Last week PokerStars purchased the domain DanielNegreanu.com for $6,710 on Afternic. Within days, the largest poker site on the internet had a web site live. And this isn’t the first time that PokerStars has purchased the domain name of a world famous poker player. The Isle of Man-based poker company owns hundreds of poker-related names including the domain and website of Chris Moneymaker.
Prior to PokerStars acquiring the domain, DanielNegreanu.com was owned by FullContactPoker.com, a popular poker forum and informational site, whose most popular member is Daniel Negreanu himself. In 2007, Daniel became a member of Team PokerStars which includes other top pro poker players from around the world such as Chris Moneymaker, Joe Cada, Vanessa Rousso, Greg Raymer and Joe Hachem. But that didn’t change anything on the FCP’s web site, where Daniel Negreanu still runs a video diary and writes an online journal.
Team PokerStars – Famous Pro Poker Players
Team PokerStars sponsors several professional players, while also owning and operating their domain names and web sites, including JoeHachem.com and ChrisMoneymaker.com. But PokerStars doesn’t own them all. Other players on Team PokerStars like Joe Cada have a fan site setup at JoeCada.com. GregRaymer.com is the website of Raymer Real Estate Services, while BertrandGrospellier.com is the unofficial blog of Bertrand Grospellier and is owned by Gt Holdings LLC, a company that owns over 2,000 domains.
PokerStars doesn’t seem to mind paying for the names either. But is it possible the players just don’t care about owning their virtual names?
The name of a famous poker player is a brand and owning the virtual space associated with it is important. Likely Daniel Negreanu and Chris Moneymaker have some kind of deal that gives PokerStars the option to operate their web sites now while they are part of the company’s pro poker team. And get the domains back later, as all famous poker players seem to ultimately branch out and make money in a variety of other channels.
