The Washington Football Team is getting a new name on 2 February. But an internet address is causing an uproar: did the franchise itself leak the new name in a glitch or is it a false trail?

Munich – On 2 February, the Washington football team plans to officially announce its new franchise name and logo. But an internet leak may have pre-empted the official announcement.

As resourceful users discovered on Tuesday, the domain www.washingtonadmirals.com led directly to the team’s current homepage www.washingtonfootball.com.

The question is: Has the team itself already reserved the new internet address, but put it online too early? It would also be possible that the address was registered by another person and was intended to lay precisely this false trail. In the meantime, the URL leads to a non-profit organisation from Atlanta.

The fact is: Washington Admirals is one of the nine names reportedly still in the running. And: Combinations with the other traded names “Armada”, “Presidents”, “Brigade”, “Redhawks”, “Red Hogs”, “Commanders” and “Defenders” did not lead to the official team page.

So will the Washington Admirals soon be in the NFL? Final certainty will probably only come on 2 February.