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The latest updates on New Jersey Internet Gambling Bill, gambling domains, sales, and more

Governor Chris Christie

There’s been a number of headlines this past month about internet gambling and gambling domains.  Here’s a roundup of news and gossip from around the web, with stories ranging from the New Jersey Internet Gambling Bill and ongoing negotiations for the sale of gambling.com, to 2011 domain sales and predictions. 

New Jersey Internet Gambling

I wrote earlier in the week how The New York Post was predicting New Jersey Governor Christie would veto the state’s Internet Gambling Bill.  Though it was thought Gov. Christie had until Feb. 24 to sign the bill, veto the bill, or veto the bill with conditions, otherwise it would become law if no action was taken – it appears he has longer. 

According to PokerNews, “Christie has decided that he actually has until March 3 to make the decision.  The governor’s office claims a legislative recess in New Jersey gives him the extra time, according to Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association chairman Joe Brennan Jr.” 

Another issue that was brought to light in the PokerNews article, is that the NY Post story that claimed the Governor might veto the bill, appears to be false.  PokerNews quotes Brennan: “I’ve heard people say they heard the governor is going to veto the bill,” Brennan said. “Our people are as close to the governor as anybody and they don’t know what he’s going to do because the governor hasn’t indicated to any party of this what he’s going to do. Anyone saying they know, they’re not involved in anything but rumors and prognostication.”

And while New Jersey could be the first state to legalize internet gambling, California could follow shortly thereafter.  Steven Stradbrooke of CalvinAyre.com has more on California legislation.

Gambling Domains 2011 Sales
 
The gambling domain industry had a fantastic year in 2010 in which two gambling domains sold for seven-figures:  slots.com for $5.5 million and Poker.org for $1 million.  While 2011 is just getting started, Sedo Broker Ryan J. Colby who recently brokered the top-selling domain name in 2011 so far to date with Gamesforgirls.com for $500,000, has predicted this year will be one of the best on record. 
 
“I’m making an early prediction that 2011 will see the highest number of seven figure domain name sales on record”, Ryan tweeted last week.
 
Though there haven’t been many big gambling domain sales in 2011 to date, OnlineCasinos.ca sold for $28,000 earlier this month.  And there’s a good shot Ryan’s prediction will become true, with gambling domain names like tournament.com and gambling.com on the market.   The sale of gambling.com is being brokered by Sedo, which brings me to my next headline.
 
The Sale of Gambling.com will complete during the Second Quarter
 
Speculation grew that billionaire Calvin Ayre might purchase gambling.com to add to his growing Bodog empire.  A story that appeared on BlackJack Champ even speculated he would own the name by the end of January.  Well, Media Corp Plc still owns the domain according to registrant records, but the company’s 2011 first quarter trading highlights published last month shed some light on what’s going on with gambling.com.
 
“Strong year on year growth has continued at Purple Lounge Limited, the Group’s online poker and casino business and at Eyeconomy, the Group’s wholly owned advertising network. In addition the Group is in ongoing negotiations with a number of parties for the sale of gambling.com. It is anticipated that the sale should complete during the second quarter of the financial year.”
 
Kentucky internet domain name case dragging on
 
There haven’t been many new developments in the Kentucky domain name case that has dragged on for years.  In January, lawyers representing both sides of the case filed briefs in Franklin County Circuit Court, in Frankfurt, KY, iMEGA reported.
 
“Lawyers representing iMEGA asserted the association’s right to contest the Commonwealth’s attempts to seize their members’ Web site addresses, while Kentucky’s lawyers ignored previous court rulings on standing, insisting that iMEGA and other trade associations lacked the right to appear.”
 
As iMEGA points out, “The matter now lies in the hands of Franklin County circuit court Judge Thomas Wingate, who issued the original seizure orders on the behalf of Kentucky.”
 
Have a gambling domain rumor or story tip I should know about?  Contact us or leave it in the comments. 
 
