THE ATHLETIC’s Brittany Ghiroli notes in the two years since the Nationals began looking at potential investors and buyers for the team the Commanders have "changed hands" and the Orioles have "agreed to a sale." However, the Lerners "haven't gotten an offer that matches what they think" the Nationals are worth. But if MASN, which is “expected to be included” in the Orioles’ sale, gets resolved in all this, Ghiroli asks then “what’s the holdup? Will the Lerners sell or not?” The organization has been “under a cloud of uncertainty for the short and long term.” The time to pick a clear direction “should be now” (THE ATHLETIC, 2/1).
RIP THE RUNWAY: In Philadelphia, Brooke Destra noted A thread on X "shared an eBay listing of what could possibly be" an unofficial leak of the Phillies’ City Connect uniforms. The design influence reportedly will be "taken from Philadelphia's flag.” Destra: "Does the colorway match the initial report? Yes. Do the league and brand logos look legitimate? Yes. Does the packaging and tags align with Nike? Yes. So, is it confirmed? Nope” (NBCSPORTSPHILADELPHIA.com, 1/31).
FINDING A HOME: In Cincinnati, Abby Miller reports FC Cincinnati's MLS Next Pro affiliate FC Cincinnati 2 will “permanently locate” at Northern Kentucky Univ.’s Scudamore Field. Since its inception in 2022, FC Cincinnati 2 has “played the vast majority of its games at Scudamore Field.” Its 2022 schedule "included one game" at the Mercy Health Training Center -- FC Cincinnati’s $35M training facility in Milford -- and another at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati’s West End. It “similarly played one game at TQL” during the 2023 season (CINCINNATI BUSINESS COURIER, 2/1).
