Is there a silver lining attached to any of this? Here’s what Steven Stark of Real Clear Sports had to say:

“…What the [Great Depression] forced all sports to do was innovate in an attempt to compensate. In fact, the reason why college football created all those bowl games in the 30’s -- as well as introduce the Heisman Trophy and college all-star game (now defunct) -- was to create new sources of revenue."

Also created in the 1930s to increase revenue and stimulate fan interest: Baseball’s All-Star game, the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, and the first college basketball tournament. Stock car racing also got its start during the Great Depression, and golf became more popular, largely because once-exclusive golf clubs were forced to open their doors to the rabble - that is, if they wanted to remain open to anyone.

Oddly, this time around, pro sports franchises seem to be compensating by inflating rather than innovating.

Yankee tickets that cost $250 in 2008 will now go for $850.

Want season tickets? Be prepared to sign a contract for at least 4 years and pay one-third of the total in advance. So while $20,250 per seat for the entire 2008 season may not have seemed like much of a bargain at the time, it will when you write a check for $91,800 in 2009 - with 2 more payments to go.

As far as innovation goes, many teams have gotten highly creative in their attempts to increase revenue (and, in many cases, to offset the costs of building a new stadium): Personal seat licenses.

If you live in Dallas, you’ll pay $150,000 for a personal seat license - a one-time fee that will give you the privilege of spending $340 per seat, per Cowboys game thereafter.

New York Jets fan? The team auctioned off their seat licenses on StubHub.com, for an average price of $26,000, with a high of $82,000 - but only 620 of 2,000 available were sold. A veritable bargain, compared with what they’re paying down in Tejas, until you factor in the ticket price: $700.

The Giants, ever the gentlemen gladiators, set a fixed price of $20,000 per seat license.

Will personal seat licenses spread from sports to other industries?

Well, religion is big business these days, and as Kyle Burks, president of personal seat-license reseller SeasonTicketRights.com, told Bloomberg News: “I actually spoke to a church one time that was thinking of [selling] seat licenses. The first 10 rows, the most elite seats.”

Then, of course, there are those who have taken seat licenses to another level altogether: