In mid-2009, I wrote about the exact match team .com domain names owned by the teams or leagues in the 4 major US sports leagues (MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL). At that time, NBA teams owned 76.7% of the EMD team domain names, MLB teams owned 73.3% of the EMD team domain names, NFL teams owned 53.1% of the EMD team domain names, and NHL teams owned 26.7% of the EMD team domain names.
This morning, I had another look at the team and league domain names to see how much this percentage changed over the past 8 years, and here is what I found:
Percentage of teams that own their .com team name:
NBA: 76.7%
MLB: 90%
NFL: 56.3%
NHL: 25.8%
The league that had the greatest increase in exact match team nickname .com domain names was Major League Baseball. Teams or the MLB acquired five team .com domain names since the publication of my article. Only three MLB teams do not own their nickname.com domain name, and in the case of the Giants.com, it is because another professional sports team owns the domain name.
Throughout the major sports leagues, there have been a few new teams added, a couple of name changes, and I previously left off a couple of teams in error, which is one reason the NHL percentage changed (sorry!). One thing I noticed is that quite a few exact match team .com domain names that aren’t owned by the teams may be available for sale. You can visit domain names such as RedWings.com, Oilers.com, and Predators.com to see messaging on the landing pages.
I broke this out by the individual leagues and teams below. If the team acquired its exact match nickname .com domain name since my initial report in 2009, I bolded the domain name.
National Hockey League Teams – Do they own team name .com?
Anaheim Ducks No – Ducks.com
Arizona Coyotes No – Coyotes.com
Boston Bruins No – Bruins.com
Buffalo Sabres Yes – Sabres.com
Calgary Flames No – Flames.com
Carolina Hurricanes Yes – Hurricanes.com
Chicago Blackhawks.com – No Update: Yes – Blackhawks.com
Colorado Avalanche No – Avalanche.com
Columbus Blue Jackets Yes – BlueJackets.com
Dallas Stars No – Stars.com
Detroit Red Wings No – RedWings.com
Edmonton Oilers No – Oilers.com
Florida Panthers No – Panthers.com
Los Angeles Kings No – Kings.com
Minnesota Wild Yes – Wild.com
Montreal Canadiens Yes – Canadiens.com
Nashville Predators No – Predators.com
New Jersey Devils No – Devils.com
New York Islanders No – Islanders.com
New York Rangers No – Rangers.com
Ottawa Senators Yes – Senators.com
Philadelphia Flyers No – Flyers.com
Pittsburgh Penguins No – Penguins.com
San Jose Sharks No – Sharks.com
St. Louis Blues No – Blues.com
Tampa Bay Lightning No – Lightning.com
Toronto Maple Leafs Yes – MapleLeafs.com
Vancouver Canucks Yes – Canucks.com
Vegas Golden Knights.com No – GoldenKnights.com
Washington Capitals No – Capitals.com
Winnipeg Jets No – Jets.com
National Basketball League Teams – Do they own team name .com?
Atlanta Hawks Yes – Hawks.com
Boston Celtics Yes – Celtics.com
Brooklyn Nets No – Nets.com
Charlotte Hornets Yes – Hornets.com
Chicago Bulls Yes – Bulls.com
Cleveland Cavaliers No – Cavaliers.com
Dallas Mavericks No – Mavericks.com
Denver Nuggets Yes – Nuggets.com
Detroit Pistons Yes – Pistons.com
Golden State Warriors Yes – Warriors.com
Houston Rockets Yes – Rockets.com
Indiana Pacers Yes – Pacers.com
LA Clippers Yes – Clippers.com
LA Lakers Yes – Lakers.com
Memphis Grizzlies Yes – Grizzlies.com
Miami Heat Yes – Heat.com
Milwaukee Bucks Yes – Bucks.com
Minnesota Timberwolves Yes – Timberwolves.com
New Orleans Pelicans Yes – Pelicans.com
New York Knicks Yes – Knicks.com
Oklahoma City Thunder No – Thunder.com
Orlando Magic No – Magic.com
Philadelphia 76ers Yes – 76ers.com
Phoenix Suns Yes – Suns.com
Portland Trail Blazers Yes – TrailBlazers.com
Sacramento Kings Yes – Kings.com
San Antonio Spurs Yes – Spurs.com
Toronto Raptors Yes – Raptors.com
Utah Jazz No – Jazz.com
Washington Wizards No – Wizards.com
National Football League Teams – Do they own team name .com?
