GRAND FORKS - With a vote for the University of North Dakota's new nickname drawing closer and the list of possibilities available to the public, precautions are being taken to protect potential names online.

The consulting company working with the school, PadillaCRT, purchased 265 website domain names so they would be available to UND.

Padilla branding expert Kelly O'Keefe said the names they bought were based on whether they were a viable choice that encompassed some of the qualities UND's nickname committee has established, such as embodying the region and being fierce.

"We made case-by-case decisions based on our own judgment on whether we thought they should obtain a name to hold it for future availability or not," O'Keefe said. "That doesn't mean we thought all those names were great names. That's not our decision to make."

O'Keefe said this practice is normal and Padilla staff went through each name individually. Some they purchased include gofightingflickertails.com, goplainers.com and unddefenders.com. A full list can be found here.

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"It's a caution in the branding business," he said.

Padilla purchased the domains for $2,197 through GoDaddy.com at a special bulk rate of $8.29 each. This cost was included in an agreement with UND.

All of them begin with "go" or "UND" and O'Keefe said this is because it's a common way to use athletic team websites.

O'Keefe said most weight was put on qualities the committee and an earlier nickname task force said they wanted after gathering public input for about four months.

"For instance, the name needs to feel fierce, and 'Howlers' felt more fierce than 'Hounds,'" he said.

The names purchased by Padilla will remain off the market for one year, O'Keefe said, while the university narrows down its options and holds a public vote.

Developing domains





UND produced a list of nearly 30 website domains already owned by UND, its Athletics Department, and School of Medicine and Health Sciences. The names are managed and renewed by the North Dakota University System.

UND spokesman Peter Johnson said the university owns more domains, but there is no complete list available. State statute does not require the school to compile one.

"It's kind of like having subscriptions to multiple publications," he said. "You might not have an actual list, but you get notices and you renew them. But it turned out the system office had a list, so that's what we're providing."

UND Vice Provost and Chief Strategy Officer Josh Riedy said the list is short because they encourage entities within the school to use offshoots of the school's und.edu domain it already owns.

Johnson said the university began buying domains in the early days of the Internet's popularity. Some aren't active but are still owned by UND, such as fightingsiouxclub.org, undfanrewards.com and davehakstol.com, named after UND's head hockey coach.

Owning the name





Some of the domains Padilla considered purchasing already were held by other entities, but Johnson said it was too early in the process to speculate whether UND was financially ready to pursue obtaining a domain name held by someone else.

For example, "Big Green" was one of the names the committee moved forward, and biggreen.com redirects to a page for the fraternity Sigma Phi Epsilon that is under construction.

O'Keefe said names could be altered to acquire a domain by adding "UND" or other words. Legal action is also a possibility that would be easier for the university if they pursued something with the phrase "UND" in it, O'Keefe said.

Riedy said once the Fighting Sioux name was retired, it cost about $1,500 to purchase undsports.com from a "random individual" who had purchased it and had been squatting on it.

O'Keefe also had heard about people purchasing domains with the intent of giving them to UND, something Johnson said Sean Johnson did frequently during his time as an employee for the Athletics Department until 2012.

"We think there are a certain percentage of names that will be donated," O'Keefe said.

This isn't quite the case with flickertails.com, Riedy said, which redirects to undsports.com. While it was originally assumed the university owned the name, Reidy said whoever owns it purchased it in August 2014 and remains anonymous.

"To the best of my knowledge, I don't know of anybody at the University of North Dakota who purchased that name," he said.

What's next





The school has an 11-person committee of students, university employees and alumni that is in the process of narrowing down a list of thousands of nickname ideas suggested by the public throughout the month of April. Those names were separated into one list of potential names and another list of names that weren't appropriate or legally available, though O'Keefe noted a time crunch led to some human error.

UND's former Fighting Sioux monicker was controversially retired in late 2012 after the NCAA threatened sanctions.

The nickname committee will meet at 6 p.m. Monday in UND's Twamley Hall when they will go through most if not all of the remaining names on the consideration list and look at any possibilities on the non-consideration list.

At that time, O'Keefe said a conversation would most likely be had about purchasing domain names for all the suggestions the committee moves forward. At their last meeting, the committee went through 500 names and moved 38 forward for continued evaluation.

NAMES PURCHASED FOR UND





These 265 website domains were purchased by the consulting firm PadillaCRT for UND to have access to once a permanent nickname is chosen. The firm will consider purchasing more depending on directions given by UND's nickname committee.

