The news from Los Angeles that 99 percent of season-ticket holders for the Lakers had renewed for the upcoming season was a rare note of economic cheer during a time of economic chaos.

The fact that it was accomplished despite price hikes that raised the cost of Jack Nicholson’s seats at Staples Center to $2,500 a game would seem at first glance to be an indication that big-time sports may be recession-resistant if not entirely recession-proof.

Further proof may come next week when the New York Jets begin auctioning off the rights to 2,113 seats on the 50-yard-line of their new stadium. If bidding that begins at $5,000 a seat isn’t enough, the winners must also buy tickets for $700 a game if they actually want to sit in them.

But while the beautiful people are still buying, at least for now, there are growing signs that the trickle-down theory doesn’t always apply when it comes to sporting events. Tough times mean less discretionary income for Joe Six-pack who, already battered by ever-increasing ticket and concession prices, now has to worry more about making mortgage payments than finding a good seat at a ballgame.

And that has to make team owners a bit nervous that perhaps their golden age of fleecing sports fans for nearly every dollar they have may be coming to an abrupt end.

“Nobody’s really recession-proof other than McDonalds or maybe Taco Bell,” said University of Chicago economist Allen Sanderson. “Sports are not exempt from all of this.”

The NBA certainly isn’t, despite all the good times in Los Angeles. Commissioner David Stern said Sunday that the league is laying off about 9 percent of its domestic work force, which translates to about 80 jobs, because of uncertainty about the immediate financial future.

The NFL is still selling out most stadiums and isn’t planning any cutbacks, but commissioner Roger Goodell said the league is aware of the danger a bad economy could create for team owners and is making contingency plans in case things continue to get worse.

And baseball commissioner Bud Selig warned team owners last week not to “get too cocky” and overprice game tickets for next season or they might see attendance drop for a second straight year.

“I think anybody in every business is concerned,” Selig said.

They have reason to be, especially the leagues that have taken advantage of booming times to continually raise ticket prices to the level where the average fan begins to start thinking twice about going to games. That includes the NFL which, according to an annual study by Team Marketing Report, has raised ticket prices by an average of $5 a year over the past four years and now charges an average of $72.20 a ticket.

The New England Patriots topped all teams by increasing prices this year by almost 30 percent to an average of $117.64.

The NFL has been able so far to get away with increases bordering on the obscene because it is the most popular sport in the country and demand often outpaces supply for premier teams like the Patriots. But that demand could soften as people look at ways to cut back in uncertain times.

That could be bad news to team owners who have grown accustomed to raising prices whenever the greed of the moment strikes them.