Yahoo Sports AM: Deadline day

Yahoo Sports AM is our daily newsletter that keeps you up to date on all things sports. Sign up here to get it every weekday morning.

🚨 Headlines

⚾️ The Polar Bear returns: Pete Alonso and the Mets have agreed to a two-year, $54 million contract that keeps the slugging first baseman in New York.

🏈 NFL in Melbourne: The Rams will host the NFL’s first regular-season game in Australia during the 2026 season, and their opponent — while not confirmed — will likely be the Eagles.

🏀 Another 50-piece: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander dropped 50 points on the Suns, making him the ninth player in NBA history to score 50+ points three times in a seven-game span.

⚽️ NWSL settlement: The NWSL has agreed to pay $5 million to a “Restitution Fund” that will “compensate current or former players” who’ve suffered from abuse while playing in the league.

🏀 The NBA is stealing the NFL’s spotlight

The NFL came for Christmas Day. Now the NBA has come for Super Bowl Week with one of the buzziest trade deadlines in years.

Players on the move: The madness began this weekend with the Luka Dončić and De’Aaron Fox trades. Activity picked back up in a big way on Wednesday, and more chaos is expected before today’s 3pm ET deadline.

• Jimmy Butler to Golden State: The Heat sent their disgruntled star to the Warriors in a four-team trade that lands Andrew Wiggins in Miami. Butler also signed a two-year, $121 million extension, guaranteeing him over $424 million in career earnings.

• Brandon Ingram to Toronto: The Pelicans traded Brandon Ingram to the Raptors in exchange for Bruce Brown Jr., Kelly Olynyk, a first-round pick and a second-round pick. Ingram, 27, hasn’t played since Dec. 7 (ankle) but hopes to return this month.

• Lakers add a big man: The Purple and Gold are sending rookie Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish and picks to the Hornets in exchange for 7-foot-2 center Mark Williams, a lob threat that should pair nicely with Dončić (if he can stay healthy).

Elsewhere: The Bucks and Wizards swapped Khris Middleton for Kyle Kuzma, the Bulls extended Lonzo Ball amid trade interest, Kevin Durant’s name keeps popping up in rumors.

Live updates: Trade deadline tracker

🏳️‍⚧️ Trump signs order banning trans athletes

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday prohibiting transgender athletes from competing in female sports, and the NCAA has vowed to comply.

Details: The “No Men in Women’s Sports Executive Order,” which was signed on National Girls & Women in Sports Day, says that schools allowing trans athletes to compete in female sports will be in violation of Title IX, the 1972 law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in publicly-funded schools.

• In other words, the Trump administration interprets Title IX as saying that trans girls playing women’s sports constitutes sex discrimination against cisgender females.

• That’s a departure from the Biden administration, which interpreted the law as saying that discrimination based on gender identity would be a violation.

From Yahoo Sports’ Jason Owens:

Wednesday’s order targets entities that receive federal funding and empowers federal agencies, including the Justice and Education departments, to enforce the Trump administration’s interpretation of Title IX.

Under the Obama administration, LGBTQ students received protections under Title IX. Trump rescinded those protections in his first term, and the Department of Education reinstated them under President Joe Biden.

Per AP, the new executive order empowers the Department of Education to penalize schools that allow transgender athletes to compete and puts those that do so at risk of losing federal funding.

Where it stands: 27 states have laws or policies banning trans participation in sports, the House passed similar legislation last month, and Wednesday’s order was President Trump’s fourth since taking office that directly targets transgender people. That includes one proclaiming the government will only recognize two sexes, and they “are not changeable.”

🏈 Super Bowl LIX: Pregame reading

Dan Wetzel: Comparing dynasties: Chiefs vs. Patriots

For nearly two decades, the Patriots dominated the NFL like no other franchise ever. It’s not a shock that some team would come along to challenge that run of greatness. It is that it happened immediately.

Jay Busbee: Philly’s key to success: Raiding the Georgia Bulldogs cupboard

The 2024 NFC champion Eagles have the NFL’s best defense, and it’s not hard to see why: At the heart of it is the 2021 Georgia* defense, one of the best in college football history. Never in football has “getting the band back together” been a more appropriate, or effective, roster-building philosophy.

Jeff Eisenberg: The night the lights went out on the Super Bowl

The last time the Superdome hosted a Super Bowl, the lights went out in the middle of the third quarter, causing a 34-minute delay. This is the story of how it happened

Charles Robinson: Super Bowl ticket prices are sliding

Super Bowl tickets will never be cheap, but this week they’re certainly cheaper.

