Resorts, Brands Flock to New .ski Domain Extension

News Search

14 September 2015

Push to The Latest: No

SAM Magazine—New York, N.Y., Sept. 14, 2015—More than 4,000 ski resorts, brands, and athletes signed up for .ski domain extensions in just the first 10 hours that it became publically available last week, according to officials at StartingDot, the Internet registry that started the campaign three years ago.

Now, less than one week after the launch, the tally is 5,000 and counting. Companies have been snapping up domain names at the rate of 200 a day after the opening flurry of activity, according to a StartingDot spokesman.

The new .ski top level domain (TLD) was created to provide the snow sports community with an alternative to the crowded .com domain space with the opportunity to register sport-specific .ski domain names. Domain extensions are now available from $30 a year at more 60 online resellers, including Name.com, GoDaddy, and 101domain.com. Katie Knoch, spokesperson for StartingDot, says some domain extensions could cost as much as $79 a year.

Officials at Starting Dot say the move follows an Internet trend of companies, organizations, and individuals moving beyond conventional domain name extensions “in order to unify the innovation and passion of a specific industry.”

Before being made publically available, more than 1,000 ski resorts, brands, associations and athletes secured their .ski domain names through a limited registration period. The list includes Vail, Courchevel, St. Moritz, Rossignol, Atomic, the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA).