.CLUB Domains,LLC ,announced that it has won the rights to the new generic top level domain name (gTLD) .CLUB.

You can read the press release after the jump :

"The Internet domain game got a new player today as .Club Domains, LLC has won the rights to the new generic top level domain (gTLD) name .CLUB. The .CLUB name was obtained in the first private auction to be completed since ICANN began the new gTLD process and signals a historic step forward as the global Internet expands beyond the current 21 generic top-level domain names, including .com and .net.

The company also announced that it has exercised its option to complete a $7 million funding round, paving the way for .Club’s CEO Colin Campbell, the founder of Tucows and Hostopia, to bring his experience building and growing successful technology and Internet companies to this next frontier of Internet domains.

"We are thrilled to have won the first gTLD private auction and now be in a position to ensure that .CLUB is one of the first new generic domain names to come to market worldwide," said Campbell. "We believe that very few new domain names carry the inherent marketing message and global recognition that the name ‘club’ represents. What .COM has done for companies, .CLUB will do for membership organizations of all sizes." Campbell noted that .CLUB has consistently been among the top 20 new generic TLD's across numerous pre-registration sites.

With the auction for the name now complete, subject to ICANN application approval, .CLUB will be among the first new generic TLD's to come to market. Domains like Golf.club, Poker.club and Book.club should hit the market in late 2013 or early 2014. In addition to acting as the worldwide .CLUB registry, the company has plans to offer .CLUB domain name registrants a web and mobile social platform designed specifically for member engagement and management, making it easy for clubs of any kind to establish themselves on the internet.

“I created .Club Domains with the vision to help bring together people who have similar ideas, hobbies, or interests and create the easiest way to find, join or start a club on the internet,” added Campbell. “Names with the .CLUB extension will allow any kind of affinity group, hobbyists, sports enthusiasts and more to easily find or create a site where like-minded people can come together, get information and share interests.”

Campbell, the founder of Tucows and Hostopia, is a Toronto-born serial entrepreneur based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. .CLUB is one of the new top level domain names applied for since ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) opened the application process in January 2012. The other participants in the .CLUB auction were Donuts Inc, who has applied for 306 new gTLD names, and Merchant Law Group, who applied for eight domains. .CLUB is the only name applied for by .Club Domains. Major companies and brands including, Google, Amazon, Nike and others have also applied for new gTLD names.

About .Club Domains, LLC

Led by Internet entrepreneur Colin Campbell, whose prior successes include Tucows Interactive and Hostopia.com, .Club Domains, LLC was formed for the purpose of becoming the .CLUB gTLD registry. Fully understanding the inherent marketing value of a .CLUB domain for any membership organization, .Club Domains is also building a comprehensive social platform for club management. .Club Domains is a one-stop shop for clubs of all sizes to secure a great domain, grow club membership, improve member engagement and reduce management costs. By combining an easy to use web services platform with a top level domain based on a globally recognized term, .CLUB is “the easiest way to find, join or start a club.” More information and pre-registration of .CLUB domains is available now at http://www.dotclub.com."