey Devils, devils.com: redirects to fansuperstore.com; retail sports teams site. Official Devils site: NewJerseyDevils.com
Anaheim Ducks, ducks.com: redirects to Bass Pro Shops; retail fishing site. Official Ducks site: AnaheimDucks.com
Calgary Flames, flames.com: page of ads. Official Flames site: CalgaryFlames.com
Philadelphia Flyers, flyers.com: privately owned fan site about Philadelphia Flyers. Official Flyers site: PhiladelphiaFlyers.com
New York Islanders, islanders.com: owned by Traveler.com LLC; tourist site for island destinations. Official Islanders site: NewYorkIslanders.com
Los Angeles Kings, kings.com: owned by NBA team Sacramento Kings. Official Kings site: LAKings.com
Tampa Bay Lightning, lightning.com: page of ads. Official Lightening site: TampaBayLightning.com
Edmonton Oilers, oilers.com: page of ads. Official Oilers site: EdmontonOilers.com
Florida Panthers, panthers.com: owned by NFL team Carolina Panthers. Official Panthers site: FloridaPanthers.com
Pittsburgh Penguins, penguins.com: page of ads. Official Penguins site: Pittsburgh Penguins
Nashville Predators, predators.com: page of ads. Official Predators site: NashvillePredators.com
New York Rangers, rangers.com: page of ads. Official Rangers site: NYRangers.com
Detroit Red Wings, redwings.com: page of ads. Official Red Wings site: DetroitRedWings.com
San Jose Sharks, sharks.com: page of ads. Official Sharks site: SJSharks.com
Dallas Stars, stars.com: broken. Official Stars site: DallasStars.com
Atlanta Thrashers, thrashers.com: page of ads. Official Thrashers site: AtlantaThrashers.com
NHL Team Names Under Official Ownership
Columbus Blue Jackets – BlueJackets.com
Montreal Canadiens – Canadiens.com
Vancouver Canucks – Canucks.com
Carolina Hurricanes – Hurricanes.com
Toronto Maple Leafs – MapleLeafs.com
Buffalo Sabres – Sabres.com
Ottawa Senators – Senators.com
Minnesota Wild – Wild.com
Trademark domains are invaluable for many reasons. Obviously, strong branding is important, and that works hand-in-hand with garnering type-in traffic. For these reasons, we would expect professional sports franchises to recognize the value of having their domain and team name be identical.