The NFL announced Friday it has added Maia Chaka to the roster of game officials for the 2021 season, making her the first Black woman to join league's on-field officiating team.

What she's saying: "I am honored to be selected as an NFL official,” Chaka said in a statement Friday. "But this moment is bigger than a personal accomplishment. It is an accomplishment for all women, my community, and my culture."

Despite dire predictions, Tampa’s Super Bowl was not a coronavirus super-spreader event, Hillsborough County health officials said yesterday, per the Tampa Bay Times.

By the numbers: 53 cases in Florida and four more elsewhere were found to be associated with official Super Bowl events.

After the Timberwolves lost to the Phoenix Suns on Sunday, the team reached the top of a list no one wants to be on: They are the worst franchise in American pro sports.

The intrigue: That's according to a Reddit user who tracks regular season winning percentages of major sports franchises — an odd outlet to be counting wins — which says the Wolves now have a .39307 all-time winning percentage.

Top NFL prospects would normally be gathering in Indianapolis this week for the annual Scouting Combine. But due to the pandemic, this year's event has been canceled.

What they're saying: No combine means no 40-yard dash times making headlines. Former scout and current NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah thinks that could be a glimpse of the future:

MLB terminated its "in-game coordinator" social media program two weeks ago in a move that could drastically alter how teams engage with their fans online.

The backdrop: MLB created the program in 2015 to keep pace with the rise of social, deploying IGCs to some 25 different clubs to complement the in-house social team and be a liaison between league and club.

54% of Americans think it would be a good idea to give NBA players early access to the COVID-19 vaccine in order to increase public confidence in it, according to a survey administered last week by The Harris Poll.

• 1,961 adults were surveyed; 68% said they'd likely get the vaccine as soon as it became available.
• 39% said they'd be more comfortable getting the vaccine if NBA players publicly received it first, led by Black (55%) and Asian (54%) respondents.

The state of play: Through Wednesday, 13.6% of Americans have received at least one dose, and 6.2% have received both, per the CDC.

MLB's arbitration window has ended, closing the book on a strange part of the offseason that over-indexes on lawyers and sometimes leads to bad blood between player and club.

How it works: The process began in early December, hit another milestone in mid-January and finally ended this past Friday.

Chris Hogan, a 10-year NFL veteran who won two Super Bowls as a wide receiver with the Patriots (2016, 2018), has decided to transition back to lacrosse — his first love.

The backdrop: Hogan starred for Penn State's lacrosse team from 2007-10 before enrolling at Monmouth University to play one season of football. The 33-year-old will be available for selection in the Premier Lacrosse League's Entry Draft on March 25.

New York Rangers star Artemi Panarin is stepping away from the team after his former KHL (Russia) coach, Andrei Nazarov, told a Russian tabloid that he beat up an 18-year-old girl in Latvia in 2011.

Why it matters: Nazarov is a staunch supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, while Panarin has shown support for opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was recently sentenced to 2.5 years in prison.

40-point games, once a threshold that signaled a rare offensive explosion, have become commonplace in today's NBA.

Why it matters: With teams shooting more threes and scoring more points than ever this season, the league is on pace for a record 143 40-point games.