MIAMI Lower salaries for athletes, delayed construction of new arenas and the possible loss of some struggling companies could be the next phase of the recession's impact on the sports world, industry experts cautioned Wednesday.

"We've got to look at this as a bit of a wake-up call," Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber said.

Executives from several major sports leagues and organizations were among those at the IMG World Congress of Sports, warning that the full impact of the global financial crunch might not be apparent in sports for some time perhaps another year or more.

Nonetheless, optimism reigned, from plans to expand various sports globally, to the belief many held that strong, well-run franchises and leagues will emerge from this downturn stronger than ever.

"We're facing the greatest economic challenge of all of our lifetimes," said Tim Leiweke, president and CEO of Anschutz Entertainment Group, which oversees arenas including the Staples Center in Los Angeles and owns the NHL's Los Angeles Kings, two MLS franchises and cycling's Tour of California. "We have never seen anything like this and I pray that we never see anything like this again."

Much of the day's talk revolved around the many big-money deals that shape the sports world, like collective bargaining agreements between leagues and their various player unions, were made long before the recession gripped the world's marketplace.

And since many CBAs will need to be re-negotiated in the next year or two, sports could be on the cusp of some major change.

"We're going to have inflation, it's going to be bad and we're going to have to deal with that at some point or another," Leiweke said. "We're going to pay a price for what we're going through right now and bailing everyone out. So I think long-term, there's going to need to be adjustments based the amount of money earned compared to the amount of money paid."

Just about every aspect of sports including the four major sports, the PGA of America and NASCAR in the United States have taken at least some sort of hit from the economic downturn in recent months, through layoffs, hiring freezes, the loss of sponsorships.

Some have dealt with all that and more.

"There's no industry sector immune from what we're all experiencing," said Keith Harris, the chairman of Seymour Price and a prominent figure in English Premier League soccer. "But there's something about sport ... that appeals desperately to those that need release from the recession that we're in."

Although some hockey teams are struggling, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said his league's overall picture is promising.

The NHL, Bettman said, will see record revenues and attendance for the fourth straight year since the league resumed play following the lockout which, he suggested, made the league stronger before the economy soured.

"We were used to operating in adverse times," Bettman said.

At the same time, not all is bad not even close, many insisted.

"The sports industry is going to do just fine," IMG president George Pyne said. "Everybody would love to have sports' problems."