Image Credit: (Governor Photos)
 
 
Categories
News Video Games

UPDATED: Turkish casual game producer Gamegos is rumored buyer of $500,000 domain Gamesforgirls.com

gamesgos

Gamesforgirls.com is taking top honors as the top-selling domain name in 2011 so far to date, nearly doubling the price of the next highest ranking sale – Action.com – which sold for $270,000 in early February. 

While the owner of the domain name gamesforgirls.com is guarded behind Private Whois after Sedo completed the transfer this week, a reader who goes by the name “Anthony James” tipped me off earlier today about who the buyer might be.

I eliminated Bill Kara of Hallpass Media as the buyer, after speaking to Bill last week over email. 

It’s rumored that the mystery buyer who paid $500,000 for the casual games domain is Gamegos, a Turkish game producer with more than 30 million monthly active users across its network of websites. 

I contacted Gamegos to ask for more information, but haven’t received a response.  So it remains speculation at this point.

According to the Casual Games industry news site, casualnews.com, Gamegos owns casual gaming portals like oyunlar1.com, games2girls.com and didigames.com.  Games2girls.com, based on a rough traffic estimate provided by Compete, receives well over a half a million unique visitors per month.  Same with didigames.com and other sites belonging to Gamegos.

It’s only a rumor for now, but Gamegos seems to be one of the best candidates.

Updated: A spokesman for Gamegos using the email address ‘info -at- games2girls.com, wrote me early this morning and confirmed the company purchased the domain.  There was no personal info provided in the email, but Gamegos appears to be a fairly private company, so you can judge the email for yourself below.

About GamesForGirls.com

Games2Girls.com, the first popular free girl games website, online with the
title “Games for Girls” since 2006, bought the domain name “gamesforgirls.com”
for $500.000.
Being the pioneer of girl games market, Games2Girls.com already has hundreds of
exclusive games for girls and keeps developing new games continuously.
The domain gamesforgirls.com will be used for a new project targeting young
girls. It will aim to expand the girl gaming market discovering new joys.

Regards,
Games2Girls.com

Categories
News

Worldwide Media sells nearly three-quarters of a million dollars in domains

VisitBerlin

In total, of the most recent domain name sales which are not subject to a NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement), Mike Berkens’ Worldwide Media has sold $725,300 worth of domain names.  This is the total for just the publicly reported sales.  Sales are probably much higher for Worldwide Media, because as you may well know, some of the biggest domain sales never get reported due to non-disclosure agreements between the buyer and seller, that protects information one or both of the parties wants to remain secret. 

The website, located at wwmi.com, which launched in Dec. 2010, is the new corporate face for Mike Berkens’ Worldwide Media, which owns and operates over 75,000 domain names.

Operating costs for Worldwide Media

If you recall, back in early January Mike Berkens wrote a story about what it costs to operate such a large portfolio of domains. 

“We own around 75,000 domains and with a carrying cost of lets just call it an average of $10 a year meaning that we will owe $750,000  in registration fees in 2011,” wrote Mike on The Domains.

However, if the numbers are right, Worldwide Media is already off to a good start with the cost of registration fees just about covered based solely on publicly reported sales. 

Worldwide Media’s Recent Sales

The biggest sale to date of the recent domain sales (many of which go back to Dec. 2010), is VisitBerlin.com for $230,000.  Worldwide Media turned down several offers on the name, including offers for $100,000 and $150,000, before agreeing on the price for the domain which was purchased by Germany-based Berlin Tourismus Marketing GmbH.  The name which changed hands earlier this month, now re-directs to VisitBerlin.de.

Other sales included PeacefulProtests.com for $10,000, at a time when protests are spreading across the Middle East world.  Smokebreak.com sold for $20,000 to Dr. Carl E. Olson who is helping to market a quit-smoking device. 

Here’s a complete rundown of sales not subject to a NDA.

