UNDATED (AP) — Look for a new format for the NFL playoffs. Team owners have voted to expand the playoffs by one team in each conference for a total of 14 next season. During a conference call to discuss league business after the annual meetings were canceled because of the new coronavirus, the owners also awarded one of those extra games to CBS and one to NBC. Only the teams with the best record in the AFC and NFC will get a bye under the new format.
BEIJING (AP) — China's government has ordered all major sports events to remain suspended because of the coronavirus outbreak, meaning the country's basketball league will have to push back its planned restart. The CBA had hoped to resume play in mid-April but was denied government approval to do so. Instead, China’s General Administration of Sport issued a statement saying any large sporting events that draw crowds “are temporarily not being resumed.”
UNDATED (AP) — The NHL is extending its self-quarantine recommendation for players and staff to April 15. The league had previously sent out a memo recommending self-quarantining until April 4. So far, four NHL players have tested positive for COVID-19. The league and teams are hoping to get players together to skate in small groups once the isolation period is over. State, provincial and local lockdown regulations across the U.S. and Canada could push back the opening of team facilities.
LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — The Chicago Bears have finalized a trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars for 2018 Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles. The Bears are banking on the quarterback to bounce back from an injury-riddled season with Jacksonville and at least give them another option if Mitchell Trubisky struggles again or gets hurt next year. Chicago sent a 2020 compensatory fourth-round draft pick to Jacksonville in the trade. The Jaguars parted with the 31-year-old Foles just over a year after signing him to a four-year contract.
NEW YORK (AP) — Kevin Durant and Trae Young will lead a 16-player field of NBA players in an NBA 2K20 tournament airing on ESPN. The NBA, the players’ association and 2K announced the NBA 2K Players Tournament. Play begins Friday, and the winner of the week-long competition will receive a $100,000 donation to a coronavirus-related relief effort of their choice. Player have been seeded according to their NBA 2K player rating — from Durant’s 96 down to Derrick Jones Jr.’s 78 — and tenure.