📰🏟️ Foul play

Good afternoon. The top-five sports stories of the day are at your fingertips. Just keep scrolling.

—Kyle

1) Federal indictment accuses 39 CBB players of point-shaving

A total of 20 men were charged by federal prosecutors in Pennsylvania this morning in a point-shaving scheme involving 39 college basketball players across 17 NCAA D1 teams.

According to the indictment, the scheme involved paying college players $10K-$30K apiece to intentionally compromise college basketball games for sports betting purposes.

• These players either fixed or attempted to fix a total of 29 games dating back to September 2022, prosecutors allege.
• 15 of the defendants played college hoops during the 2023-24 and/or 2024-25 seasons, while four have played for their current teams in the past week.
• Mostly mid-major schools were affected, though investigators also identified players at Georgetown, Butler, and DePaul.

Inside the explosive point-shaving scandal

2) NY Giants reportedly sign head coach John Harbaugh

This morning, the former Ravens head coach reportedly signed a five-year deal to join the New York Giants with a total value near $100M, making him one of the NFL’s highest-paid coaches.

• Harbaugh is reportedly targeting Todd Monken, his OC in Baltimore, to take the same job with New York.
• If Harbaugh’s deal is finalized, the Giants will become the first of nine NFL teams this offseason to fill their open head-coaching position.

Explore the Harbaugh-Giants reports

3) NCAA asks federal regulators to suspend Kalshi

NCAA President Charlie Baker sent a letter to the CFTC yesterday asking federal regulators to stop prediction markets like Kalshi from offering trades on college sports until more safeguards are in place.

• Baker’s letter identified several areas where he believes prediction markets need additional safeguards, including age restrictions, advertising restrictions, and restrictions on prop bets.
• He said the NCAA is willing to work with federal regulators to develop these protections, which currently exist for legal sportsbooks.
• While traditional sportsbooks are legal in 39 states plus D.C.—where the betting age is usually 21—prediction markets are available in all 50 states to users 18 and older.

Inside the NCAA’s predictions push

4) NBA refs have begun to swallow their whistles

NBA referees are now consistently awarding fewer free throws across the board compared to the start of the season, leading to a noticeable decline in scoring.

NBA teams have seen their free throw averages fall from 26.1 per 100 possessions in October to 24.6 in November, 23.1 in December, and finally 21.7 in January—a nearly 20% decline over four months.

• The dip in free throws has also coincided with more sports bets cashing the under on point totals.
• Such bets won ~64.7% of the time in January, compared to the typical average of ~50% (as seen in October/November/December).

What’s going on with NBA officiating?

5) CFB’s one-time transfer portal closes tomorrow

College football’s 14-day transfer portal officially closes tomorrow. Players who are still in the portal past tomorrow’s deadline will still be able to transfer over the coming weeks and months—but anyone who isn’t in the portal won’t be able to transfer until next year.

• The only exception is players from Miami and Indiana, who receive an extra five-day window to enter the transfer portal (Jan. 20-24) following the national championship on Jan. 19.
• As of yesterday, 10,500+ Division 1 football players—including FCS—had entered the transfer portal, with 6,800+ players still active and looking for a new team.

The transfer portal winners and losers so far

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