Axios

The NCAA will no longer hold championship events in Mississippi, due to the Confederate symbol's "prominent presence" in the state flag, the association announced Friday.

The big picture: The NCAA's decision expands its 2001 rule on the Confederate flag, which banned states from hosting events like the the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament, but granted exceptions to teams based on tournament seeding or ranking, the Washington Post reports.

The Philadelphia Phillies announced Friday that the team would indefinitely close its Clearwater, Florida, spring training facility after five players and three staff members tested positive for the coronavirus.

Why it matters: The news, first reported by NBC Sports Philadelphia, illustrates just how challenging it will be to bring sports leagues back as some states — including Florida, the planned home for the NBA, MLS and WNBA — have seen a surge in new cases.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) introduced a bill on Thursday that would require the NCAA to change its rules by June 2021 regarding athletes' ability to profit off their name, image and likeness (NIL), while also protecting the NCAA from legal challenges to the new regulations.

The big picture: The NCAA is fearful that state-by-state action will lead to competitive unbalance and chaos and is hoping to work with Congress on passing national legislation, so they predictably endorsed Rubio's bill.

Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL's chief medical officer, told Axios that he's "very optimistic" about the league's season moving forward this fall — but cautioned that it won't be "football as usual."

Why it matters: "There are going to be a lot of changes in the way that we do things, from how we practice, to how we lay out our facilities, to how we travel, to how we organize sidelines and the on-field experience," he said.

The postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics was a serious economic blow for U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athletes and hopefuls.

The state of play: With seasons and events canceled, athletes are unable to earn appearance fees, prize money and performance bonuses from sponsors, all while continuing to train for Tokyo 2021.

Former NFL player-turned-activist Colin Kaepernick will join the board of the blogging platform Medium and partner with the company to create content focused on race and civil rights, CEO Ev Williams announced Thursday.

Why it matters: Kaepernick sparked years of controversy when he began kneeling during the national anthem to protest racism and oppression in 2016. NFL Commissioner Roger Gooddell recently said the league should have better listened to players who protested.

American sprinter Christian Coleman, the world's 100 meter champion and a favorite to win gold next summer in Tokyo, has been provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for anti-doping violations.

Worth noting: Coleman has never failed a single drug test in his career; rather, these violations pertain to "whereabouts failures," which means he either missed a test or neglected to file the proper paperwork with the AIU.

Florida has become the de facto hub for sports leagues hoping to resume play this summer, but the state has experienced a dangerous spike in coronavirus cases since it began reopening last month.

The state of play: The NBA and MLS plan to resume their seasons at Walt Disney World near Orlando, with rigorous testing and countless safety measures in place. Meanwhile, the WNBA plans to play at IMG Academy near Tampa Bay.

Police are investigating after the statue of tennis great Arthur Ashe in Richmond, Virginia, was vandalized with the words "white lives matter" in spray-paint, per WTVR.

The big picture: The statue of the only black man to win the Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the Australian Open is located on the state capital's Memorial Avenue, which has become a flash-point for Black Lives Protests in the city as it features monuments to Confederate-era leaders. On Tuesday, the city's police chief resigned following criticism of officers' use of chemical irritants and rubber bullets during peaceful protests in the city, ABC News notes.