Axios

The NFL is renewing a partnership with a nonprofit led by current and former players to address racial issues and advocate for reform in the U.S.

• The NFL is no stranger to race issues.

Why it matters: To maintain the partnership with the Players Coalition, the NFL has had to show commitment to working on issues like systemic racism for the long haul, Anna Isaacson, NFL senior vice president of social responsibility, exclusively told Axios.

• "What's really been reinforced is that these issues are entrenched in society and that they will take a long time to improve," Isaacson said.

Driving the news: The NFL's five-year extension with the Players Coalition is in addition to the league's $15 million grant through its Inspire Change initiative focusing on four pillars:

• Fostering mentorship for better outcomes in education and beyond.
• Providing transition support for the formerly incarcerated and advocating for key reforms to the criminal legal system, including pre-trial detention.
• Creating changes in policing through law-enforcement community collaboration and expanded 9-1-1 response options.
• Advancing access to financial literacy and career pipelines.

Flashback: In 2017, the NFL initially committed $90 million to social justice causes after players kneeled during the national anthem to raise awareness of issues including racial inequality.

Yes, but: The NFL is doing work externally in efforts to help others, but has work to do to solve their own problems, Kenneth L. Shropshire, professor emeritus at the Wharton Business School and previously a consultant with the NFL, tells Axios.

• "They can certainly do a lot with ... messaging and impact in terms of role models their individual clubs have in their community."

What they're saying: The Players Coalition and the NFL have been working toward the same goal of addressing social justice issues but have done the work in different ways, Kelvin Beachum of the Players Coalition tells Axios.

• "At the end of the day, it's about the impact, the impact that we're making, again, not only on the players and the teams but the entire community at large," he said.

Washington Commanders' owner Dan Snyder has agreed to sell his NFL team to a group led by Philadelphia 76ers co-owner Josh Harris for $6 billion, multiple outlets report.

Why it matters: An official agreement, if reached, would end months of bidding and the tumultuous Snyder era. The billionaire's 24-year run as owner began with great hopes in the then-proud football town of Washington and ends with the stain of harassment scandals and a drained fanbase.

Jeff Bezos will not bid on the Washington Commanders, per multiple reports.

The backdrop: The world's third-richest man has been linked to the Washington National Football League franchise ever since current owner Dan Snyder enlisted Bank of America in November to explore a potential sale.

On the surface, Augusta National appears to have declared war on technology. Cellphones aren't allowed, scoreboards are manually operated and the main clock is a sundial. But behind the scenes, golf's grandest event is a technological marvel.

State of play: The Masters app, developed by Augusta and IBM, is widely considered the best app in sports despite only being fully operational for one week every year.

The debate regarding transgender athletes' participation in school sports has seen four major developments in the past week across all levels of government.

1. The White House: The Department of Education proposed a change to Title IX rules on Thursday that would, in certain instances, allow schools to bar trans athletes from participating on teams that align with their gender identity — but prohibit the issuance of a blanket ban.

The pitch clock has cut nearly 30 minutes off the average Major League Baseball game, leaving fans with less time to enjoy a cold one at the ballpark.

State of play: Some teams have responded to this urgent crisis by extending beer sales beyond the end of the seventh inning for the first time in memory.

A pair of Air Jordans worn by Michael Jordan became the world's most expensive sneakers on Tuesday when they sold for $2.2 million at a Sotheby's online auction.

Why it matters: Although the Air Jordan XIIIs that the legendary basketball player wore during the 1998 "Last Dance" NBA finals season didn't fetch as much as some anticipated, it's the latest example of such memorabilia reaching record prices as demand for nostalgic sports collectables surges.