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Happy new year expected for domain industry, says ICANN
ICANN’s revenue for 2026 is expected to be significantly above its earlier predictions, and it isn’t just because the Org cranked up its registry and registrar fees last year.
The budget for fiscal 2027, published shortly before Christmas, paints a picture of a much healthier domain industry than earlier thought.
The budget revises expectations for the Org’s current fiscal 2026 upwards in terms of transactions (meaning registrations, renewals and transfers) for gTLDs both new and old.
ICANN now expects legacy gTLD transactions for FY26, which ends June 30, to come in 7.7 million or 4.3% ahead of the predictions contained in the budget for the period its board approved last May.
Transactions are now expected to be 187.5 million versus the earlier estimate of 179.8 million.
It’s a similar story in new gTLDs, where transactions are now predicted at 43.1 million versus 33.1 million, a 10 million or 30.2% difference in estimates December versus May.
ICANN says in its draft FY27 budget (pdf) that the uptick became apparent about a year ago:
Beginning in the second half of FY25 [about a year ago], domain name transaction volumes began to increase, which was unexpected at the time of budgeting for FY25. Continued transaction volume growth and upward guidance from the industry resulted in an increased funding forecast for FY26, a trend that is expected to continue in FY27.
Due to this bullishness, the Org has no plans to raise its fees in FY27.
The growth spurt means that ICANN now thinks FY26 funding for operations will come in $11.6 million ahead of budget — $161.4 million compared to the $149.8 million it budgeted for six months ago.
The Org also expects to end its FY26 with about 400 more accredited registrars and about 20 more contracted registries than it thought. Likely due to drop-catcher registrars and dot-brand registries.
None of these figures include the upcoming new gTLD application round, which will not create any new fee-paying registries for some time.
For FY27, which begins July 1, ICANN is expecting transactions to hit 191.9 million and 44.4 million, growth of 2% and 3%, for legacy and new gTLDs respectively. That’s compared to the newly updated FY26 guidance.
ICANN is budgeting for $161.1 million in operations funding for FY27, down a bit on the $161.4 million it’s now predicting for FY26, due to lower application fees from new registrars seeking accreditation.
The draft budget is open for public comment until February 12.
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