He knows the details of this and the likelihood of whether what you predict would come to pass. I don't talk to donors so don't know. I do recall that ticket sales were a significant portion of revenue, even more (IIRC) than TV. We don't put people in the seats with a decent product we lose that revenue, too. Perhaps other trends have been at play but I'd say the stadium looks less full over the last few years than it did before.
As for me, I'm starting to lean toward the AAC group. I like independence's way of having us play a quasi bowl game nearly every week. What I don't like are that the best games are in the beginning of the season and our actual bowl game is quite lame. Next year's home schedule is also very lame. Maybe if we played Navy, Florida schools and Houston every year it'd open up recruiting in those locations, where now we're weakly doing it nationwide. That said, I'm sure ESPN exposure helps. Pros and cons.
So, in Tom we trust.