- Jan 1 39th Orange Bowl: #9 Nebraska beats #12 Notre Dame, 40-6
- Jan 1 59th Rose Bowl: #1 Southern California beats #3 Ohio State, 42-17
Newcombe Defeats Parun
Jan 1 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Home favourite John Newcombe beats Onny Parun of New Zealand 6-3, 6-7, 7-5, 6-1 for his first Australian title
- Jan 2 Japanese boxer Masao Ohba retains his WBA flyweight title with a 12th-round knockout of Chartchai Chionoi of Thailand in Tokyo; Ohba dies three weeks later in a car accident
NY Yankees Bought
Jan 3 A 12-man syndicate led by Michael Burke and George Steinbrenner III buys MLB's New York Yankees from CBS for US$10 million
- Jan 7 British Darts Organisation founded in North London
Chappell's Best Test Bowling
Jan 8 Greg Chappell's best Test bowling, 5-61 v Pakistan at SCG
- Jan 11 American League adopts designated hitter rule
- Jan 11 Famous Australian cricket victory at the SCG - Pakistan chasing 158 is all out for 106
- Jan 14 Super Bowl VII, LA Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA: Miami Dolphins beat Washington Redskins, 14-7; MVP: Jake Scott, Miami, S
- Jan 18 Boston Red Sox sign Orlando Cepeda as 1st player signed as a DH
- Jan 18 Islanders break 12 game losing streak, 20 game road winless streak
23rd NFL Pro Bowl
Jan 21 23rd NFL Pro Bowl, Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas: AFC beats NFC, 33-28; MVP: O. J. Simpson, Buffalo Bills, RB
Foreman vs. Frazier
Jan 22 George Foreman TKOs Joe Frazier in 2 rounds to win WBC & WBA heavyweight boxing titles in Kingston, Jamaica; Frazier knocked down 3 times in both 1st & 2nd rounds
23rd NBA All-Star Game
Jan 23 23rd NBA All-Star Game, Chicago Stadium: East beats West, 104-84; MVP: Dave Cowens, Boston Celtics, C
Baseball Hall of Fame
Jan 24 Warren Spahn is elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
- Jan 27 UCLA's basketball team wins 61st consecutive game (NCAA record)
- Jan 28 Mickey Welch, George Kelly & Billy Evans elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
- Jan 28 NHL Detroit Red Wings Henry Boucha scores 6 seconds into game in 4-2 win over Canadiens at The Forum in Montreal, Quebec
- Jan 30 1973 NFL Draft: John Matuszak from University of Tampa first pick by Houston Oilers
- Jan 30 26th NHL All-Star Game, Madison Square Garden, NYC: Eastern Division beats Western Division, 5-4; MVP: Greg Polis, Pittsburgh Penguins, LW
Baseball Players
Basketball Stars
Boxers
Footballers
NFL Stars
Tennis Champions