Looks like an application to apply is $185K, takes 4 months to process, and around a year to get approved. Not including costs for any legal or infrastructure needed to support your gTLD.
The entire scheme benefits squatters (who register .shoes, .bacon, and 50 others) over legitimate users (who will get only say, .fedex). Once you Spend ~$800k in base costs (registry software, DNS infrastructure, etc), you just tack on an extra $200k for each extra name you want.