After it was discovered that some of the balls used by the New England Patriots during the AFC Championship Game were underinflated, accusations dominated the new cycle, tarnishing the legacy of the team and quarterback Tom Brady. #

More than a dozen executives of soccer’s international governing body were charged with corruption, including divisive former president, Sepp Blatter. #

The NFL agreed to a settlement of more than $1 billion to players who suffer from concussion-linked injuries, but critics say the terms, and new safety protocols, aren’t good enough. #

FBI investigators uncovered evidence the St. Louis Cardinals may have hacked into the player database of the Houston Astros, amounting to “corporate espionage.” #

It took more than five years to get Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a ring together for the “fight of the century,” but the millions spent on the spectacle were for naught: There was no knockout performance, just 40 minutes of jib-jabs. #

Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred upheld the lifetime ban of former Reds player and manager Pete Rose, who was banished from the sport in 1989 for betting on baseball. #

A report by the World Anti-Doping Agency accused Russia of effectively having a state-sponsored dope program, putting the country’s athletes at risk of being banned from international events, including the 2016 Olympics. #

Shortly after it was revealed that a DraftKings employee may have used proprietary information to win hundreds of thousands of dollars, the Nevada gaming board suspended all fantasy gaming as unlicensed gambling, a major blow to the largely unregulated industry.   #