It's easy to think that by 2007, most professional sports teams had figured out this whole Internet thing. Yeah, funny thing about that, since one of the great examples of dot-com incompetence occurred back then, as Jerry Jones and his Dallas Cowboys organization could've snagged Cowboys.com and been operating under that domain for all these years. Now? Not so much.
When it came time to buy the domain back in mid-2007, they balked at paying their own winning bid of $275,000 because of a miscommunication.
Here's how Domain Name News reported the debacle back then:
The domain name brought in a $275,000 bid from a phone-in bidder at the recent TRAFFIC domain live auction in Hollywood, Florida. The bidder had been earlier identified to be a representative from the Dallas Cowboys NFL team. An inside source confirmed with DomainNameNews that the deal began to fall apart over a misunderstanding with the bidder on what the bid of "275" actually meant. It appears the bidder thought they were buying the domain for $275.00 rather than $275,000.
Eventually, the site sold at auction for about $100,000 more than what the Cowboys would've paid. Since then, the site has basically gathered dust for five years. But this morning, a press release went out, proclaiming a new mission for Cowboys.com, as a dating site geared toward "gay & straight dating people looking to find themselves a cowboy."
"We are extremely excited to have decided on a direction for this property. Gay dating is a primary target for this website however, we will also serve the needs of straight daters as well," said Darren Cleveland, President/CEO of City Advertising whom is part of the owners group.
"In understanding the traffic base, tens of thousands of visitors per month come to the website looking for a variety of things, dating is one of the most sought after searches. To finally be able to serve these visitors needs is a great opportunity," Mr. Cleveland went onto say.
As many states continue to pass gay marriage laws with the support of President Barack Obama, Cowboys.com will be well positioned to take advantage of the continued growth in the gay dating sector.
And the site is now very much up and running, operating under the tagline "Find Yourself a Cowboy!"
Welcome to Cowboys.com!!
Cowboys.com is an online dating community for men who enjoy the same country living lifestyle. Are you a country western cowboy looking for a man to ride into the sunset with? Come and create relationship with singles share your appreciation for the country way of life. You'll be able to find your perfect match here.
Cowboys.com: Dating Site Launched [Elliot's Blog]
Photo via Sascha Burkard/Shutterstock