The .FAN new gTLD finally launches

I was about to entitle this post "the .FAN new gTLD re-launches" but in fact, it never launched: it existed...but never launched. The new gTLD report dedicated to Singular VS Plural new gTLD tracked registrations since 2016 but the Sunrise Period itself had not been announced and the Trademark Clearinghouse calendar says nothing about it until...recently. That might sound strange but some new gTLDs are in this exact same position: they've existed for years but they've not launched yet (the .CONTACT and .FORUM new gTLDs for example).

When

• Sunrise Period starts: Tuesday, 2 October, 2018 - 16:00;
• Sunrise Period ends: Saturday, 1 December, 2018 - 16:00.

What
Extracted from the application submitted to the ICANN, Donuts, which announced the acquisition of the TLD in June 2018, does not say much about the benefit to use a ".fan" domain name: "This TLD is attractive and useful to end-users as it better facilitates search, self-expression, information sharing and the provision of legitimate goods and services. Along with the other TLDs in the Donuts family, this TLD will provide Internet users with opportunities for online identities and expression that do not currently exist." and it also says things like"This TLD is a generic term and its second level names will be attractive to a variety of Internet users. Making this TLD available to a broad audience of registrants is consistent with the competition goals of the New TLD expansion program, and consistent with ICANN’s objective of maximizing Internet participation."

I personally like the descriptiveness ot the TLD since the word "Fan" makes no doubt about what you will find behind such a domain name.

Singular or Plural?
There is another .FANS new gTLD ("fan" with an "s") which already has 1,500 something domain names registered and since the risk is high to use such a domain name without owning the exact same second level domain in both versions of the extension, I would suggest to buy two domain names instead of just one.

Good to know
And if you are a sports' fan, the restricted .SPORT new gTLD launches its Sunrise Period tomorrow.