Bengals principal owner Mike Brown will now own a bigger chuck of the franchise. The team announced that the existing owners of the team have exercised the contractual right to match an offer made by a group of New York investors for a minority interest in the team held by Austin E. "Dutch" Knowlton. "This transaction solidifies the local ownership of the Cincinnati Bengals, with the Brown family continuing to hold the controlling interest," the team announced. However, the most intriguing line of the team-issued release was the last one. "We are proud to be the owners of the NFL's Cincinnati franchise," Mike Brown said, on behalf of the Brown family. "We are committed to steps that will continue the Bengals as an asset for Greater Cincinnati." That Brown would even mention keeping the team in "Greater Cincinnati" implies the existence of a possibility that the team would leave "Greater Cincinnati." It's a possibility that has never been seriously mentioned, especially since the team plays in a fairly new stadium for which the taxpayers of "Greater Cincinnati" footed most if not all of the bill.