Rutgers is the obvious example... but not the only one.
Maryland was a market play as well. And UCLA is a fine team... but their LA market is the biggest reason why they got a B1G invite. And San Diego St is now considered the clear top G5 option - mostly because of market.
I don't think it SHOULD be that high... but it's been shown to be a relatively important factor. Certainly more so than on-field performance or game attendance. Note that game attendance will generally scale with student population so long as the student base is engaged... and those students are the ones who eventually become alumni anyway.