To be honest I'm not a huge football fan, however a decision by the AFL caught my eye this past week. The sporting organisation plans to be the first major Aussie brand to have its own top-level internet domain.

Rather than being stuck with a mainstream '.com' or '.com.au' address, the AFL has announced it will bid for the '.afl' TLD. If successful, it could spark a national rush to acquire the latest must-have accessory in the online world.

Traditionally TLDs have been limited to a few well-chosen extensions administered by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). But now the playing field has changed.

With enough money in their pocket (Around $50,000 is needed to set one up), any commercial entity can bid to create their own extension. Just wait for '.nrl' and '.aleague' in the football world as well as just about any business name you care to nominate.

But while the looming TLD name rush has many web watchers very excited, others think it might all be an expensive waste of time. They point to the fact that most internet users get to their favourite on-line destinations via a search engine rather than by typing in an entire URL.

If that's the case, will a spanking new TLD really be worth the money it will cost? Will most people even notice?

A plethora of new TLDs will change the fabric of the internet, but will they actually add value for the businesses that stump up the cash to get them?

I'm not convinced.