go7thcalvary.com

goaeronauts.com

goaeros.com

goallsaints.com

goamberwave.com

goantelopes.com

goarcticcats.com

goarcticfoxes.com

gobarnstormers.com

gobighorns.com

goblades.com

goblizzard.com

gocarnivores.com

gocattlemen.com

gochargingcavalry.com

gochinooks.com

goconquerers.com

goelk.com

goemeralds.com

goenforcers.com

gofightingaviators.com

gofightingflickertails.com

gofightinglegends.com

gofightingnodaks.com

gofightingroughnecks.com

gofightingstallions.com

gofightingteutons.com

gofightingvaliants.com

gofightingwarriors.com

goflatlanders.com

goflyingaces.com

goflyingaeros.com

goflyingwarriors.com

goforceofnorth.com

gograngers.com

gogreenstampede.com

gogreyhawks.com

gogreywolves.com

goguardians.com

goharvestors.com

goheartlanders.com

gohomesteaders.com

gohowlers.com

goimperials.com

golocomotives.com

gomarauders.com

gomeadowlarks.com

gomightyplainsmen.com

gonodaks.com

gonokota.com

gonordics.com

gonorseforce.com

gonorsemen.com

gonorthernwarriors.com

gonorthwind.com

gooldnorse.com

gooutlanders.com

goperegrines.com

goplainers.com

goplainsmen.com

goplainswarriors.com

goplainswolves.com

goprairiedogs.com

goprongbucks.com

gopronghorns.com

goreapers.com

gorebellion.com

gorollingthunder.com

goroughnecks.com

goscrappers.com

goscreamingeagles.com

gosentinels.com

gosentries.com

gosettlers.com

goskippers.com

goskyriders.com

gosnowdogs.com

gosnowhawks.com

gosnowyowls.com

gosodbusters.com

gosparrows.com

gospringbucks.com

gostaghorns.com

gosundogs.com

gotailflickers.com

gothornbirds.com

gothrashers.com

gothunderhawks.com

gotillers.com

gotomahawks.com

gotornadoes.com

gotrappers.com

gotsunamis.com

gotundrawolves.com

gotwisters.com

goundaunted.com

goundertakers.com

govanguards.com

govenators.com

govictors.com

govoyagers.com

gowanderers.com

gowarhammers.com

gowarriorsofthenorth.com

gowranglers.com

gozephyrs.com

gozodiacs.com

und7thcalvary.com

undaces.com

undaeronauts.com

undaeros.com

undallsaints.com

undamberwave.com

undantelopes.com

undarchers.com

undarcticcats.com

undarcticfoxes.com

undarsenal.com

undavengers.com

undaviators.com

undbarnstormers.com

undbarons.com

undbighorns.com

undblades.com

undblaze.com

undblazers.com

undblizzard.com

undbucks.com

undcarnivores.com

undcattlemen.com

undchallengers.com

undchargingcavalry.com

undchinooks.com

undcommanders.com

undconquerers.com

undcrusaders.com

unddefenders.com

undeclipse.com

undelk.com

undemeralds.com

undenforcers.com

undexplorers.com

undfightingaviators.com

undfightingflickertails.com

undfightinglegends.com

undfightingnodaks.com

undfightingroughnecks.com

undfightingstallions.com

undfightingteutons.com

undfightingvaliants.com

undfightingwarriors.com

undfirebirds.com

undflames.com

undflatlanders.com

undflight.com

undflood.com

undflyingaces.com

undflyingaeros.com

undflyingwarriors.com

undforceofnorth.com

undfreedom.com

undfrontier.com

undgenerals.com

undgladiators.com

undgrangers.com

undgreenknights.com

undgreenstampede.com

undgreyhawks.com

undgreywolves.com

undguardians.com

undhammerheads.com

undharvestors.com

undheartlanders.com

undhomesteaders.com

undhounds.com

undhowlers.com

undhunters.com

undimperials.com

undjayhawks.com

undjets.com

undlancers.com

undlegends.com

undlightning.com

undlocomotives.com

undlumberjacks.com

undmarauders.com

undmeadowlarks.com

undmightyplainsmen.com

undmountainlions.com

undnavigators.com

undnighthawks.com

undnodaks.com

undnokota.com

undnordics.com

undnorse.com

undnorseforce.com

undnorthernwarriors.com

undnorthstars.com

undnorthwind.com

undoldnorse.com

undoutlanders.com

undpanthers.com

undpatriots.com

undperegrines.com

undpioneers.com

undplainers.com

undplainsmen.com

undplainswarriors.com

undplainswolves.com

undprairiedogs.com

undpredators.com

undpride.com

undprongbucks.com

undpronghorns.com

undprowlers.com

undrampage.com

undreapers.com

undrebellion.com

undrenegades.com

undrollingthunder.com

undroughnecks.com

undscrappers.com

undscreamingeagles.com

undseminoles.com

undsentinels.com

undsentries.com

undsettlers.com

undskippers.com

undskyriders.com

undsnowdogs.com

undsnowhawks.com

undsnowyowls.com

undsodbusters.com

undsparrows.com

undspringbucks.com

undstaghorns.com

undstallions.com

undstampede.com

undstorm.com

undtailflickers.com

undthornbirds.com

undthrashers.com

undthunderhawks.com

undtillers.com

undtimberwolves.com

undtomahawks.com

undtornadoes.com

undtrappers.com

undtsunamis.com

undtundrawolves.com

undtwisters.com

undvalkyrie.com

undvanguards.com

undvenators.com

undvictors.com

undvoyagers.com

undwanderers.com

undwarhammers.com

undwarhawks.com

undwarriors.com

undwarriorsofthenorth.com

undwolfhounds.com

undwranglers.com

undzephyrs.com

undzodiacs.com