*Prep to pros: Georgia has 6 players across the Eagles and Chiefs rosters. That trails only Oklahoma (7), which is the most well-represented school at the Super Bowl for the third consecutive year.

🏉 In photos: Six Nations

The 131st edition of the Six Nations Championship got underway over the weekend, as Ireland, England, France, Wales, Scotland and Italy began their annual five-match round-robin rugby tournament for the de facto title of best in Europe.

The inaugural tournament back in 1883 was known as the Home Nations Championship and featured the four countries of the United Kingdom (England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales). It became the Five Nations in 1910 (France), and Six Nations in 2000 (Italy).

Two-time defending champion Ireland hopes to become the first team in history to win three consecutive outright titles. The highest-ranked nation in the field, and second in the world behind South Africa, got off to a winning start with a 27-22 comeback victory over England.

Round 2 of 5 is this weekend. If you want to more fully acquaint yourself, check out “Full Contact” on Netflix — a docuseries from the same team behind F1’s “Drive to Survive.” The second season, which follows last year’s tournament, premiered last week.

✍️ Extra points

🏀 Oh no, not again: On Tuesday, the Pistons lost to the Hawks on a Trae Young buzzer-beater. On Wednesday, they lost to the Cavaliers on a Darius Garland buzzer-beater.

⚾️ Caribbean Series: The 67th Caribbean Series Final is set, as Mexico’s Charros de Jalisco will take on the Dominican Republic’s Leones del Escogido on Friday night in Mexicali for the title.

🏈 The 18th game debate: The NFL has wanted to add an 18th game to the regular season pretty much since it added a 17th game in 2021, and commissioner Roger Goodell continued pushing that narrative earlier this week. The NFLPA? Not so much. “No one wants to play an 18th game. No one,” NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell said Wednesday.

🍿 “Happy Gilmore 2″ cameos: Netflix released a behind-the-scenes look at the filming of “Happy Gilmore 2,” which comes out later this year and features cameos from the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Will Zalatoris and many others.

⚾️ MLB All-Injury Team: Sometimes the most important offseason “additions” are players fans are already familiar with — the ones who were hurt but are now healthy.

📺 Watchlist: Busy day on the links

Three golf tournaments begin today in Arizona, Florida and Saudi Arabia.

• PGA: Phoenix Open (9:15am, ESPN+; 4pm, Golf) … “The People’s Open” tees off at TPC Scottsdale. Let the annual party begin.

• LPGA: Founders Cup (11am, Golf) … Bradenton Country Club hosts the first full-field event of the LPGA season.

• LIV: Riyadh (10:15am, FS2) … The fourth season of the breakaway tour begins in the Saudi capital, with a key format change.

More to watch:

• 🏀 NBA: Mavericks at Celtics (7:30pm, TNT); Warriors at Lakers (10pm, TNT) … Anthony Davis (abdominal strain) is questionable to make his Mavs debut in this Finals rematch.

• 🏀 NCAAM: No. 18 Maryland at Ohio State (7pm, FS1) … The Terps are ranked for the first time in two years.

• 🏀 NCAAW: No. 5 UConn at No. 19 Tennessee* (6:30pm, ESPN); Stanford at No. 3 Notre Dame (8:30pm, ESPN)

• 🏒 Women’s Hockey: USA vs. Canada (6pm, NHL) … The Scotiabank Centre in Halifax hosts Game 4 of the Rivalry Series.

• ⚽️ EFL Cup: Liverpool vs. Tottenham (3pm, Paramount+) … Spurs have a 1-0 lead entering the second leg of the League Cup semifinal. Winner faces Newcastle.

*Historic rivalry: The Huskies (11 titles) and Lady Vols (8) have combined for nearly half of all women’s national championships (42).

🏈 Super Bowl trivia

The Chiefs and Eagles will go head-to-head on Sunday just two years after meeting in Super Bowl LVII, marking the second-shortest span ever between Super Bowl rematches.

Question: Who are the only two teams to meet in back-to-back Super Bowls?

Hint: 1990s.

Answer at the bottom.

Trivia answer: Cowboys and Bills (Super Bowl XXVII in 1993 and Super Bowl XXVIII in 1994)

We hope you enjoyed this edition of Yahoo Sports AM, our daily newsletter that keeps you up to date on all things sports. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.