Gambling.com Domain Name has been Sold

May 06, 2011 | News Category: Online Casinos

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Media Corp, until recently, owned the gambling.com domain name. The company purchased the domain name in 2005 for the whopping price of $20 million. It has now been sold to a UK-based buyer for only $2.5 million.

The transaction was facilitated by Sedo. The company specializes in the sale of domain names that have a high profile. Other domains that have successfully been sold by Sedo include sex.com, vodka.com and slots.com. Vodka.com was sold for $3 million, slots.com was sold recently for $5.5 million, and sex.com was sold for $13 million.

When Media Corp bought gambling.com in 2005, the online gambling industry in the United States was in full swing. This, however, was before the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) was enacted in 2006. Although the UIGEA had a comparatively small effect on the online gambling market in 2006 compared to the current situation, the online gambling domain became less and less valuable.

In fact, the sale price of gambling.com for $2.5 million is considered to be a good price at this time. Lisabeth Mack-de-Boer, the CSO of Sedo, said: "The high sale price paid for Gambling.com is a real confidence booster for the global domain industry."

Gambling.com has not had a smooth-sailing ride so far, which explains for the huge drop in sale price from the 2005 price of $20 million. Other than the introduction of the UIGEA, the domain was put under a penalty from Google for two years, beginning in 2007. Although the reason for this penalty was not explained, the gross margin of profits for gambling.com was reduced by more than 60%.

In January 2011, Media Corp had hoped to use a reserve price of $9 million, but with the recent changes in the US online gambling world, the possible sale price dropped once again. The recent witch-hunt against online poker sites that has taken place in the United States has made the domain name even less valuable.

Justin Drummond, Chief Executive of Media Corporation, was pleased with the sale. He had the following to say regarding the sale price: "We have recently seen a number of exciting acquisition opportunities in the online gaming and online advertising space. The successful sale of Gambling.com has given the group more than adequate financial resources to pursue these acquisition opportunities aggressively."

It is not yet known who purchased gambling.com, other than that the company is based in the UK, but with the positive online gambling market in the UK, it is likely to be a worthwhile purchase for the new owners.