The sale of what was supposed to be the most valuable domain name in the entire gambling industry was confirmed earlier today as Media Corp reported that gambling.com was sold to an anonymous bidder for $2.5m (£1.5m)
It was supposed to be the straw that broke the camels back in terms of domain name acquisitions in the online gaming industry. How gambling.com simply scoffed at the suggestion it wouldn’t reach its $9million reserve and beyond. Now the accumulation of egg on Media Corp’s face is all too plain to see. Media Corp had themselves valued the domain on their balance sheet at $4.25m (£2.6m) that means a one off loss of $1.75m (£1.1m).
Justin Drummond, CEO, Media Corporation plc, commented: “The sale of Gambling.com brings a significant boost to the Group’s already substantial cash reserves; we have recently seen a number of exciting acquisition opportunities in the online gaming and online advertising space. The successful sale of www.gambling.com has given the Group more than adequate financial resources to pursue these acquisition opportunities aggressively.”
Whilst the release also added that the Directors “consider the sale and realization of cash to be a satisfactory result.”
The fact that the sale didn’t get close to the $13m paid last year for Sex.com won’t disappoint Media Corp a helluva lot, although Calvin Ayre’s purchase of Slots.com for $5.5m may irk them slightly. Slots.com going for more than this domain also supports the fact that specific domain names are a deal more valuable than a generic one such as gambling.com.
The identity of the winner is a closely guarded secret and with the Bodog Brand still yet to comment on the sale it could be literally anyone that has ended up with this sought after domain name.
