.mlb - Major League Baseball brand gTLD

Generic top-level domainsIDNDNSSEC

Overview

.mlb is a proposed brand generic top-level domain (gTLD) applying Major League Baseball's registered "MLB" trademark as the TLD.
Applicant: MLB Advanced Media DH, LLC (MLBAM DH), a subsidiary of MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM).
Intended use: to provide a trusted, hierarchical, and intuitive namespace for MLB fans and to protect MLB's online identity and intellectual property.

History

.mlb was applied for under ICANN's New gTLD Program (Reveal Day: 13 June 2012).
Applicant: MLB Advanced Media DH, LLC.
Registry operator listed in the application metadata: Neustar.
ICANNWiki status (at time of extraction): Proposed; tld_subtype: brand; tld_type: gTLD.
Application materials and responses (including rollout plans and mission statements) were submitted as part of the formal gTLD application process.

Usage and Audience

Primary operators/users:
- MLBAM and other MLB Entities (30 member clubs in the U.S. and Canada, Office of the Commissioner, Major League Baseball Properties, etc.).
Potential third-party users (subject to MLB approval and separate agreements):
- media rightsholders
- licensees
- sponsors
- strategic partners
- sanctioned charities
Target audience: MLB fans, media partners, commercial and charitable partners associated with Major League Baseball.

Registration Rules

Initial rollout (as described in the application):
- Stage 1: MLBAM DH would register a limited set of .mlb second-level domains for testing and internal use.
- Stage 2: Allocation of domains to MLBAM and MLB Entities and evaluation of migrating existing MLB properties to .mlb.
- Stage 3: Potential controlled expansion to third parties that have qualifying commercial or charitable agreements with an MLB Entity ("Qualified Entities").
The application emphasizes restricted, controlled allocation rather than open public registrations.

SEO and Brand Impact

Stated objectives include:
- Protecting MLB's online presence, identity and intellectual property.
- Creating a trusted namespace that signals official MLB association to users.
- Providing a secure channel for sale and distribution of MLB-related content, products and services.
- Potentially expanding MLB-related online advertising, marketing and promotional efforts.

Notable Cases or Examples

The application cites MLBAM's existing online portfolio and capabilities as context for the .mlb gTLD, including:
- MLB.com (official site) and official club sites (e.g., club domains such as cardinals.com cited as examples).
- WorldSeries.com and other MLB-branded web properties.
- MLB.TV live video subscription service (live webcasts distributed globally).
- MLB.com At Bat mobile app (early adopter on iPhone and a high-grossing app category example).
- 2011 metrics referenced in the application: MLB.com-branded services received more than two billion visitors and distributed over 15 billion minutes of multimedia in 2011.

Operator

MLB Advanced Media DH, LLC

Whois

% IANA WHOIS server
% for more information on IANA, visit http://www.iana.org
% This query returned 1 object

domain:       MLB

organisation: MLB Advanced Media DH, LLC
address:      75 Ninth Avenue
address:      New York NY 10011
address:      United States of America (the)

contact:      administrative
name:         Domain Administrator
organisation: MLB Advanced Media, L.P.
address:      1271 Avenue of the Americas
address:      9th Fl.
address:      New York NY 10020
address:      United States of America (the)
phone:        +1 212-485-3444
fax-no:       +1 212-485-8111
e-mail:       mlbam-dh@mlb.com

contact:      technical
name:         IANA Contact
organisation: GoDaddy Registry
address:      100 S. Mill Ave, Suite 1600
address:      Tempe AZ 85281
address:      United States of America (the)
phone:        +1 480 505 8800
fax-no:       +1 480 624 2546
e-mail:       iana@registry.godaddy

nserver:      A.NIC.MLB 2001:dcd:1:0:0:0:0:9 37.209.192.9
nserver:      B.NIC.MLB 2001:dcd:2:0:0:0:0:9 37.209.194.9
nserver:      C.NIC.MLB 2001:dcd:3:0:0:0:0:9 37.209.196.9
nserver:      NS1.DNS.NIC.MLB 156.154.144.113 2610:a1:1071:0:0:0:0:71
nserver:      NS2.DNS.NIC.MLB 156.154.145.113 2610:a1:1072:0:0:0:0:71
nserver:      NS3.DNS.NIC.MLB 156.154.159.113 2610:a1:1073:0:0:0:0:71
ds-rdata:     8650 8 2 218d67dc41c6696c577288447524e3588673894ac178ab6ec2d0f3c1fda09a9e

whois:        

status:       ACTIVE
remarks:      Registration information: http://www.mlb.com

created:      2016-05-05
changed:      2024-05-11
source:       IANA