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The New York City Marathon scheduled for Nov. 1 was canceled Wednesday because of the coronavirus pandemic. New York Road Runners announced the cancellation of the world’s largest marathon after coordinating with the mayor’s office and deciding the race posed too many health and safety concerns for runners, volunteers, spectators and others. “While the marathon is an iconic and beloved event in our city, I applaud New York Road Runners for putting the health and safety of both spectators and runners first,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement.

By Gabe Lacques USA TODAYWhile Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association failed to find common ground after a month of jousting in the midst of a global pandemic, leading to MLB implementing a 60-game 2020 schedule, they did agree on health and safety protocols on Tuesday, opening the door for a most unique season that they hope to begin in July.

Bubba Wallace is the only full-time Black driver in the Cup Series and was instrumental in convincing NASCAR to ban the Confederate flag.       

By Jeff ZillgittUSA TODAYNBA Commissioner Adam Silver and other high-ranking NBA officials plan to propose a finish to the 2019-20 season that includes 22 teams, a play-in tournament for the final seeds in each conference and a 16-team playoff at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex just outside of Orlando, Florida, a person with knowledge of the details told USA TODAY Sports. The person requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly until owners vote on the proposal.

The NCAA Division I Council voted Wednesday to lift a moratorium on voluntary workouts by football and basketball players effective June 1 as a growing number of college leaders expressed confidence that fall sports will be possible in some form despite concerns about the coronavirus pandemic

By Dan WolkenUSA TODAYFor all its pageantry and popularity, college football has long been a disorganized, beautiful disaster with nobody in charge to make the hard decisions or drive a meaningful agenda for improving the game. It is, fundamentally, a sport run by a committee of bureaucrats with little incentive to do anything but advance whatever is in the perceived competitive and financial interests of their conferences.

The NFL has set protocols for reopening team facilities and has told the 32 teams to have them in place by May 15. In a memo sent by Commissioner Roger Goodell and obtained Wednesday night by The Associated Press, several phases of the protocols were laid out.

Don Shula, the former Miami Dolphins coach who led the undefeated 1972 team that stands alone in NFL history, died Monday at 90.        

By Dan WolkenUSA TODAYThe NCAA took a dramatic step Wednesday toward allowing college athletes to earn income for things like product endorsements and social media content when its Board of Governors approved a broad set of recommendations to address an issue that has put college sports leaders under significant political pressure over the last year. With state legislatures across the country passing or looking into laws that would allow for college athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness and members of Congress also sounding the alarm on the issue, what the NCAA announced Wednesday represents a significant change from prior NCAA policy. “Allowing promotions and third-party endorsements is uncharted territory," Ohio State president and Board of Governors chairman Michael Drake said in a release. Still, it’s unclear whether the NCAA’s action to broaden name, image and likeness rights will be enough to get lawmakers to back down.

By Bob NightengaleUSA TODAYMaybe it’s a dream scenario. Maybe it’s premature to get excited. Then again, maybe it just might work. Major League Baseball officials have become cautiously optimistic this week that the season will start in late June, and no later than July 2, playing at least 100 regular-season games, according to three executives with knowledge of the talks.

USA TODAY Sports provides live coverage of Day 2 at the NFL draft, including updates and analysis on every pick from the second and third rounds.        

Stay up to date with every pick in the first round of the 2020 NFL draft with our tracker, which will provide analysis on picks        

The PGA Tour announced on Thursday the latest schedule changes in hopes of salvaging a 2019-2020 season plagued by the COVID-19 global pandemic.       

By Bob NightengaleUSA TODAYPHOENIX — How about the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies being divisional rivals for the season? Or the Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves? And the Los Angeles Dodgers and Cleveland Indians? Major League Baseball, assessing myriad proposals, has discussed a radical plan that would eliminate the traditional American and National Leagues for 2020, a high-ranking official told USA TODAY Sports, and realign all six divisions for an abbreviated season. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the proposal is one of several being discussed. The plan would have all 30 teams returning to their spring training sites in Florida and Arizona, playing regular-season games only in those two states and without fans in an effort to reduce travel and minimize risks in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The divisions would be realigned based on the geography of their spring training homes. The plan would allow teams to return to the comforts of their spring training sites for three weeks of training, which would also include exhibition games, before opening the regular season and playing a schedule with wholly different divisional opponents. Here's a look at one realignment structure: GRAPEFRUIT LEAGUE NORTH: New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Toronto Blue Jays, Detroit Tigers, Pittsburgh Pirates. SOUTH: Boston Red Sox, Minnesota Twins, Atlanta Braves, Tampa Bay Rays, Baltimore Orioles. EAST: Washington Nationals, Houston Astros, New York Mets, St.

The Council faced several alternatives: Covering athletes in winter and spring sports; only athletes in their senior year; athletes in all classes.        

New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton tested positive for coronavirus, Payton told ESPN. Payton is the first known person within the NFL to test positive for the virus. The 56-year-old received the result Thursday after taking the exam Monday. He’s experiencing fatigue at home but doesn’t have a fever or cough.