Applicants running an open registry like .food as opposed to a closed, company-focused gTLD like .ibm, will have a lot of business competition, Ernst said. But the new gTLDs may not need "massive volumes" like .com has in order to be successful, he said.

"They just have to have enough of an annuity stream from a niche community around that term," he said.

Ernst downplayed concerns that some applicants won't have the technical ability to run a registry. ICANN should weed out some shaky applicants, and some others will likely withdraw their applications.

Other applicants without registry experience will likely partner established registry operators like VeriSign and Neustar, he said.

"Anyone with any intelligence, I think, is going to be using a third-party registry service provider, to manage all the technology infrastructure," he added.