That's not the only reason ... but you'll never convince me that that fan "treatment" doesn't creep into the minds of many folks when you also have the team performance variable that's very visible as well.
When the main product is awesome, that fringe fan they need to fill those 5,000 empty seats is going to look the other way on a bunch of stuff.
Oh and Fatty ... we had over 50K for Temple.
Max Urick had every opportunity to provide proper fan amenities when they expanded the stadium and he sucked so bad and was so short sighted, he cut a ton of stuff out ... stuff that at this juncture would be nearly paid for.
Well, blaming it on poor design of the expansion is not the reason KSU fans don't go to games either. Sure, we can sell out the big games, but lowering the ticket price isn't going to bring them in either. You've got to get people to WANT to go to the games because they like going and to do that means, they have to prioritize their lifestyle to going to games on Saturday. Unless more people do that, you can spend all the money you want making a great facility, but you also have to have a fan base that wants to support it and will do so at the expense of everything else.
We're not objective people here to tell us that "yeah, all you need is this.." in regards to facilities. I mean, I'm here in Arizona. It's not practical for me to fly back EVERY home game not because I can't afford it, it's because I have other obligations. I know of people in Manhattan who just don't want to go to the game. And no amount of major investment of money into the stadium is going to make them come, because, once you do put the money into it, you still have to maintain it, you still have to market it, you still have to provide the product. it's a never ending cycle. And at what point do you say, the priority is only in facilities and nothing else? There has to be a balance and that balance isn't going to be decided by people who want to put all the money in facilities and hope that it's enough to buy a championship. So much more is involved in getting people to go to games.
I know this, if I was in Manhattan, I would go. I could prioritize my life (assuming I am making the same kind of money there) to do so. That's just me. That's not like my dad's neighbor in Manhattan who is a KSU grad but could give a crap about football.