Activision Pays Community College $35k for a Web Domain

A letter hand-delivered to Sussex County Community College President Paul Mazur on February 14 has managed to net the school $35,000 dollars for a web domain. The story begins on that date when the new president of the community college received a letter offer of $7,500 for the domain name the school paid $5 to reserve: Skylanders.com. Skylanders happens to be the name of SCCC's athletic teams, the only college or high school with that team nickname in the country, in fact. It is also the name of an upcoming game from Activision.

"It didn't take us too long to find out who was behind it," said Kathleen Scott, director of marketing and public relations for the school, "and why."

Mazur told the college's Board of Trustees on Tuesday that he was new and didn't know who was behind the offer at the time.

"I was new. I didn't know who was behind it at the time. It came from an attorney, but if the offer was $7,500, I felt we needed to look into it more."

After a bit of back-and-forth between the school and lawyers for Activision, the publisher cut the school a check for $35,000.

Scott says that the school is also looking at creating "a working relationship" between Activision and the college.

"We are, after all, the only school with the name Skylanders," she said. "There's team sponsorships, naming rights to be considered here."

The school also owns Skylander.org.

Source: New Jersey Harald