Is Sport recession proof?

When every Industry across are feeling the pinch of global recession, and asking government intervention to rescue them from the global recession. But among all these industries there is one industry or sector which is still posing high level growth and that sector is Sports. So can we say Sport is recession free?

There are many instances which clearly shows that this sector experiencing huge growth, one such instance is the Friday IPL auction. Apart from glamor showcasing , IPL did invite huge money from the team owners. The highest bid was gone for English Captain Kevin Peterson and Andrew Flintoff. Both, English players went for 1.55Mn$(app.. Rs 7.5 Crorers).

When Royal Challenger owner, Vijay Malaya, was questioned about the price money which he paid for English Captain. He clearly mentioned that inclusion of Kevin really help to build his team brand equity.

IPL is one such instance where Indian corporates shown their prowess and money power to buy a player, other instance are the England league matches, Grand Slam titles NFL matches etc.

These matches generally observe huge audience and over above some matches do demand black tickets by the audience. Such behavior clearly shows that really Sport is recession free?

Thanks&Regards,
Mohit