Arizona Cardinals No – Cardinals.com
Atlanta Falcons No – Falcons.com
Baltimore Ravens No – Ravens.com
Buffalo Bills No – Bills.com
Carolina Panthers Yes – Panthers.com
Chicago Bears No – Bears.com
Cincinnati Bengals Yes – Bengals.com
Cleveland Browns Yes – Browns.com
Dallas Cowboys No – Cowboys.com
Denver Broncos No – Broncos.com
Detroit Lions No – Lions.com
Green Bay Packers Yes – Packers.com
Houston Texans No – Texans.com
Indianapolis Colts Yes – Colts.com
Jacksonville Jaguars Yes – Jaguars.com
Kansas City Chiefs Yes – Chiefs.com
Los Angeles Chargers Yes – Chargers.com
Los Angeles Rams – No – Rams.com
Miami Dolphins Yes – Dolphins.com
Minnesota Vikings Yes – Vikings.com
New England Patriots Yes – Patriots.com
New Orleans Saints No – Saints.com
New York Giants Yes – Giants.com
New York Jets No – Jets.com
Oakland Raiders Yes – Raiders.com
Philadelphia Eagles No – Eagles.com
Pittsburgh Steelers Yes – Steelers.com
San Francisco 49ers Yes – 49ers.com
Seattle Seahawks Yes – Seahawks.com
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Yes – Buccaneers.com
Tennessee Titans No – Titans.com
Washington Redskins Yes – Redskins.com
Major League Baseball Teams – Do they own team name .com?
Arizona Diamondbacks Yes – Diamondbacks.com
Atlanta Braves Yes – Braves.com
Baltimore Orioles Yes – Orioles.com
Boston Red Sox Yes – RedSox.com
Chicago Cubs Yes – Cubs.com
Chicago White Sox Yes – WhiteSox.com
Cincinnati Reds Yes – Reds.com
Cleveland Indians Yes – Indians.com
Colorado Rockies Yes – Rockies.com
Detroit Tigers Yes – Tigers.com
Florida Marlins Yes – Marlins.com
Houston Astros Yes – Astros.com
Kansas City Royals Yes – Royals.com
Los Angeles Angels Yes – Angels.com
Los Angeles Dodgers Yes – Dodgers.com
Milwaukee Brewers Yes – Brewers.com
Minnesota Twins No – Twins.com
New York Mets Yes – Mets.com
new york yankees Yes – yankees.com
Oakland Athletics Yes – Athletics.com
Philadelphia Phillies Yes – Phillies.com
Pittsburgh Pirates Yes – Pirates.com
San Diego Padres Yes – Padres.com
San Francisco Giants No – Giants.com
Seattle Mariners Yes – Mariners.com
St. Louis Cardinals Yes – Cardinals.com
Tampa Bay Rays No – Rays.com
Texas Rangers Yes – Rangers.com
Toronto Blue Jays Yes – BlueJays.com
Washington Nationals Yes – Nationals.com
Wow great research Eliott.
That was a good read, some of those team names are super generic, but also have deep pocketed owners who could make the call, still go back to the cowboys saga.
We own LAFUTBOL.com but surprisingly our few emails to the LA Futbol (soccer) team went unanswered.
You mean the Los Angeles Football Club?
I don’t blame that, horrible name for US Market, do your homework.
Thanks Elliot!
I can’t believe the Dallas Cowboys don’t own Cowboys.com. They are one of the 5 most valuable sports franchises in the world.
Are you aware of the history of the Cowboys.com domain name? If not, here is some history:
https://domaininvesting.com/?s=cowboys.com
Elliot thanks for the link. I read about the Nets.com tension, but not the Cowboys.com story.
Yeah – amusing story. Here’s another article:
https://www.computerworld.com/article/2539392/networking/dallas-cowboys-buy–then-pass–on-pricey-cowboys-com-domain.html
I found this story you wrote in 2012:
https://domaininvesting.com/cowboys-com-dating-site-launched/
I read the article and visited Cowboys.com. There is no dating site up, but a lander for a minimum offer of $370K. I’m shocked that the Cowboys didn’t bite the bullet on this one; you’d think that a couple ads on the site from major corps alone would pay the acquisition cost. I mean didn’t that massive Jumbotron (depreciating asset) probably cost $300k!.
A problem for the domain seller is that it could be another WashingtonJournal.com transaction waiting to happen. Any non-Cowboys TM buyer needs to be careful.
Elliot this is a great article. Thank you for the day after day info in the domain industry!