> we don't have very much leverage when it comes to live sports.
We really really do, actually. You just don't want to give up your addiction to the professional gambling rings who play at gladiatorial spectacle, and that gives them leverage over you.
If your goal is simply to see sporting events, there are alternatives that aren't at the top-tier most-expensive bread-and-circuses level. I follow minor league baseball, where, for about the same cost as a pub night, I can watch the game in person from four rows behind the dugout.
