According to an article in the Herald Sun, the Australian Football League (AFL) has applied for the .AFL domain in the new Top Level Domain program currently under way by ICANN. Applications in the first round are accepted until April 12th, 2012. The AFL does not own AFL.com.

[...] Andrew Callerall, the leagues General Manager of strategic marketing, has admitted the move was partly made to defend it from another organisation buying the address.

“The primary reasons for us looking to secure it are to protect the space and for the commercial and marketing over time,” Mr Callerall said.

“We just thought it wise to make the application and secure it now and we think within 10 years or 20 years down the track it could be a key driver.”

If there are other applications applying for the same TLD string, the AFL might have to continue their bidding in an auction.

[via The Herald Sun]

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