There seems to be a growing trend in New York sports as the teams have been shooting themselves in the leg  both literally and figuratively.

It was just recently announced that the new Yankees Stadium will be slashing their ludicrously high ticket prices to moderately ridiculously high ticket prices. The reasoning? The common New Yorker isn’t dumb enough to pay them and therefore isn’t filling the seats.

First off, I still don’t understand why new Yankees Stadium was built. When I think of classic ballparks with legendary status, I think of Wrigley, Fenway, and of course Yankees Stadium. Apparently there just wasn’t enough box seats to rape people’s wallets with in the old one and that incoming cash flow is vital to keeping the game’s most storied franchise operating. I mean, come on, A-Rod’s diamond-stud, gold-plated steroid syringe isn’t going to pay for itself.

I buy why Citi Field had to be built for the Mets. Shea Stadium was a dump. At least their stadium was built with a sponsorship, as opposed to public funds like Yankees Stadium, right?

Wait, you mean the Citi Group received millions of our tax dollars in federal bailout yet still kept their $400+ million contract with the Mets? Oh well then nevermind.

Anyway, the Yankees haven’t exactly been off to a hot start this season. How many games have we seen with crooked numbers, giving up double-digit runs? How well has the ridiculously high payroll been panning out for the club? You think the fans are going to file into that stadium with a team playing so poorly? Think again.

The Yankees set these high prices on their $1+ billion stadium with a right-field porch that belongs on a little league field. It isn’t uncommon to find seats for the moderate price of $1,500 or even $2,500.

Sounds reasonable, right?

The Yankees set these prices because they think they’re God’s gift to baseball. They think because they’re the Yankees, people will pay those prices.

The Mets are facing a similar situation, but not to such an extent. The Mets’ reasonably priced seats (some less than $25, some more) sell out quickly and there’s far less of them than the expensive ones.

The Yanks just announced that ticket prices will now be slashed by upwards of 50 percent. Yet those who have already bought seats at such high prices won’t get a refund. Instead they’d be compensated with more seats.

So let me get this straight: The plan is to give more seats to people who probably won’t fill them, therefore leaving them empty?

Brilliant. Watch me as I clap sarcastically. I can only imagine how those who have bought tickets are feeling as they flip through the phone books, looking for a good lawyer to file a lawsuit.

This Yankees are learning a valuable lesson the hard way: You don’t screw with New Yorkers and try to rip them off.

You’ll just have to wait for the sports ticket bubble to burst.

Three of the sporting world’s richest franchises — New York Yankees, New York Mets and Dallas Cowboys — are moving into some lavish digs in 2009. These aren’t just some regular everyday upgrades, mind you, but rather these new stadia (if you will — and I will) cost a combined $3.5 billion to build.

Whoa.

Even though that’s just your typical car loan to the U.S. government, the common, everyday sports fan will never EVER see $3.5 billion in person.

(Well, unless they travel to see all three of these ballparks. But I digress.)

The good thing is $3.5 billion goes a long way. Let’s just say that these franchises had no clue that they were doubling down on the worst economy since the Great Depression.

Starting with the most frugal of this trio — if that term can actually apply here — the New York Mets; their new stadium, aptly named Citi Field, was built for around a modest $600 million. After spending the past 45 years in Shea Stadium, the Amazins’ will be spending the foreseeable future in a modern day homage to the Polo Grounds and Ebbets Field.

In short, the paying customer will not be disappointed upon settling into what will surely be an intimate ballpark.

Of course, there is that whole Citi Group banking fiasco. But I’m here to tell you that, thankfully, Citi Field is in fact giving back to the citizens. Talk about a bailout, giving the people what they want!

While the Mets will receive their taxpayer-funded, corporate-naming-rights endorsement, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is wondering why no one is showing him the money. According to some reports, Falseface (an out-dated reference to the 1960s Batman bad-guy) was hoping he could get as much as $1 billion for the naming rights to his new stadium. No dice, Tex.

He’ll need some company to step up to the plate and pay for the stadium’s naming rights because Dallas’ new stadium will end up costing Falseface over $1.1 billion. Texas Stadium cost $35 million to build in the late 1960s, whereas $35 million was barely enough to purchase the Cowboys’ new 160-foot long, high-definition scoreboard.

(Time Out — Zach Morris Style.)

Imagine that baby in your living room. I know, impossible. But that hasn’t stopped me from taking out the measuring tape. Frankly, I don’t think it would fit in my court. A large TV is a B-E-A-utiful idea.

(Time In.)

Even though few teams are as lavish as the Cowboys under Jones, no one can compare with the wealth of the New York Yankees

Take New Yankee Stadium. At a cost of about $1.5 billion, the Steinbrenners have certainly spared no expense. And just in case you can’t see the action from your obscenely priced nosebleed seat, there’s a modest (by Dallas’ standards) 59-foot high by 101-foot wide high-definition LED screen for your viewing pleasure.

Down from 56,886 in Old Yankee Stadium to 52,325 (including standing room) in New Yankee Stadium, the seating capacity has followed the trend of almost every new ballpark. Ticket prices, of course, have gone up, WAY UP. But that is nothing new and certainly not unexpected by any means.

So how does any of this help the average sports fan afford these absolutely obscene season ticket prices? It certainly isn’t helping Cowboys fans like Linda Taylor, who learned that her $130-per-game tickets she’d owned for years skyrocketed to $340 per game in the new stadium. Of course, don’t forget about that $35,000 personal seat license, or as common people refer to that monetary amount: a new Acura!

But patience — my fellow sports fans — ticket prices will turn around in good time. All it will take is time, for — according to the Wall Street Journal — the sports ticket price bubble to burst.

Corporations are already feeling the burn. Regardless of the whether or not they can afford the steep ticket prices, or just want to avoid the public scrutiny that comes with lavish spending in the Great Recession, they’re pulling out of luxury boxes and premium seating faster than you can say AIG.

According to that same Wall Street Journal article, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office gave up its luxury seats it had secured in New Yankee Stadium following public backlash, Bank of America ended negotiations on a $20-million-a-year sponsorship deal and all teams are having extreme difficulty selling out premium seats and luxury boxes.

With profits tied directly to corporate sponsorship and premium seat purchasing, there will only be one place for the owners to turn if they want to sell their tickets.

That’s right, you the fan. That is, of course, if you’ll take them back.

Jay Jaffe, a former Yankees season ticket holder, found his former $25-a-game tickets were bumped to $85-a-game in a section further away than before. Let’s just say he wasn’t tickled by that notion.

“Literally, my words were, ‘Are you f***ing kidding me?’ ” Jaffe told the Wall Street Journal.

Just wait until the Steinbrenners come crawling back, Jaffe. Until then, maybe you should invest in a 40-inch, high-definition TV. Thankfully, it will fit in your living room, and it won’t set you back the down payment of your next home.

Something tells me that you might need that.