Back in 2007, the Dallas Cowboys organization had the winning bid on the URL “Cowboys.com,” but because of some confusion during the auction, didn’t pay up in time and the domain went to another bidder. For years it sat dormant, but now it’s gone live—as a dating site for rugged cowboy-types looking for a pardner to get all Brokeback with.
“Are you a country western cowboy looking for a man to ride into the sunset with? Come and create relationship[s] with singles [who] share your appreciation for the country way of life,” reads the come-on on Cowboys.com. “You’ll be able to find your perfect match here.”
Obviously this is no tragedy—and it might open a few people’s minds. “We are extremely excited to have decided on a direction for this property,” said Cowboy.com co-owner Darren Cleveland recently said in a press release. “Gay dating is a primary target for this website. However, we will also serve the needs of straight daters as well.”
DomainNameNews.com reports that the whole problem came from the fact that when the rep from Dallas Cowboys bid on the domain name, he thought “275” meant he was bidding $275—not the actual $275.000.
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We’re guessing he’s not with the organization anymore.
BritAus
HOT !
Australia needs something like this.
ncman
Another day, another misleading headline at Queerty.
The entity that has always owned this website finally decides what to use it for and you describe it as a “takeover” implying that they somehow stole the site from its rightful owner.
Then in the story you write these two statement that make no sense when taken together:
first,
“because of some confusion during the auction, didn’t pay up in time and the domain went to another bidder”
then
“DomainNameNews.com reports that the whole problem came from the fact that when the rep from Dallas Cowboys bid on the domain name, he thought “275? meant he was bidding $275—not the actual $275.000.”
How does not being willing to pay the price he bid become a “timing” issue? You make it sound like the Cowboys organization fully intended to pay the 275,000 and just missed some arbitrary deadline.
Gigi Gee
@ncman: You beat me to it. I don’t expect bona fide journalists here at Queerty but this headline is just not accurate. The Cowboys didn’t purchase the domain name, someone else did and now it’s a gay dating service.
mlbumiller
read the orig articale,,, the cowboys refused to pay the $250,000. ( Like the couldn’t afford to pay that). The next week it sold for $370,000, and paid by the current owner’s. So, in a way the Dallas Cowboys did own it, but lost it do to lack of payment.
Interesting that the DCB were offered the site by the original ower, but they tried to lowball him, so he put it up for auction. He used the cash to buy a new tractor and restored his ’68 Camero.
The whole point of a headline is to grab a reader’s attention to the article.
Trainman2005
Hasn’t anybody even looked at the site? You try to do anything on it, and it makes you sign up to “Millionaire Match.com. It has nothing to do with cowboys, and is mostly setup for heterosexuals.