The domain Cowboys.com was bought at the TRAFFIC East live domain auction by the Dallas Cowboys via a $275,000 phone bid. However, an attorney from the Dallas Cowboys later said they thought the sale price was $275 and not $275,000, so they backed off the deal!

The domain then went into a silent auction and a group of domain investors around domainer Eric Rice collected money to buy this one-word generic domain. The winning bid was $370,000, so the domain sold for almost $100K more than the Dallas Cowboys’ bid just a couple of days later.

More info on Rick’s blog:

Team of domainers score a touchdown

I was in the back of the room at TRAFFIC EAST when the phone bid came in and the Dallas Cowboys bought cowboys.com for $275,000. The room erupted in applause. The celebration was short lived.

In a stunning development yesterday the “Attorney” for the Dallas Football team said days later that he thought the price was $275 and not $275,000. That just does not pass the laugh test. I could not take my family to the Dallas Cowboys football game for $275. The cost to BID was more than $275. I am sure there is more here than what meets the eye. Time tells all.

As domainers learned about this yesterday,,,,,disbelief was the keyword followed by laughter as the story circulated through the entire industry and then the news media.

Discussions began and then Eric Rice who has been interested in the domain and associated business for the past 6 months made a post on my private chatboard shortly after noon and began the process of putting a group together in just HOURS to buy this spectacular domain name. By 7:30PM it was ours and the new team of 20 investors had won the prize. The folks involved may or may not identify themselves. I just did with a stake of a little more than 9%.

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Dallas Cowboys Return Cowboys.com Domain Name