As more and more new gTLDs enter General Availability it gets harder and harder to stand out in a crowd that has now reached triple digits. For better or worse, one metric observers seize on is which new extensions rank among the top ten in popularity (as gauged by the number of names registered). 

Being in the top ten doesn't necessarily mean being among the most profitable because registration prices vary wildly from one TLD to the next. So, an extension with 10,000 registrations may be just as profitable (assuming there is a profit to begin with) as one with 20,000, if the one with lower numbers is charging twice as much for a registration.

Even so, landing in the top ten is a feather in any new TLD's cap as well as an  indicator that the 

registry operators have struck a good balance between the quality of the keyword in their extension, how attractive the price is and how applicable it is to the needs of a wide variety of people, organizations and businesses. 

In addition to having the three "top ten" attributes I mentioned earlier (keyword, price and widespread appeal) .CLUB has also benefited from an aggressive marketing effort (I would say the most proactive of any new gTLD released to date) as well as a major helping hand from the world's biggest registrar, Go Daddy, who gave their TLD very valuable front page exposure and even hosted .CLUB executives at a launch party Wednesday morning (see 1-minute video clip below).