Auld Lang Syne will be sung with particular gusto on Saturday night – although this will have little to do with the strength of your evening’s tipple.

Rarely will a year-end have been celebrated with such collective gratitude and a new one welcomed with such immense hope.

Let’s face it: from an economic perspective, 2011 has not been great and while 2012 should finally provide the tiniest evidence of an upturn in the nation’s fortunes, it seems likely that things will get worse before they improve.

The sports business will not be immune from the economic cycle’s often pernicious impact.

A combination of significantly reduced consumer expenditure, falling rights fees, inflation and even tighter bank lending restrictions will mean that businesses involved in delivering sport can expect to suffer next year, or at the very least, feel the pinch.

Indeed, excluding England’s biggest clubs, a distinct absence of liquidity will almost certainly be evident from Sunday when football’s winter transfer window opens.

January transfer spending has fluctuated wildly over the last few seasons.

In 2009, Premier League clubs spent £170 million; the following year the figure slumped to just £30 million but rocketed skywards again in 2011 to £225 million, although 38% of that was spent on two players.

Last summer’s expenditure rose by a third, to £485 million, with just five clubs accounting for 66% of the total. Of that quintet, only Manchester City and possibly Chelsea appear likely to splash the cash next month.

Most clubs will seek to secure short-term loan deals which include options to buy.

Furthermore, following the victory on appeal to the European Court of Justice by pub landlady Karen Murphy in October to screen live television coverage of matches kicking off at 3pm on Saturday, the Premier League will spend much of 2012 revising its TV rights model.

The ruling stated that territorial exclusivity, the basis of the League’s overseas rights which generate £117 million a year, breaches European law.

It must now decide whether to sell the rights on a pan-European basis and raise prices, or install a blocking mechanism which prevents some countries from screening live matches, so maintaining the value of domestic rights worth £593 million a year.

However, adverse economic circumstances in many countries ensure its ability to increase revenue from overseas rights is severely limited, while only Sky is believed to have enough commercial clout (and desire) to bid for the majority of the League’s domestic rights.

Away from football, rugby’s Six Nation’s championship should confirm Wales’ status as the northern hemisphere’s leading team and simultaneously illustrate the extent to which England’s 2003 World Cup-winning legacy (and subsequent financial bonanza) has been frittered away.

The new Formula One season, which gets under way in Melbourne in March, will offer the starkest commercial contrast imaginable to our traditional winter sports.

Despite being a sport whose internal machinations make the most ruthless medieval court look like a kindergarten, F1 continues to throw off bucket-loads of cash.