VisitBerlin.com $230K
VisitStockholm.com    $77,000
DiscountBags.com $50,000
BornRich.com    $42,000
MyRecovery.com $40,000
ReverseMortgageCalculator.com   $40,000
TheTour.com $34,000
Holland.net  $32,000
TheMeditator.com  $30,000
SmokeBreak.com $20,000
MakeupyourMind.com $17,500
OnlineCollegeRankings.com  $17,500
GotoCanada.com $13,500
BostonLuxuryApartments.com   $11,500
TalkOver.com $10,000
PeacefulProtests.com  $10,000
Tyrian.com  $7,500
KillerPrice.com   $7,500
HornyGoat.com $6,500
ChicagoFuneral.com $6,000
TradeTunes.com $5,500
indianheadpenny.com $5,500
MonsterSquad.com  $5,000
21seconds.com   $3,800
OperationalExcellence.com $3,000

If you think these are interesting sales, check out some of the other sections on Worldwide Media’s website, like Recently Rejected $10K & Above Offers or the Monthly Report – Offers At Or Above Minimum ($2,500).

Categories
News Video Games

Who paid $500,000 for Gamesforgirls.com, the top-selling domain so far in 2011?

Games for Girls

One thing is for sure: Bill Kara of Hallpass Media didn’t pay $500,000 USD for the casual games domain name, gamesforgirls.com. 

While the buyer may not be known as of yet, the seller is.  As pointed out by Jamie Zoch over at DotWeekly, what is known, is that the domain name was sold by Garry Chernoff, of NetIncome Ventures Inc, an established domain investment and web development company.

Casual gaming domain sales create buzz

Like the buzz the domain industry had in early 2010 after cookinggames.com sold for $350,000 to Bill Kara, the price paid for gamesforgirls.com in early 2011 is sure to be the topic of many discussions after the owner is revealed.

I contacted Bill Kara, the CEO of Hallpass Media, which operates one of the largest networks in the United States ) including Girlgames.com (a site roughly estimated by Compete to receive nearly 400,000 unique visitors per month), to see if he was the buyer – after speculation by many that he may have purchased the domain despite owning girlgames.com. 

And the answer was as I expected: No.   

So who paid $500K for gamesforgirls.com?

At the time of this story, the domain name still remains in Sedo’s Domain Transfer Escrow Service according to Whois, so we won’t know anything until the name is in the hands of the new owner. 

But you can bet after the new owner or website is revealed, it’ll be reported quickly.

Readers: Who do you think purchased the domain?

Categories
News

New York Post article predicts NJ Gov. Chris Christie vetoes online gambling bill

Governor Chris Christie

Online gamblers have waited patiently in New Jersey for Governor Chris Christie to sign a bill for internet gaming legislation that was passed by the New Jersey Senate in November 2010.  Now, an article in the New York Post entitled All bets off(line) is predicting that Gov. Christie will veto the bill, rather than sign the bill into law or do nothing and let the bill automatically become law in March.

Online gambling, if passed, even at the state level, could be a boom for the domain industry with respects to gambling domains.  Although, gambling domains didn’t need much help in 2010, with two domains in the Top 10 Domain Sales of 2010 totalling nearly $7 million; Slots.com and Poker.org.

So, what’s happening in New Jersey’s Office of The Governor?

“The first-term Republican has six days, until Feb. 24, to veto the bill or it becomes law.”, writes the New York Post.

“Christie is being pushed in both directions,” a source close to the situation said. “My gut tells me he is not going to sign.”

Lawmakers passed the bill on Jan. 10, hoping to breathe new life into the state’s 11 casinos — which, because of stepped-up competition from Delaware and Pennsylvania, saw monthly revenues fall by $100 million over the last two years.

Internet gaming would bring in roughly $10 million in added revenue a month, one lawmaker estimated. The cash-strapped state, which will tax online gaming revenue at a 23 percent clip, expects to pocket roughly $28 million in added revenue a year.

Critics have not been happy and speculation on what’s driven the Governor to possibly change is all over the spectrum.  An article on Calvin Ayre’s Tablog shows a photo of Gov. Christie with a gun pointing to his head.

Read more of the story in the New York Post.

Image Credit: (Governor Photos)