Well I just asked the question during the "Getting Ready" panel at the ICANN 41 meeting.

keep in mind that the venues for asking precise questions for the purpose of obtaining accurate answers of record are tdg-legal, or the saturday gnso gtld hours ("the kurt show").

Q: How much on top of the $185K is required for a new gTLD

zero, in applicatin fee, more, where the applicant seeks extended evaluation, more, where a party with standing pays an objection fee and the applicant choses to contest the objection ("loser pays" model), ... (multiple objections are possible, though they may be consolidated). there are service level agreements that have cost consequences. there is a continuity instrument requirement, which creates a funding requirement, and upon the event triggering "continuity", a cost to the applicant. the current number is three years of operating cost, which is the likely source of your panelist's unreflected response, but the actual functional requirements for continuity are not yet defined, and therefore not fixed costs, and there are means to reduce these substantially. how fully informed an answer did you really want at an intro event staffed by commercial service or application services providers? -e